Quick Tip: Reasons Windows XP Fast User Switching doesn't work

Windows XP's new Fast User Switching feature allows one user to quickly access a computer without forcing another to log off or quit applications. As handy of a feature as this may be, it doesn't always work properly. Here are some of the reasons why Fast User Switching may not work properly:

Insufficient memory
For Fast User Switching to work properly, Windows XP must have at least 64 MB of RAM. Although this is a defined minimum, Microsoft states that the system must have at least 120 MB of free RAM or XP will deactivate Fast User Switching. This can especially be a problem if the system shares video memory with main memory. In addition, for Fast User Switching to work properly, the currently logged on user may have to exit a few programs.

Domain membership
Fast User Switching will not work if you're using Windows XP Professional and the computer is a member of a network domain.

Third party programs
Third-party programs, such as the Novell client and the Citrix client, replace the Microsoft Graphical Identification and Authentication file (Msgina.dll). Fast User Switching requires Windows XP's original Msgina.dll file. Check third-party applications to see if they replace this file.

Incompatible applications
Even though Fast User Switching is supposed to allow one user to keep applications running while another borrows the computer, some applications aren't compatible with this feature. You can use the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit.

Quickly access the Task Manager

Windows XP's Task Manager is a very useful troubleshooting tool because it provides you with a summary of several performance metrics and detailed information about all the applications and processes currently running on your computer. In addition, it allows you to terminate hung applications.

The most common method of accessing the Task Manager is by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Delete], which brings up the Windows Security dialog box, and then clicking the Task Manager option. If you use XP in a stand-alone or workgroup configuration and log onto the system with the Welcome screen, this keyboard combination will immediately bring up the Task Manager.

Here are some other methods you can use in XP to quickly access the Task Manager:

Method one:

Press [Ctrl][Shift][Esc].

Method two:

1. Right-click the taskbar.

2. Select the Task Manager command.

1. Right-click the desktop.

2. Select New | Shortcut.

3. Type Taskmgr.exe in the text box.

4. Choose Next, and then select Finish.

5. Double-click the new icon.

Quickly Lock the Computer

In Windows NT 4 or 2000, pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del followed by Enter will lock the computer to keep other people from accessing your system. Strangely, Windows XP does not use the same keystrokes.

Fortunately, you don't have to wait around for the password-protected screen saver to kick in; you can simply press the key combination Windows-L. In case your system lacks a Windows key (as many laptops do), there's another solution. Right-click on the desktop and choose New | Shortcut from the pop-up menu. When prompted to type the location of the item, instead enter this command line: %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation. Launch this shortcut to lock the computer.

Note that when Fast User Switching is enabled, the shortcut will simply return you to the welcome screen, leaving you logged on.

Quickly track down computers on a network

If you manage a large network with many computers that you've configured to share resources on the network, quickly locating a specific computer can easily become a time-consuming and aggravating task. It can be quite a pain to open My Network Places and scan through a huge list of computers every time you just need to find one computer that you want to access.

However, there's an easier way to locate computers on a network. Follow these steps:

1. Right-click My Network Places, and select Search For Computers.

2. When the Search utility appears, enter the name of the system you want to find in the Computer Name text box, and click the Search button.

Windows XP will quickly return the computer you want to access. Best of all, XP will save the computer name in the history list. The next time you need to access the same computer, you can just enter a few letters of the name and select it from the drop-down list.

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Realize the power of Doskey

The power of Doskey lies in the support for macros. Not only does Doskey allow you to create macros, but you can also use the same names as built-in Windows XP commands. However, if you aren't careful, this can have negative consequences.

When you type the following command, it creates a macro called d that alphabetically displays the contents of a folder, listed one screen at a time:

doskey d=dir /o /p $*

If you want to create a macro called dir, and thus replace the original dir command to display the alphabetic contents of a folder, use the following macro:

doskey dir=dir /o /p $*

The bad news is that macros have the ability to completely change a given command. For example, you can write a macro called dir that would actually use the del command. This has the potential to cause serious damage to your system, because it would delete files instead of displaying them on the screen.

By default, macros are not saved when you close the console. To save a macro to a file, type doskey /macros > filename. To load it again, type doskey /macrofile=filename.

Reboot Without Launching Programs In The Startup Folder

When you're troubleshooting a problem, it helps to reboot without launching the items in the Startup folder. In some cases, the problem may go away, which indicates that the problem is a conflict with one of those applications. In cases where these items have no effect on the problem, skipping the Startup folder may still speed up the reboot considerably, which is convenient if you have to restart repeatedly. To skip loading the items in the Startup folder, hold the Shift key down during boot-up.

Rebuild the TCP/IP stack

There are times when a network snafu completely or partially corrupts your IP installation, which causes your TCP/IP network connection to fail or behave erratically. When this happens, the best solution is to rebuild the TCP/IP protocol stack.

In previous versions of Windows, rebuilding the TCP/IP protocol stack was a simple operation--you just removed and reinstalled TCP/IP. In Windows XP, you can't remove TCP/IP because it's considered an integral part of the operating system.

However, XP does come with a command-line utility--called NetShell--that allows you to reset all TCP/IP-related registry settings to their default values. The end result is essentially the same as installing a brand-new TCP/IP configuration.

To reset all TCP/IP-related registry settings, open a command prompt and type the following command:

netsh int ip reset <filename>

You must specify a log file in the <filename> placeholder for this command to work. Details about which registry keys were modified will appear in the log file.

Reclaim Access to Files

Logon as a user with full Administrator access.

Go to C:\Documents and settings

Open the folder that you need to recover (there is one for each user)

Open the folder Username's Documents.

You should now be able to see all the files in the folder.

Now to check the permissions on the folder

Go up a level

Click Tools (drop down menu at the top of the screen)

Go to Folder options

Go to View and scroll to the bottom

Un-tic the Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended)

Apply

Ok.

