Fifty Tips For Windows XP User s New and Old! Twelfth Edition!

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1 1. Use The Address Bar To Launch Programs Or Web Pages 2. Ways To Delete A File Or Folder In Windows XP! 3. Creating A Boot Log For Troubleshooting In Windows XP! 4. Prevent The Auto-complete List Of File Names From Appearing! 5. Change A Folder's Icon In Windows XP! 6. Making Missing Search, Back, Folders, Other Buttons Reappear! 7. Hide The 'Go' Button In Local Explorer Views In Windows XP! 8. Remove The Left Pane Common Tasks In Windows XP! 9. Move Toolbars In Explorer Views In Windows XP! 10. Having A Problem Deleting A File or Folder In XP! 11. Disable Titles In Thumbnail View In Windows XP! 12. View Hidden Files And Folders In Windows XP! 13. Modify The Send To Menu In Windows XP To Suit You! 14. Quickly Minimize All Windows In XP! 15. Display The Folder Path In Explorer Title Bar In Windows XP! 16. Are You Running The Latest Windows XP Patches? 17. One Of Many Ways To Get An Icon s Properties! 18. Select All Files For Moving Or Copying In XP! 19. Do Not Display Folder Size In Windows XP! 20. Remember Which Windows Were Open Between User Sessions! 21. Easily Open Documents And Settings Folder In Windows XP! 22. Toggle Viewing Folder List For A Particular Folder!

2 23. Show Or Hide Control Panel In My Computer! 24. Hide Or Show Protected Operating System Files And Hidden Folders! 25. Frequent Reboots During Intensive Operations! 26. Securing An Auto Logon In Windows XP! 27. Remove A Destination From The Send To Menu In Windows XP! 28. Delete Unneeded Files In Windows! 29. Creating A Graphics Or Documents Folder! 30. Save Time By Simultaneously Closing All Open Applications (Win XP) 31. Clean Up Disk Errors With Disk Check! 32. Making The Windows XP Favorites Menu More Useful In Windows Explorer! 33. Quickly Renaming Digital Files In Windows XP! 34. Control Your Cookie Intake In Windows XP! 35. View Maximum Screen Real Estate While Browsing In Windows XP! 36. Quickly Adjust Your Speakers By Adding The Volume Icon To The System Tray In Windows XP! 37. Delete Unnecessary Thumbs.db Files In Windows XP! 38. Assign A Drive Letter To A Network Computer Or Folder! 39. Automatically End Unresponsive Tasks In Windows XP 40. To Create A Compressed Folder In Windows XP! 41. To Add Items To Or Remove Items From A Compressed Folder! 42. Set The Compatibility Properties Manually In Windows XP! 43. Enable Or Disable Windows XP Interface Components! 44. Create Your Own Desktop Theme In Windows XP!

3 45. Creating A Windows XP Password Reset Disk! 46. Want To See What Your PC Is Running? 47. Quickly Lock Your Computer In Windows XP! 48. Renaming A Drive Letter In Windows XP! 49. Here's How To Create A Mounted Drive In Windows XP! 50. What Programs Are Installed On Your Windows XP Computer? Visit The Site Index For Many How-To Tips! Use The Address Bar To Launch Programs Or Web Pages Windows XP Professional enhanced the functionality of the Address bar to make it easier to launch your favorite programs. You can add the Address bar to the taskbar on the bottom of your desktop. Then you can launch programs simply by entering their names in the Address bar. For example, to launch Calculator, simply enter calc in the Address bar. Anything you would normally enter in the Run box on the Start menu can be entered in the Address bar. The Address bar also lets you quickly go to any Web page you specify. To add the Address bar to the taskbar: 1. Right-click an empty area on the taskbar. 2. Point to Toolbars, and then click Address. 3. Open the Address bar by double-clicking it. Ways To Delete A File Or Folder In Windows XP! When folders and files start to clutter up your hard disk, Windows XP gives you several ways to get rid of the files and folders you don't want. Within Windows Explorer, you can use any of these methods: 1. Right click the file or folder, and then click Delete. 2. Select the file or folder, and then press the DELETE key.

