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What you need:
A windows XP CD of any flavor.
XP service pack 3 which can be downloaded HERE. Rename the file xpsp3.exe.
IsoBuster which can be downloaded for free HERE.
Nero which isn’t free, but has a trial version HERE.

1. Create a folder called “sp3″ in the root of your hard drive (i.e. C:\sp3) and copy xpsp3.exe to this folder.

2. Create a folder called “xpcd” inside “sp3″ (i.e. C:\sp3\xpcd) and copy your entire XP CD to this folder.

3. Open a command prompt by going start -> run, then type “cmd” in the open window and click OK. Extract the service pack 3 files by typing this command:
C:\sp3\xpsp3.exe -u -x:c:\sp3\files

4. Integrate sp3 files into your windows cd files by typing the this command at the command prompt:
C:\sp3\files\i386\update\update.exe -s:c:\sp3\xpcd

5. With your XP cd in the cd drive, fire up IsoBUster (download here) and select Bootable Disc from the left pane, then right-click the Microsoft Corporation.img file in the right pane and select Extract Microsoft Corporation.img and save the file in C:\sp3.

If you can’t be bothered with this step you can download Microsoft Corporation.img here.

6. Now all you need to do is burn the disc. Fire up Nero 5.5 or higher and choose CD-ROM(boot) from the New Compilation menu. Select the boot tab and then browse to the ‘Microsoft Corporation.img’ you saved at C:\sp3. Select “No Emulation” and change “Number of loaded sectors” to 4.

7. Select the ISO tab and make sure the file name length is set to “Max. of 31 chars (Level 2)”. Also make sure the check box next to “Do not add the ‘;1′ ISO file version extension” is checked then click the “New” button.

8. Now drag all the files in c:\sp3\xpcd from the file browser to the left pane and burn the disc.

This tutorial explains how to view hidden files like .htaccess with the free open source FTP client FileZilla. These instructions are for version 2 and version 3 of the software.

Filezilla Version 2
To view hidden files in FileZilla 2 you need to digg into the settings. Select “Edit -> Settings -> Interface settings -> Remote file list” then near the bottom of the window select the check box “Always show hidden files” as shown below…

FileZilla Version 3
To view hidden files with FileZilla 3 it is simply a matter of selecting “Server” in the main menu then selecting “Force showing hidden files”…

When you do this you will receive a warning but it is nothing to worry about. Read the warning, click OK and hidden files like .htaccess will now be visible when you connect to your server.

Want to be able to click a button on your desktop to shutdown your computer instead of having to click “Start -> Turn Off Computer -> Turn Off” every single time? All you have to do is create a shortcut on your desktop that points to shutdown.exe with the right switches. When you have finished it could look something like this…




Creating a Shutdown button:

Right click the desktop and select new -> shortcut and the Create Shortcut wizard will appear. Click the browse button and browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe and click OK…

Now add “-s -t 0″ (without quotes, zero not the letter o) to the end of the text in the location box as shown below…

Now click next and finish. You will now have a functioning but ugly shutdown button on your desktop…

To make it look nicer rename the shortcut then right click, select properties, and select Change Icon to select a better icon.

Create a Restart button:

It might seem a little strange but Windows XP restarts using the same shutdown.exe file. To create a restart button follow the same steps above but use a -r switch instead of a -s switch…

After creating both shortcuts, renaming them and changing the icons, you should have something like this…

Shutdown.exe switches: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317371

Want to be able to open Windows Explorer and have it automatically open a certain folder instead of having to drill down through the folders? It’s easy to do with switches that can be used with windows explorer.

Explorer switches:
/n -opens a new explorer window
/e -opens in explorer view
/root, -selects root folder in left pane
/select, -opens parent folder of selected foldername

EG: C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e, /select, c:\