Right click the folder

Go to properties

Click Security

Click Add

Type in the Username

Click Ok

You should now see the username in the box at the top

Click on that username

Then click on the Full Control box

Apply

Ok

Log off or switch user

Logon as the user that you are recovering

(that is if you are recovering the user from a different user e.g. the Main Administrator user)

Go to C:\Documents and setting

Find the folder.

Check that you can get into it

If you can close all open windows

Open My Documents on the Desktop / Start Menu

You shouldn't be able to see any files (If you can you have finished)

If you cant: right click the My documents folder on the Desktop / Start Menu and go to properties.

The file path should read C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents

Change it to this.

You will now be able to see all the files.

Redirect My Documents to an alternate location

Have you ever wanted to change the location of the My Documents folder from the local hard drive to a network drive? In previous versions of the Windows operating system, performing this task required a series of tricky registry edits.

However, that's not the case in Windows XP. A built-in feature allows you to quickly and easily change the location of My Documents.

Follow these steps:

1. Press [Windows]E to open My Computer.

2. Right-click the My Documents icon in the folder tree, and select Properties.

Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

Reduce Boot Time

This piece of advice can speed up Windows more than any other tip. When Windows starts, it looks in several places for programs to run immediately on start-up. Some of these programs might run in the foreground, but most sit quietly in the background and eat up system resources.

Windows 98 SE and later versions have a feature called the System Configuration Utility. Type msconfig in the Run dialog or the Address bar (see "Customization" in this story) to invoke the System Configuration Utility, then choose the Startup tab. Here, you can disable items you think are unnecessary, such as media player launchers.

If you disable only nonessential programs, the only effect should be a speedier start-up. And because you're not removing these applications from the start-up—you're just disabling them—you can easily reenable them later.

Reduce Overhead By Setting Services to Manual

In a home or single-workstation environment, you can set certain Windows services to Manual, meaning they will only start when called on. To change the behavior of services, right-click on My Computer, select Manage, expand Services and Applications, click on a service, and change the start-up type.

If you are currently using these services, you can change them to Manual without worry: FTP Publishing Service, Message Queuing, Simple Mail Transport Protocol, Distributed Link Tracking Client, IPsec Policy Agent, Remote Registry Service, RIP Listener, and World Wide Web Publishing Service.

Remove Hidden Windows Components

If you've been looking for a way to remove Windows Messenger or other Windows components that don't show in the Add or Remove Programs applet, here's the secret. Windows keeps a list of components in a file called Sysoc.inf in C:\Windows\ Inf. Some of the entries under the [Components] heading, among them the line for Messenger, include the word hide. To make them visible to the Add or Remove Programs applet so that you can remove them, you have to delete the instruction to hide them.

First, make sure that Windows Explorer is set to display hidden files: In Windows Explorer, choose Tools | Folder Options, then the View tab, and set the option to Show hidden files and folders. Also remove the check from the check box labeled Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).

After clicking OK, you can navigate to the C:\Windows\Inf folder. Open Sysoc.inf in Notepad and find the line msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7. Delete the word hide, being careful to leave the commas. Save and close the file.

Next, go to the Control Panel, choose Add or Remove Programs, and when the applet opens, choose Add/Remove Windows Components. Windows Messenger should now appear in the list. You can make other hidden components appear in the applet by following the same steps.

Remove Items from Add/ Remove Programs

It's not hard to remove the uninstall information. The real trick is keeping it available in case you actually want to uninstall the program at some point. Launch Regedit from the Start menu's Run dialog and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninst all. Each subkey of this key represents an Add/Remove Programs item. Some have sensible names, like AvantGo Client. Others have GUIDs for names—strings of letters and numbers in curly braces, like "{D6DE02C7-1F47-11D4-9515-00105AE4B89A}." First check the legible names. If you don't find the desired item, select the GUID-names one at a time and scan the values in the right-hand pane for information that would link this entry to the program you're seeking.

Highlight the subkey below Uninstall that contains the item you want removed. Select Export from the File menu and export it to a .REG file. Then just delete the subkey. It will no longer appear in Add/Remove Programs. If at some future time you wish to uninstall the program, double-click on the .REG file to restore the uninstall data and then launch Add/Remove Programs.

If you happen to have the passwords that will allow you to log on as each user of the system, you can take a different approach and disable Add/Remove Programs entirely for those users. Log on as your daughter, for example, and launch REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Un install. If the Uninstall subkey below Policies does not exist, create it. In the right-hand pane, find or create a DWORD value named NoAddRemovePrograms. Double-click on it and set its data to 1. Now this user will not have access to Add/Remove Programs. Repeat for the other users. On an XP Pro system, a user with full administrator rights can lock other users out of Add/Remove Programs by using the Group Policy Editor. This tool is not present in Windows XP Home.

Rename Multiple Files

Windows Explorer in Windows XP lets you rename multiple files with one command, but alas, only in a limited way. First highlight the files you want to rename. For noncontiguous files, hold down the Ctrl key as you click on the filenames. Then press F2 and enter the new name. The files will all be given the same name, with consecutive numbers appended to differentiate them.

You can also undo the renaming, one file at a time, with Ctrl-Z. Note that you cannot rename the extensions on multiple files at once, only change each file's name to the left of the extension.

Roll Back Drivers

Updating a driver can sometimes have an adverse effect on your system. You may experience problems such as system crashes and malfunctioning devices. If this happens, use Windows XP's Device Driver Rollback feature to restore a previous driver.

Go to the Control Panel and open the System applet. Under System Properties, choose the Hardware tab and select Device Manager. Expand the menu for the type of device you want to roll back. Right-click on the device, choose Properties, and click on Roll Back Driver.