Windows Longhorn 4051 PDC GUIDE

Well here we are, the moment we have all been waiting for. The PDC has finally arrived, and with it so has Longhorn Pre-Beta build 4051. There are many new things in this build that are worth checking out as well as a few disappointments we'd like to express. Well this is a tweak guide isn't it? Lets get tweaking!

Longhorn 4051 System Requirements

* 300 MHz PII Processor or higher
* 256MB of RAM is STRONGLY recommended
* At least 3.5 GB HDD Space

Changes Over Build 4029

* Welcome screen is similar to 4029 but now sports black as the color of choice to match the new Slate theme.
* The setup routine has been redone for this build and is much nicer than previous builds.
* New Slate theme included in this build, Plex is gone for good.
* Carousel view in Hardware and Devices has been removed.
* New sidebar clock design yet again.
* Preview pane polished but still somewhat slow.
* Download manager in Internet Explorer works intermittently (reported by numorous people that it works on and off or not at all)
* Popup blocker in Internet Explorer improved, works very nicely.
* New boot screen (Looks a bit weird).

Bugs and Known Issues in 4051

* Explorer is still leaky with the sidebar on (see below).
* In Outlook 2003 when you click Personal Folders it displays the html code instead of Outlook Today.
* Network Browsing is broken by default. See "Repair Longhorns Networking" later on in this guide.
* Internet Explorer's download manager is flakey. Sometimes it work, sometimes it doesn't.
* If a menu overlaps the sidebar, it may remove the sidebar gredient from the overlapped area. To fix this, just resize another tile over the missing gredient area and things should return to normal.
* If Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer lock up, you will get a glimpse of where the original titlebar (from previous windows versions) is in Explorer.

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)

Q: Why is my Longhorn CD not bootable?
A: Because the original release was missing its boot record. You will need to obtain a fixed ISO or find a patch to make the CD bootable.

Q: Does the memory leak still exist in Explorer?
Unfortunatly, it does, but there are two solutions to repair the leak or stop it completely. Read the rest of the guide for more information.

Performance Tweaks
Here's where the fun begins. This build has a lot to be tweaked to speed it up so here we go!

Uninstalling un-needed components:

* First open SYSOC.INF. You can do this by clicking the Windows flag (Start), and then clicking Run. Type "notepad C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF" (without the quotes.
* Then delete all instances of the word HIDE and save.

Now navigate to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel
Go to Add/Remove Windows Components

Uninstall the following:

* %avalon_desc%
* %mfDesc%
* %mygames_desc%
* %sidebar_desc%
* TabletPCRuntime_desc%
* oc_biologon
* Windows File System Services (WinFS)
* Windows Storage Full-text Index

NOTE: There is a leak in the Windows Explorer process when you have the sidebar on. Make absolutely sure you uninstall %avalon_desc% and %sidebar_desc%, this will either stop the leak or slow it down, depends on your system configuration.

Disabling Unnecessary Services:

Go to Start --> Run and type Services.msc
Now set the following services to DISABLED

* Automatic Updates
* AvRtSvr
* Base Firewall Engine
* Biometric Resource Manager
* Castle Service
* Certificate Propogation
* Computer Data Synchronization Manager
* Digital ID Management Service
* Error Reporting Service
* Font Cache Service
* FontCacheService
* Fusion Isolation Service
* ICF/ICS - Firewall and connection sharing
* IPSEC Services
* NS$ShellSubscriptions
* Offline Files Service
* Parental Control Auditing
* Remote Registry
* Secondary Logon
* Software Licensing Service
* SSDP Discovery Service
* System Maintenance Service
* System Restore Service
* Universal Plug and Play Device Host
* WindowsEventForwardingService
* WinFSSync

Performance Options:

Now go to Computer properties --> Advanced Tab, under Performance options click the Settings button.

Uncheck the following:

* Animate Windows when Minimizing and Maximizing
* Fade or slide menus into view
* Fade or slide tool tips into view
* Fade out menu items after clicking
* Show preview and filters in folders (VERY IMPORTANT)
* Show shadows under menus
* Show translucent selection rectangle
* Slide open combo boxes
* Slide taskbar buttons
* Smooth edges of screen fonts
* Smooth-scroll list boxes
* Use a background image for each folder type

Now open Computer and go to Tools --> Folder Options and click View Tab and uncheck the following:

* Automatically search for network folders and printers
* Choose smart icons when opening new windows
* Display file size information in folder tips
* Display simple folder view in explorer's folder list
* Hide extenstions for known file types
* Use Domain folder sharing wizard
* Use simple file sharing

The Infamous Explorer Memory Leak

Everyone remember the explorer.exe memory leak that was present in 4015 and 4029? Well suprise! Its still here! Good news is it can be capped off for good with a few simple steps.

1. Start by disabling the sidebar (right click sidebar --> properties uncheck Enable Sidebar)
2. Go into Computer, go to tools --> Folder Options and check "Run Explorer windows in a seperate process"
3. Right click Computer and go to properties, Advanced tab, under performance hit settings and uncheck "Show preview and filters in folder"
4. Now reboot and there will be no more memory leak. The sidebar has pretty much been turned into a waste of space in this build, and filters are sort of broken in places, so theres no real need to have them turned on.

Repair Longhorns Networking

In terms of Networking, build 4051 is sort of.. well.. messed up. You may not be able to browse some computers' network shares or even the entire network itself. To fix this, follow the instructions below.

1. Make sure that your workgroup is set the same as all of your other machines. You can change this by clicking the Windows flag (Start), right-clicking on My Computer, and selecting Properties. Click the Computer Name tab, and then click the Change button. Change the workgroup name and press OK. Don't reboot if asked.
2. Next, you will need to change a setting for the Client for Microsoft Networks. To change this setting, click the Windows flag (Start), and then click Control Panel. Double-click Network Connections. Next, right-click on "Local Area Connection" and click Properties. Select "Client for Microsoft Networks" and then click "Properties". Click the arrow next to the first drop-down box in the Properties dialog and select "Windows Locator". Press OK, and close the Properties window.
3. Restart your computer.

After performing the above steps you should be able to browse through network shares and other network related items without any problems.

Components Of the Sidebar

This is one of the disappointments of build 4051 if you ask me. Microsoft seriously downsized the amount of tiles available, theres only 5 tiles in this build.

* Clock Tile - The analog clock that we've seen in 4029, although its been redesigned slightly. It looks alot better and now has the "digital time" (EG: 5:23PM) and the date below it.
* Quick Launch - Displays the items in your Quick Launch. Slightly redesigned, no longer has the names by the items.
* Classic Tray Tile - Displays the System Tray. Some icons may not appear correctly or at all. You can access them by clicking on the tile itself, which will display a list of the tray icons. (Note: It doesn't seem to refresh well)
* Slide Show Tile - display a picture slideshow on the sidebar, cool if you're bored and need something to stare at. Seems to only display the contents of My Pictures and is not customizable in this build.
* Sync - Used for file syncronization. Requires WinFS

:arrow: SOURCE

Looks like I'll just wait until it hits Beta stage.

you'll miss out on the development of LH.. to see where it is going and what new features it may have..

Just create a small partition and play around with it. If it sucks, delete it. No harm done.
:P