Faster network browse in Windows XP

Windows XP is too darn slow by default in browsing network and shares. Each time we open up Entire network, or type \\MyPC, Windows attempts to look for shared printers and scheduled tasks. You can disable it by applying the following to the registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}]

If you want to download a pre-made file. Click the download link below. Double click to execute and click Yes when windows prompts you for a confirmation.

Download Fast-Network-Browse registry file (416 bytes)

Disable Low Disk Space popup in Window XP

Getting annoyed by the low disk space warning balloon popup of Windows XP? Copy and paste the contents below to a Windows Registry file and execute it to remove this nag.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001

Alternatively, you can download the registry file from below. Double click to execute and click yes to confirm.

No-Low-Disk-space-warning registry file (326 bytes). Click to download.

Remove Yahoo Messenger 8 advertisements

Yahoo! Messenger is a great instant messenger client. Well, not when it has annoying advertisements shown at the bottom of the screen. I don't mind seeing ads on websites, but I really hate adware, especially when its something that I use almost all day. Fortunately, there is a solution for almost every problem. Here's a batch file (.bat) that you can run to remove advertisements from Yahoo Messenger 8 and above.

Click here to download Yahoo Messenger Ad-Remove batch file. ymsgrads.bat (1.02 KiB, 1050 bytes)

Now the how-it-works part. Yahoo Messenger keeps the advertisement URLs in the Windows Registry and in a urls.xml file. The batch file creates a registry file (.reg) and executes it, which in turn puts a non-existent address (http://0.0.0.0) in place of all advertisement URLs. YMsgr tries to fetch advertisement from this address, which does not resolve, and the whole advertisement window is gone, without a trace.

If you feel unsafe to download and run a batch file from the internet, I've copied the contents of the file below. You can copy and paste it to notepad and save it as a batch file (.bat) and execute it.

@echo off
title Remove Yahoo Messenger 8 advertisements

> %temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo REGEDIT4
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo.
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\Pager\YUrl]
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Messenger Ad"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Webcam Upload Ad"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Webcam Viewer Ad"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Webcam Viewer Ad Big"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Webcam Viewer Ad Medium"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Change Room Banner"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Conf Adurl"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Chat Adurl"="http://0.0.0.0/"
>>%temp%.\ymsgrads.reg echo "Y Content"="http://0.0.0.0/"
regedit /S %temp%.\ymsgrads.reg
del %temp%.\ymsgrads.reg

attrib -r "%programfiles%\Yahoo!\Messenger\Cache\urls.xml"
echo "" >"%programfiles%\Yahoo!\Messenger\Cache\urls.xml"
attrib +r "%programfiles%\Yahoo!\Messenger\Cache\urls.xml"

ipconfig /flushdns

Enjoy instant messenging without annoying advertisements.

Solution to chkesp.c error on wxWidgets compilation with MSVC++ 6.0

If you are getting an error similar to the following while compiling a wxWidgets application in debug mode with Visual C++ 6.0, it turns out to be a compiler switch problem. I saw this issue being discussed in a lot of forums but none of their solutions really worked out for me. Well, I had to spend a lot of time to find the solution, I thought I'd share because this one ruined a lot of my time!

Error

Debug Error!

Program: D:\projects\prototypes\wxtest.exe
Module:
File: i386\chkesp.c
Line: 42

The value of ESP was not properly saved across a function call. This is usually a result of calling a function declared with one calling convention with a function pointer declared with a different calling convention.

(Press Retry to debug the application)

Abort | Retry | Ignore

Solution

Its the exception handling thing! Seems wxWidget compilation needs exception handling enabled. It can be enabled by the /GX switch.

If you dont know how to do it, follow these simple steps:

1. Project menu > Settings
2. Make sure you have selected the project name in the left tree of the dialog box (It by default is!)
3. Select C/C++ tab on the right
4. Select C++ Language in Category drop down box
5. Check the Enable exception handling checkbox.
6. Click OK

Alternatively, follow steps 1, 2, 3 and,

4. Insert /GX switch in the Project Options text box
5. Click OK

Try recompiling. Error should be gone!