How to deal with multiple versions of Java

Disable autorun ­ part 2
We have previously looked at turning off Autorun for removable media using XP Pro’s Group Policy Editor. XP Home doesn’t come with this utility, so we promised you a way of disabling Autorun via the Windows Registry.

As with XP Pro, you first need to be logged on as an administrator and need the KB950582 update installed. Having made a System Restore point, run regedit.exe and go to HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Policies \Explorer. The KB950582 update will have added an ‘HonorAutorunSetting’ DWORD with a value of 1. Don’t change this, but add another DWORD value named ‘NoDriveTypeAutoRun’. If you give this a hex value of FF (255 decimal) this will stop all drives from Autoplaying. Give it a value of b5 (181 decimal and it will just affect CD drives.

Editing the Registry gives you further options not available in Group Polices, both for XP Home and Pro. If you look at 'NoDriveTypeAutorun.pdf you’ll see you can combine various options by adding the values shown.

Software Explorer
Over the years, we’ve looked at ways of controlling what loads when Windows starts, including the built-in MSconfig utility and third-party applications.

If you’ve been keeping up with your Windows XP updates, you should now find there’s a better way of keeping tabs on start-ups, as well as programs that are running, network-connected programs and winsock service providers. If you open Control Panel in classic view, you should see the item ‘Software Explorer’.

Alternatively, you can start Windows Defender, and click on the Tools menu, then Software Explorer.
It seems identical to the Software Explorer built in to Vista, except that the latter does not have a standalone Control Panel shortcut. What’s really useful about this is that it shows far more information than you get in MSconfig, including digital signatures, whether it ships as part of Windows and so on. There’s also a well-written help file to tell you what it all means.