4 3. Select the file or folder, click the File menu, and then click Delete. 4. Drag the file or folder to the Recycle Bin on the desktop. Note To access Windows Explorer, Right Click On Start, and then click Windows Explorer. Creating A Boot Log For Troubleshooting In Windows XP! Problems that you're troubleshooting in Windows XP often originate in the boot process. As such, one of your key troubleshooting techniques should be to create a boot log. Creating such a log is a relatively easy process. Follow these steps: 1. Restart the system. 2. When the operating system begins to load, press [F8]. 3. Select the Enable Boot Logging option from the Windows Advanced menu, and press [Enter]. After the system restarts, launch Notepad, and open the C:\Windows\Ntbtlog.txt file. This file contains a list of all of the files that Windows XP attempted to load during startup. Every line in the file will begin with either "Loaded driver" or "Did not load driver," which makes it easy to determine what drivers or services could be causing the problem. In either case, the path and filename of the driver or service will follow. Prevent The Auto-complete List Of File Names From Appearing! To prevent the AutoComplete list from appearing in typical Windows Explorer-style dialog boxes, turn off the AutoComplete functionality for Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer: 1. Start Internet Explorer, click Tools, and then click Internet Options. 2. Click the Content tab, and then click AutoComplete. 3. Under Use AutoComplete for, click to clear the Web Addresses check box, and then click OK. 4. Click the Advanced tab, click to clear the Use inline AutoComplete check box in the Browsing section (if this check box has been selected). 5. Click OK. Change A Folder's Icon In Windows XP!

5 Tired of most folders looking like the same drab yellow open file? You can change a folder's icon in Windows XP to better signify its contents. To change a folder's icon: 1. Right-click on a folder and choose "Properties". 2. When the "Properties" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select "Customize". 3. Click the "Change Icon" button. 4. Choose an icon you wish to use and click "OK", or click "Browse" to browse your system for other icons. Look for.ico and.exe files on your system for more icons. You may even want to download some freeware icons over the Internet. 5. Press "OK" to close the dialog box. Note that you may need to close and reopen the folder for the icon change to take effect. Making Missing Search, Back, Folders, Other Buttons Reappear! If Windows XP Explorer or Internet Explorer windows are missing the back arrow, Folders, Search, and other buttons, just click on a folder. Choose the "View" menu, select "Toolbars", and then check "Standard Buttons" to get these conveniences back. Hide The 'Go' Button In Local Explorer Views In Windows XP! The "Go" button may be useful when navigating web pages, but when you navigate your local machine's hard drive and files, the button may just be taking up valuable screen real-estate. It's easy to remove Windows XP's "Go" button - just right-click on the button and uncheck "Go Button". Remove The Left Pane Common Tasks In Windows XP! Normally, Windows XP Explorer folder views contain two panes - the right pane contains the list of files on your system, and the left pane contains common tasks. These may be tasks such as copying photos to a CD if you are in a pictures folder, playing all music songs if you are in a songs folder, or making a new folder if you are in a default folder. While some users may find these tasks convenient, others may want to hide these items to use the entire window to display filenames. To hide these tasks:

6 1. Open a folder in Windows XP's Explorer. 2. Click "Tools", then "Folder Options". 3. When the multi-tabbed "Folder Options" dialog box appears, click the "General" tab. 4. Click the radio button "Use Windows Classic Folders". 5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Move Toolbars In Explorer Views In Windows XP! If you are navigating your computer in Windows XP and want to customize the location of folder toolbars, you may not be able to do so. This is because Windows XP will, by default, lock the toolbars to prevent accidentally resizing them or moving them around. If you want to tweak your folder views by unlocking the toolbar, just right-click on a folder toolbar and uncheck "Lock the Toolbars". You will now be able to move the toolbars around or resize them as desired. Having A Problem Deleting A File or Folder In XP! More than likely another software program happens to be using the file or folder at a particular time, or for some reason another program has a 'lock' on the file or folder, preventing its access. If you are SURE the file or folder is not important, you may be able to delete it by rebooting your system, then trying again. If that still doesn't work, consider booting Windows XP into 'Safe Mode'. This is a special diagnostic mode of Windows XP that, among other things, does not run most of Windows XP's startup jobs. This way, another software program should not get the lock on your particular file or folder. To enter Safe Mode: 1. Restart your machine. 2. Once the computer has performed the memory and/or BIOS test (depending on the manufacturer), hold down the F8 key. 3. The "Windows XP Advanced Options" menu should appear. Select "Safe Mode". If this doesn't work, or your machine shows a "Keyboard error", reboot your system and try again. Tap the F8 key a little later in the boot process.

