Encyclopedia of XP tweaks

[Static 99]

They might have some good tweaks on this page which are not listed yet.

Like this one:

Rip high-quality MP3s in Windows Media Player 8
=========================
The relationship between Windows Media Player 8 and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, WMP8 will be able to playback MP3 files, but encoding (or "ripping" CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. So during the Windows XP beta, Microsoft is supplying a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it's limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless. However, if you have an externally installed MP3 codec, you can use WMP8 to rip at higher bit rates. But you'll have to edit the Registry to make this work.
Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Settings \ MP3Encoding

Here, you'll see sub-keys for LowRate and LowRateSample, which of course equates to the single 56 Kbps sample rate you see in WMP8. To get better sampling rates, try adding the following keys (Using New then DWORD value):

"LowRate" = DWORD value of 0000dac0
"MediumRate" = DWORD value of 0000fa00
"MediumHighRate" = DWORD value of 0001f400
"HighRate" = DWORD value of 0002ee00

Now, when you launch WMP8 and go into Tools, then Options, then Copy Music, you will have four encoding choices for MP3: 56 Kbps, 64 Kbps, 128 Kbps, and 192 Kbps. Note that you will not get higher bit rate encoding unless you have installed an MP3 codec separately; the version in Windows Media Player 8 is limited to 56 Kbps only.


Find the appropriate location in the Registry... ...add a few DWORD values... ...And then you'll be ripping CDs in higher-quality MP3 format!

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Hi Static,
this tweak only gives you the option to encode at higher rates, it doesn't actually mean you can encode at those levels. Without the appropriate codec, nothing is gonna change.

 

[Static 99]

I know, but i had a LAME encoder in mind, like the one that comes (for free) with CDex
Or isn't that really an (good)MP3 encoder, and you'll end up paying for a Fraunhofer encoder to make it work?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I'm sure Lame is a very good encoder but how can you integrate it into WMP. By default WMP will use its own inbuilt codec.
I'm not into this MP3 stuff like most people are, but I'm sure that Micro$oft wouldn't make it easy to just chop and change codecs at will.

 

[Static 99]

To bad, i though i finaly found something usefull to do with it.

 

[Doxtr111]

Man o man what a great job you people have done!!!! This site rocks..thanks to people like you that give a damn. Thank you again and again.

 

[Perris Calderon]

Here's a real good one...everyday, I email 3 the same 3 people, before I do anything else, well, you can put that shortcut right on the desktop, and have your mail client open right to the recipient...this ones going at the top of my list;

Here's how you create a shortcut that lets you automatically begin a new message, addressed to that person, with just one mouse click! ! Right-click on any empty space on the desktop, and choose New, Shortcut from the menu. In the Command Line box, type mailto:, and then enter the intended recipient's email address. To create a shortcut to me instance, you would enter mailto:dealer@blahblahbalh.com. Save the shortcut on the desktop, or in the start menu, or quick launch....baby, too cool

 

[Ramanuman]

Here's the latest version yet.

-Added as many of the authors' names (handles...) as I could find. (Would you guys rather your real names?)
-Added a few tweaks
-Tried to organize the whole into categories.

Please feel free to comment.

 

[Perris Calderon]

Originally posted by Ramanuman
Here's the latest version yet.

-Added as many of the authors' names (handles...) as I could find.
-Added a few tweaks
-Tried to organize the whole into categories.

Please feel free to comment.

hey, Ram, good to see you again, I just read that zip, and I can't take credit for most of the tweaks you gave me credit for,I just posted them ...only ones that I know I never saw, and created on my own are the regedit, system restore, and mailbox targets for shortcuts...but thanx for the cudos.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

dealer keep quiet and wallow in the adulation.

 

[Perris Calderon]

Originally posted by Dirk Diggler
dealer keep quiet and wallow in the adulation.

 

[Ramanuman]

Mmmmhhh...
-Could this to mean I also gave too much credit to Dirk, but he just takes it ?...

Kidding, of course : we all know that without you there wouldn't be much that's very original in here.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

To be honest none of the tweaks are ours, some of us have just been able to think along the same lines as the programmers at Micro$oft and expanded on their ideas, or go off on slight tangents.
So lets all thank the boffins at Micro$oft for giving us all these tweaks.

We love you Bill & Co., honest

 

[Perris Calderon]

Ok, enough self adulation, I do that to fall asleep at night...heres's another great tip, which I posted on another thread, but belongs here too;

This is pretty darn usefull...When you roll your system back any programs you have downloaded and installed will be removed. That's the whole point of ystem restore.

Sometimes there'r programs that you've yet to install or want to keep... here's how to save them. You can move them to to any of these folders; My Documents, Temporary Internet files, Internet Explorer History, Cookies, Favorites folders and the Recycle Bin ...Restore doesn't monitor these folders. Here's anothercool methos...restore also won't touch any files with a .txt .doc .xls extensions, therfore, you can safely rename your downloads to any of the above file extensions, then simply rename them back to their original one after SR is complete.

suppose you have a download called "fujism.exe"...you rename it to "fujism.txt"...and name it back then after your restore is finished.

 

[Ramanuman]

Damn!
So now I have to change all the credits to Bill ?

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Good tip, Dealer. But wouldn't the rollback affect other changes the program's installation could have made to your system ; in the reg, for example ?

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On a different note : Anybody knows if it's possible at all to create and add a pop-up menu to Explorer ?
i.e., either create an icon on the desktop that you'd click and that would unfold a list of applications, or maybe a way to add applications to the normal right-click.

I know some alternative shells work like that, but I tried a couple and they made my pc freeze a lot...

 

[Perris Calderon]

I wanted to be the 200th post, so i came up with an old trick;

the fastest method to change your home page, is to drag the icon from your favorites over to your home icon that's on the tool bar...that's it...or, if your on the webpage at the moment, from the address bar,drag the e icon that's in front of the address into the home icon on your tool bar....voiala...it's your home page

 

[allan]

I never knew about dragging the icon. Good one.

 

[Perris Calderon]

I'll post it in the other universe

 

[freightgod]

200 posts! Holly Holy, Batman! The following is probably in here somewhere already, but, here's my contribution, redundant as it may be:

One of the first thing I do after a clean install is put a shortcut to my Sendto folder inside my Sendto folder. That way I can right click on shortcuts to commonly used programs and folders and select Send To>>Send To....which lets you route files to your commonly used apps and folders without having to screw with Open With>>Choose Program, etc.

 

[Perris Calderon]

gonna use that one myself