Windows XP System Restore Is Easy to Use System Restore allows you to "roll back" your system to an earlier date when things were working correctly if you have a problem. This article is written by Joli Ballew, who is a regular Microsoft Expert Zone columnist.
AutoRuns for Windows v9.21 This Microsoft utility helps you get a handle on all of those programs which automatically start up with Windows. It also shows the order in which they are loaded. This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. It also allows you to stop them from starting to see if they are the cause of a problem you are having.BartsPE - This link is to BartsPE which is a program that creates a boot CD that runs Windows XP and has a selection of utilities which you can use to repair your computer when it breaks. You have to have a legal copy of Windows to create your boot CD but it's free and it includes network support including the internet all from a bootable CD. The download is only about 3.5 megabytes so even a dial-up user can download it easily. BartsPE was incorporated into the much more capable UBCD4Win which is available at the next link below.
UBCD4Win - This link is to the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. This boot CD runs the Windows XP system live from a CD which you create with the program you download and your Windows installation CD. It has many, many tools on it that will allow you to do anything you want to your compter while booted from the CD, it even has internet support and Remote Desktop so you can connect to someone else's computer over the net to work on it. It is a rather large download at 239 megabytes so if you are on dial-up you may want to purchase a copy on CD from him. It's free to download and use, but for a small fee you can buy the program on CD. I was able to create my Windows live CD by pointing UBCD4Win at my C:\Windows folder [which contains my I386 folder] when it asked for the location of my Windows installation files.
compmgmt.msc Computer Management Console. To start this program go to Start, Run and type in compmgmt.msc then hit the Ok button with your mouse. This program includes the functionality of Event Viewer and Service Management Console as well as a Disk Management section which will allow you to delete partitions, format drives, change drive letter and paths. Disk Defragmenter is available from this program as well. There is also Device Manager available within the program so you can look at your hardware settings and drivers.
Group Policy Editor download - If you have Windows XP Home you don't have the Group Policy Editor which comes with the Pro version of XP, but good news, you can download it and install it. This is a .zip file with all the files in it you need to install the Group Policy Editor. To install follow the directions in the "Read this.txt" file in the .zip file in the "GPEdit Files" folder. Group Policy Editor will allow you to change a lot of things in Windows XP, from hiding or showing which drives show in My Computer to disabling access to the Control Panel or the Start, Run dialog, this tool enables you to configure just about anything. Part of the install is registering the .dll files and when you register one of them it fails registration but don't worry Group Policy Editor will still work for you. To start the program after it's installed, go to Start, Run and type in GPEdit.msc then hit Ok with your mouse.
services.msc Service Management Console. This program is built into Windows XP. To start it, go to Start, Run and type in services.msc then hit Ok with your mouse. This program allows you to stop services which can allow you to zero in on which one of them might be causing you a problem.
eventvwr.msc Event Viewer. This program is built into Windows XP. To start it, go to Start, Run and type in eventvwr.msc and hit Ok with your mouse. Event Viewer shows system events which have been logged over the past several boots. Errors will be flagged with an error icon that looks like this
and
warnings have an icon like this 
Right click an item in the list
and select Properties from the pop up menu to see a description of what
the error or warning is about. Often you can find an error which
corresponds to a problem you are having with your computer such as slow
booting.
sigverif.exe File Signature Verification.
This program checks the signatures of critical files to insure they are
signed, and flags unsigned files. Here is a screen shot of the starting
dialog for it. It's possible an unsigned driver file could cause a
problem in Windows. To start the program go to Start, Run and type in
sigverif.exe and then hit the Ok button with your mouse.msinfo32 System Information. This program is built into Windows XP and can be started by going to Start, Run, and typing in msinfo32, then hit Ok with your mouse. This program will show you all kinds of information about your system from which audio codecs you are using to hardware resources you will find a wealth of information to help you with your troubleshooting.
msconfig
Microsoft System Configuration Utility. To start this program go to
Start, Run and type in msconfig then hit Ok with your mouse. This
utility allows you to change the way windows boots, edit your .ini
files and start many tools that are included with windows as you can
see on the tab shown on the image. You can also stop services and
disable startup programs from a couple of other tabs in here.sfc /Scannow Type this command into the Start, Run box and hit the Ok button with your mouse to start the System File Checker which verifies all system files and replaces them from the system files cache if they are found to be of the incorrect version. This can replace files replaced by virus infections or other problems.
Sysinternals Utilities Index This is an index of all of the Sysinternals Utilities from Microsoft. There are a raft of tools here, too many to go into in this document. Many of these tools are diagnostic in nature.
Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool This tool updates on the second Tuesday of every month through Windows Update and runs once a month in the background and reports it's findings on the next boot. Just a bit of extra insurance that your systems is malware free.
MemTest - Memtest is a small freeware utility used to run a test on your system memory. If you are having odd errors occurring and suspect bad RAM, download this little tool and run it to find out how healthy your RAM is.
Rootkit Revealer - This tool from Microsoft can reveal a rootkit infection on your system. This download page has detailed instructions, and the gist of them is to install the program, quit all other applications, and then run the Rootkit Revealer scan.
verifier - Have you had a blue screen of death experience? Not sure what's causing it? Well, there is a possibility that you have a problem with a driver file. To find out, boot into Safe Mode, click Start, Run, and type in verifier, then hit enter. You will get a dialog with some options. Select the option for "test all drivers" and OK out of the dialog.
Now reboot and try to go into Normal Mode. If your blue screen before was caused by a driver problem you should get another blue screen now with the culprit driver being identified on it. Go back to safe mode and un-install the driver causing the problem, and if it's for needed hardware, go to the manufacturers web site and look for an updated driver to install.
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