Configure IE to download more than 2 concurrent files

IE 6 has a nasty habit of preventing us from downloading more than 2 files at once. Sounds idiotic? Believe it or not, it’s true! To configure IE to allow up to 10 simultaneous downloads (it only allows 2 at a time) do the following:

Open Registry Editor.

In [...]

Delete Temporary Internet Files (and make the temporary storage space smaller)

By default, IE uses a lot of storage space for temporary Internet files. Today, with the availability of broadband connections, storing old and cached content is not a must as it was in the old modem-days. Make that folder smaller. Also, we want to clear up the content of the folder [...]

Copy the I386 source folder to your HD and change the source path

If you installed XP from your CD then whenever it needs a source file (such as when you add an un-installed feature) it will ask you for the CD. You can make life easier if you just copy the I386 source folder from the CD to a partition on your HD.
[...]

Restore my Desktop icons!

XP hides you regular desktop icons. I don’t know why, but some sick mind in Seattle thought that a desktop without Internet Explorer, My Computer, My Documents and the My Network Places icons looks nicer.
I don’t.
So I want to get them back.
Follow the next [...]

Get rid of the MSN Passport creation prompt

Windows XP can drive you nuts with the idiotic Passport reminder balloon. If you don’t use Microsoft Messenger for your IM needs, or use a different client (see Replace Windows/MSN Messenger for some examples) then you might want to disable that reminder.

Start Registry [...]

Get rid of the Tour prompt

The “Take Tour of Windows XP” prompt can drive you mad.

To disable it follow the next steps:  

Open the registry editor and go to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour

Create a new value with the name of

RunCount
Data Type: REG_DWORD

Give it a value of 0 [...]

Customize a new Windows XP installation

When installing a brand new Windows XP Pro computer (read my Install Windows XP Pro page) I end up making many changes to its interface and some of its interior settings.
Some of these changes are for made for performance reasons while others are purely visual and made [...]