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    DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

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    by Bill Detwiler ·

    After installing Windows XP Professional on a computer you?ll encounter several annoying prompts that appear as balloons in the notification area of the taskbar.

    The first balloon prompts you take the Windows XP Tour. This balloon will return on subsequent logons until you?ve either taken the tour or dismissed the prompt at least three times.

    The second balloon will prompt you to create an .NET Passport account. This balloon will return on a regular basis until you either create a .NET Passport account or dismiss the prompt at least 10 times.

    If you don?t want to take the Windows XP Tour nor want to create an .NET Passport account, you can instantly and permanently disable both of these nagging prompts right after you install Windows XP by running the XP Nag Disabler VBScript.

    Download and use the VBScript:
    http://techrepublic.com.com/5138-10877-5760608.html

    Then, join this ongoing discussion and let us know if you find the XP Nag Disabler VBScript useful and if there’s anything we can do to improve the tool.

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    • #3176739

      Let me know…

      by Greg Shultz ·

      In reply to DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

      As the author of this little script, I’d like to hear your thoughts on what you think about this type of tool.

      Are there other nags or little bugaboos in Windows XP that you’d like to be able to do away with? If so, please take a moment to drop a note in this discussion and let me know and I’ll see if I can come up with a script to take care of it.

      Thanks

      • #3187341

        balloon pop-ups

        by rdkd25 ·

        In reply to Let me know…

        The best way to eliminate balloons and I believe it takes care of the tour and passport pop-ups is Tweak IU. In “task and Startup” just uncheck “enable balloon tips”.

        • #3218987

          Balloon disable caveat…

          by shawn ·

          In reply to balloon pop-ups

          If you disable all balloons, you also disable balloon popups that notify users when it is safe to disconnect USB flash drives when ejected and when the user is online or offline when using offline files.

          If you need these features, do not disable balloon popups globally.

      • #3183718

        Great idea / principle; please do one for disabled XP firewall nag.

        by jim-mn ·

        In reply to Let me know…

        For those who are behind a firewall and thus shut off the one in Windows XP Home (or Pro?) it would sure be nice to know how to make it stop nagging, without actually manually hacking the Registry, as most users fear that task or don’t know how.

      • #3282091

        I’ll take care of inactive icons myself, thanks

        by lcallander ·

        In reply to Let me know…

        Another thing which I’d like to see added to the nag disabler is the 60 day ‘clean up inactive icons on your desktop’. I NEVER want it to deal with inactive icons – I’ll do that myself, thank you, Bill.

        • #2596896

          Disable the nagging “inactive icons” automatic windows process

          by admin ·

          In reply to I’ll take care of inactive icons myself, thanks

          For all of you that hate the automatic hiding of supposedly “inactive” icons… follow these three steps. I finally decided to stop this process after having a new operating system for only 12 hours it was already changing my desktop.

          1. Go to “Start”
          2. Click “Run”
          3. Then paste: “REG ADD HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer /V EnableAutoTray /T REG_DWORD /F /D 0”

    • #3177215

      Registry Fix

      by geotube ·

      In reply to DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

      Good idea, but there is already a registry fix for these problems. You can just make the registry file and make sure that it runs when your done installing Windows XP.

      • #3177197

        How about?

        by ni70 ·

        In reply to Registry Fix

        Changing the *default* desktop? Can’t stand the Telitubby (sp?) desktop! Also, how about changing the Start menu etc. to classic view? Never researched it, but is there a regedit for these two as well?

        • #3178104

          Reply To: DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

          by geotube ·

          In reply to How about?

          Yeah, there is registry edits for that, but as always, google is your friend. =]

    • #3177405

      The CEO of my company was impressed!

      by Anonymous ·

      In reply to DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

      Just this morning the CEO of my company called me up in an irritated mood because he was trying to insert a picture into a Word 2003 document and getting an annoying “Log onto your Passport account” prompt. I recalled seeing this script on TechRepublic, downloaded it and ran it on his machine, and it worked perfectly. Thank you very much for this very handy script, which not only helped us to help a user but scored some heavy points with upper management.

    • #3181800

      WinXP Baloons

      by crvillines ·

      In reply to DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

      I hate ALL the baloon nags….”kill ’em all!”

    • #3059184

      Skeptical of “.NET Passport”

      by jmazor ·

      In reply to DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

      Could someone tell me in simple terms what is “.NET Passport”?

      Is there any reason to use it?

      Wouldn’t I have to be crazy to trust MicroSoft with any personal information?

    • #2581929

      xp nag disabler

      by kbrief ·

      In reply to DOWNLOAD: Disable Windows XP tour and .NET passport nags with this VBScript

      hi…is this a global fix, as one member noted? or does it allow a user to disable specific items?

      a microsoft .netmeeting sign-on window pops up on my xp pro computer on a random basis, along with the autoplay function rapidly seeking to find something. how do i delete, rather than disable whatever causes this? thanks so much. ken brief

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