I must be in some sort of mood this morning. I figured since my last post was all Gentoorific, I’d post a little bit about my Windows XP install as well. I just found my personal install notes, so I’ll paste them in here.

I re-install Windows on my laptop every 3-6 months on average. I install all kinds of cruft and it usually starts to get pretty bogged down after 6 months. I also love the feeling of a brand new laptop install and use it as an opportunity to upgrade software that’s essential to the system and gets easily broken. So here goes!

# Windows Update!

remapkey.exe
## Right Ctrl -> Caps
## Caps -> Left Windows

# Customize folder options
## (General)
## Use windows classic folders
## (View)
## uncheck - Display simple folder view in Explorer’s Folders list
## check - Display the contents of system folders
## check - Display the full path in the address bar
## uncheck - Display the full path in the title bar
## check - Show hidden files and folders
## uncheck - Hide protected operating system files
## uncheck - Use simple file sharing
## configure details view and apply to all folders

# Check for latest versions of apps
## putty (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html)
## geoshell (http://geoshell.com)
## Trillian (http://trillian.cc)
## PGP (http://www.pgp.com)
## Tortoise CVS (http://www.tortoisecvs.org/)
## UltraEdit (http://www.ultraedit.com)
## Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com)
## Servant Salamander (http://www.altap.cz/)
## FireFOX (http://www.mozilla.org)
## TaskSwitchXP (http://taskswitchxp.sourceforge.net/)
## Winamp (http://www.winamp.com)

# Install PGP
# Install googlebar (http://toolbar.google.com/)
# Install Mozilla Firefox
# Install Trillian
# Install UltraEdit

# Install Servant Salamander
## Add read/write to user Menu (attrib +r, attrib -r - Don’t open shell window)
## (Appearance)
## check - Full row select
## (Viewers & Editors -> Editors)
## Command = C:\Program Files\IDM Computer Solutions\UltraEdit-32\uedit32.exe

# Install GeoShell
# Configure GeoShell
## (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Geo\GeoShell\Plugins\geOTasks0_1)
## Show Captions = 0
## Plugin Min Width = 0
## (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Geo\GeoShell\Services\Hotkey\szIDs)
## App_RDP = win|r|”C:\Winnt\System32\mstsc.exe”
## App_Irfanview = win|i|”C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view32.exe”
## App_Console = shift+win|c|c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe /K cd \tools && title Console
## App_Sal = win|e|”C:\Program Files\Servant Salamander 2.5 beta 3\SALAMAND.exe”
## App_Putty = win|p|”C:\tools\NetUtils\putty-dev.exe”
## App_UE = SHIFT+WIN|u|”C:\Program Files\UltraEdit\uedit32.exe”
## App_VPN = win|v|”C:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\VPN Client\ipsecdialer.exe”
## App_PWSafe = win|p|C:\Tools\Utilities\pwsafe\pwsafe.exe
## App_Firefox = win|m|”C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe”
## (HKCU\Software\geo\geOShell\ShellUI\Desktop)
## Desktop Top = 10
## (HKCU\Software\geo\geOShell\Plugins\geoMenuLaunch0_1)
## Button Caption = “”

# IE Settings
## (Advanced)
## uncheck - Show friendly HTTP error messages
## (Multimedia)
## uncheck - Enable Automatic Image Resizing

# Configure task manager
## check - Show processes from all users
## Options -> Hide When Minimized
## View -> Select Columns (+Virtual Memory Size

# Install Tortoise CVS
## Timo Kauppinen overlay Icons
## External diff application: C:\Tools\Utilities\ExamDiff\ExamDiff.exe

# Configure default putty settings
## (Window)
## 30 Rows, 100 Columns
## 500 Lines of scrollback
## (Window -> Behaviour)
## System menu appears on ALT-Space
## (Connection)
## 90 seconds between keepalives

# Set screen to non bubblified classic
# Effects -> Enable cleartype
# Effects -> Don’t hide underlined letters

##### Things Missing #####
# Mozilla Bookmarks

# Configure UltraEdit
## (Backup)
## Default Backup Directory - C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\Backups\UltraEdit
## (Edit)
## check - Use spaces in place of Tabs
## Tab Stop Value/Indent Spaces = 2
## (File Types)
## add .php extension

# Clean up start menu - Organize everything into Net, Multimedia, Utils, and Games folders for the most part

# Install Ultranav driver for T40

# Install Winamp

# Lock down McShield
# Configure McAfee as wanted, then deny set access to the following key
## (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Network Associates\TVD\Shared Components\On Access Scanner\McShield\Configuration\Default)

# Install winpcap, ethereal, nmap, cain, vmware
# Install dameware, l0pht, mappoint, PERL
# Install win2k3 admin pak and res kits

# Install perl modules
ppm install Net::IPv4Addr

# Clean up services
## manual - server, netlogon, messenger, webclient, remoteregistry

# Add perl modules
ppm install file-grep

# Install Outlook, Outlook Connector for Domino, Quintessential, iTunes

## Here we go again - 3/28/2005
# Install bluetooth driver
# Install wildpackets atheros driver

# Firefox Extensions
## SessionSaver - http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/sessionsaver
## miniT -http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/minit
## Web Developer - http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/webdeveloper
## BugMeNot - http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/bugmenot
## GreaseMonkey - http://greasemonkey.mozdev.org/
## LittleFox Theme - https://addons.update.mozilla.org/themes/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&version=1.0&os=Windows&id=307

And pretty soon I’ll post a comprehensive list of my tools directory and maybe even give you access to my tools repository!