• Open a command prompt
• Copy the current c:\boot.ini to another name (just in case)
• With your favorite text editor, edit c:\boot.ini
• Copy then edit the current boot line to another line.
  
  Example:
  multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect might copy and then change to: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safeboot" /fastdetect
  
  
• Start MSCONFIG
• Click on the BOOT.INI tab
• Highlight the second line with the additional name of Safeboot
• Check the /SAFEBOOT box with option you want Minimal - Minimal set of drivers Network - With Network Support Dsrepair - Directory Services Repair Minimal (Alternate Shell) - Standard Explorer Desktop
• You will now have this option every time you start XP

Printing a Directory
WindowsXP does not allow you to use previously describe methods for printing the contents of a directory. To do this requires the creation of a small batch file which is then added to your right-click options.

Batch File:
On the root of the C: drive, create a batch file called print_directory.bat with the following lines:

@echo off
dir %1 /o:g > c:\directory.txt
start /w notepad /p c:\directory.txt
del c:\directory.txt
exit

Note:
dir %1 /o:g will print with any directories listed first. You can add whatever other switches you like.

Adding to the Explorer Right Click

• Start the Explorer
• Go to Tools / Folder Options
• On the File Types tab, click File Folder.
• Click Advanced button and then click New.
• In the Action box, type Print Directory (or whatever text you want to appear).
• In the Application used to perform action box, type C:\print_directory.bat, and then click OK.
• Click OK, click OK, and then click Close

Fixing the Registry:
Sometimes after adding the right click with the Explorer, the default setting for opening a folder is changed. To correct this:

• Start Regedit
• Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Directory \ shell
• Edit the default value to be explorer or none

Adding Environment Variables
Since any version of NT does not use an autoexec.bat file, to add environment variables to WindowsXP:

• Right click on My Computer
• Select Properties
• Click on the Advanced tab
• Click on the Environment Variables button
• From here you can change it for the system or just the current user.

Setting the Dir Command to Display Filenames on the Left
Previous versions of Windows displayed the filenames on the left hand side when you run the dir command. WindowsXP changes this and the default it to put it on the right. To change this back:

• Right click on My Computer
• Click on Properties
• Click on the Advanced tab
• Click on the Environment Variables button
• Click on New button
• Enter the Variable name: dircmd
• Enter the Variable value: /-n

Allowing Network Access with Blank Passwords
Although you can log in locally without a password, by default, WindowsXP Pro does not allow network users to access the computer without a password. Typically you will receive an Unknown error 31 if this is the case. To change this setting:

• Run gpedit.msc
• Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options
• Double click on Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console login only
• Disable this option

Re-Enabling System Restore
If you previously disabled system restore through the Group Policy Editor, the option to start it again does not show in the System Properties. You can re-enable it again by:

• Run the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
• Go to Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / System / System Restore
• Set Turn off System Restore and Turn off Configuration to Disable
• Right click on My Computer
• Select Manage
• Go to Services and Applications / Services
• Scroll down to System Restore Service
• Set it for Automatic
• Click on the Start button to start the service
• Close down this window
• Go back to the Group Policy Editor and configure both to Not configured
• Now when you right click on My Computer, there should be a tab for System Restore and you can configure how much space will be used.

Renaming the Start Button
To rename the start button, you will need a hex editor. Preference is UltraEdit:

• Copy the \windows\explore.exe file to a new name (e.g. explorer_1.exe)
• With the hex editor, open that file and go to offset 412b6
• You will see the word start with blanks between each letter
• Edit it be any 5 characters or less
• Save the file
• Boot to DOS
• Copy the existing c:\windows\explorer.exe to explorer.org
• Copy explorer_1.exe to explorer.exe
• You will also need to replace the explorer.exe in the c:\windows\system32\dllcache file as well with the new one.

Note:
If the partition is NTFS and you can't access the files from DOS:

• Start Regedit
• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon.
• Change the value of Shell from Explorer.exe to explorer_1.exe

Rollback a Device Driver
If you install a device drive that does not work correctly, you can restore the previous one fairly easily.

• 1. Log in with an administrator account
• Right click on My Computer
• Select Properties
• Click on the Hardware tab
• Click on the Device Manager button
• Go to the device you want to reconfigure
• Click on the Driver tab
• Click on the Roll Back Drive button