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Recover from a corrupt registry

1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer. Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
 
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak
 
delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default
 
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
 
 6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.

Maximum Transmission Unit

MTU stands for Maximum Transmission Unit. It is the maximum packet size, in bytes, that can be transmitted across a link. If your MTU is set too high, errors will cause each packet to be resent. This can cause issues with the performance/responsiveness of your ADSL connection.
 
The recommended MTU for use with BT UK ADSL is 1458. If this doesn't improve matters, you can try setting it to 1430.
 
The recommended MTU for use with ADSL 8 Mb connections should be 1500. If this doesnt improve maters, you can try setting it to 1478.
 
Determine your MTU
If you wish to acquire what your max MTU can be you can perform the following command in an MS-DOS prompt:
 
       ping -f -l 1472 www.google.com
 
If you receive a message "packet needs to be fragmented" reduce the value 1472 by 10 and retry, taking 10 away each time until a successful reply is made, then increase by 1 until your one away from receiving the message "packet needs to be fragmented" again.
 
Add 28 to this value you now have, and you now have your max MTU.

How to change the system drive letter

Usually occurs when you install Windows whilst having a card reader plugged in. Makes the system drive letter anything other than c:
It is best to do this straight after a fresh install as any installed programs will not reference the correct drive.
 
1. Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.
2. Log on as an Administrator.
3. Start Regedt32.exe (or Regedit.exe in Windows XP).
4. Go to the following registry key:
          HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
5. Click MountedDevices.
6. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
7. Check to make sure Administrators have full control. Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
8. Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
9. Go to the following registry key:
          HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
10. Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look for "\DosDevices\C:".
11. Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename. In Windows 2000 you must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.
12. Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:". (This will free up drive letter C: to be used later.)
13. Find the drive letter you want changed. Look for "\DosDevices\D:".
14. Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
15. Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".
16. Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
17. Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32 (not required in Windows XP).
18. Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
19. Restart the computer.

Defragment an NT4 system

1. Download contig.
2. Extract it to c:/winnt/system32.
3. Open a command prompt up.
4. Type; contig -s c:/ [where c:/ is the drive you want to defrag]. 5. Go away for a while.
6. Come back, job done.

FreeNAS

FreeNAS is, as the name suggests, free software for turning an old PC into a NAS box. It is reasonably easy to configure and yet has many advanced features such as software RAID functions (0, 1, 5, JBOD(0.683b)) and an RSYNCD server/client built in.

All you will need

  • An old PC (minimum P3 with 128MB RAM)
  • As many hard drives as you can lay your hands on
  • A FreeNAS iso
  • NIC

Network Attached Storage. You'll wonder how you managed without...

With the increased connectivity in both business and home environments, NAS boxes have become an excellent solution for ever increasing need for more storage. They offer RAID security, high speed connectivity and a low cost compact solution. You could buy one from the likes of scan or overclockers, but why not build one yourself? FreeNAS is a simple yet sophisticated way to make yourself a NAS box. I've built one for the office to store files on and its been the most useful device we've had for sometime. I found an old P3 933mHz desktop machine in our PC graveyard, added an extra 256mb of RAM, an IDE controller and an assortment of drives from 40GB up to 160GB I had lying around. After configuring it, which took about 15 minutes, we now have 500GB of storage space which is easily accessible by those with the correct security information.
 
It's pretty fast and copes with everything we throw at it. Definitely worth a try if you can!
Download FreeNAS