CNET Help.com — Community directory: “Items that are disabled are listed in the registry in one of the following locations:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SharedTools\MSConfig\startupfolder”
20 Super Tips for Outlook Express: “Splitting a check is one thing; splitting an in-box is something else entirely. Fortunately, Outlook Express makes it easy for two or more users on the same PC to keep their mail separate. All you need to do is create identities. Go into the File menu, scroll down to Identities, and click on Add New Identity. Enter a name for each person?and a password, if you need a little technology to supplement your trust. Keep in mind that while each identity gets its own address book, contacts can also be copied to a shared address book. And you don’t need multiple users to have multiple identities; if you have work and personal e-mail accounts, identities are a handy way to keep them separate.”
How do I clear or clean out my Windows XP msconfig selection start-up menu? A lot of old programs that have been deleted off my PC still show up there.
–Submitted by: Drew S. of Baltimore, Maryland
First, a word of warning: This may require you to edit the registry. Doing this incorrectly can cause permanent damage to your operating system and should therefore be done with extreme caution.
1) Click the Start menu.
2) Go to Run.
3) Type regedit and hit Enter.
Now navigate through the registry just like you navigate your hard drive in Windows.
1. In the left pane, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run
2. In the right pane, find the name of a program you want to remove from your msconfig (look at msconfig if need be), and click it.
3. Hit the Delete key and click Yes in the resulting dialog.
4. Close msconfig (if it is open), then reopen it. If the file appears, it is located somewhere else; if it doesn’t appear, repeat the above steps for the rest of the ones you want removed from msconfig.
5. If it is still there, go back to the top of the tree in the left pane (making sure you hit the minus button on the left of each folder to collapse them).
6. Then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run (note that it is local_machine now instead of current_user).
7. Find the file in the right side and delete it in the same manner as before.
8. Close and reopen msconfig again and verify that it is gone.
SSID Broadcast Question
By M. David Stone
In “Making the Best of WEP” ( www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1429905,00.asp ), you recommend disabling the SSID broadcast for access points as a security measure for 802.11b networks. But Microsoft says, “Disabling SSID broadcasts on an access point is not considered a valid method for securing a wireless network” ( http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811427 ).
With the SSID broadcast disabled, if there is another access point within range that is broadcasting, systems will automatically switch to the access point that’s broadcasting its SSID. This happens even if you didn’t list that broadcasting system as a preferred network and you’ve listed the access point that’s not broadcasting as preferred. It seems, then, that turning off the SSID broadcast is something you shouldn’t do. – Carey Holzman
You’re right about Microsoft’s statement, but the access point manufacturers we’ve talked to disagree. More important, the behavior you describe applies only if you are using Windows XP SP1, let Windows control the connection, and have Win-dows set to connect automatically to nonpreferred networks.
To ensure that Windows will connect to an access point that’s defined as a preferred network but has broadcasting turned off, open the Control Panel and choose Network Connections, then Wireless Network Connection, and then the Properties button. Next, choose the Wireless Networks tab and then the Advanced button. Make sure that the Automatically connect to nonpreferred networks check box is not checked. Now you should be able to connect without problems to an access point that’s not broadcasting its SSID, as described in our original tip.
Remove User Name and Password from a Single Site
By Neil J. Rubenking
Is there any way to remove the saved user name and password from a single Web site? I need to remove this information only from one particular site; I want to keep all of my other saved password data. So far, all I can find in Internet Explorer is the option to clear all the passwords from all sites.
Removing a stored user name and password is pretty simple. Navigate to the site in question. When it prompts you for the user name and password, click in the user name box and press the Down Arrow. This will show all the user names stored for the particular site (usually just one). Press the Down Arrow until the name to be removed is highlighted, and then press the Del key. Windows will ask whether you want to delete the user name and password. Click on Yes and they’re gone.