7 Once you have entered Safe Mode, now try deleting your file or folder. Disable Titles In Thumbnail View In Windows XP! To temporarily hide the titles of filenames when viewing folders in Thumbnail view (to give more room for your thumbnails), hold down the SHIFT key when opening a folder that is set up for Thumbnail view. Or, if you are already in a Thumbnail View folder, switch the view to Icons, then hold down the SHIFT key and switch the view to Thumbnail. View Hidden Files And Folders In Windows XP! Normally, Windows XP hides files and folders that it deems critical to the operating system. This is done, in theory, to protect you from damaging key files. However, there may be times when you need to view hidden files and folders, such as for debugging problems, for tweaking, or for recovering from virus and/or spyware attacks. 1. Open any folder in Explorer. 2. Choose "Tools" then "Folder Options". 3. When the multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select the "View" tab. 4. Select "Show hidden files and folders". 5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Modify The Send To Menu In Windows XP To Suit You! When you right-click an icon and choose "Send To", you are given several options, including the ability to mail the file as an attachment, copy the file to a floppy disk, send the file to the "My Documents" folder, and others. You may want to modify this menu. For example, create a Notepad option to easily view text files that don't have a.txt extension. Perhaps add the ability to send files to a specified folder, such as "C:\information". To modify this menu option: 1. Open the "C:\Documents and Settings" folder from Explorer. 2. Double-click the folder representing your username.

8 3. Double-click the "Send To" folder. 4. Right-click on the folder, select "New" then "Shortcut". 5. A "Create Shortcut" wizard will appear. Select the program name (use the "Browse" button if desired) or the folder to which you would like to send files. 6. Click "Next". 7. Type in a name for this shortcut, which will also be the name of the menu item under "Send To". 8. Click "Finish" to close the dialog box. Quickly Minimize All Windows In XP! Did an incorrect keystroke cause a browser window to appear with some content that you wouldn't want others to see? Or, perhaps another window is flashing on the taskbar, asking for attention, and you need to quickly hide the currently open window from view. To quickly minimize all of the open windows, placing them on the taskbar, just press WINDOWS+D. This performs the same thing as if you had right-clicked on the taskbar and chosen "Show the Desktop", but this keyboard shortcut is much quicker. Press WINDOWS+D again and your hidden window will reappear. Display The Folder Path In Explorer Title Bar In Windows XP! When you open a subfolder from Explorer in Windows XP, such as C:\Downloads\Games or C:\Multimedia Files\Graphics, only the name of the subfolder, such as "Games" or "Graphics", appears in the folder's title bar. Granted, the full folder name should appear in the Address bar, but what if you want to quickly glance at a folder's title bar to see exactly where it is located on your system? 1. Open any folder in Explorer. 2. Choose "Tools" then "Folder Options". 3. When the multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select the "View" tab. 4. Check "Display the full path in the title bar". 5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.

9 Are You Running The Latest Windows XP Patches? Have you ever found yourself working on a new Windows XP machine and are wondering what version of Windows is on the machine? Has it been patched with Service Pack 2, or is it still running SP1, or no service packs at all? 1. Open a folder. 2. Select "Help" - "About Windows". A dialog box will appear, containing information such as: * Windows version and patch information * Licensee name * Machine physical memory Press "OK" to close the dialog box when done. One Of Many Ways To Get An Icon s Properties! By accessing an icon's properties, such as a file, folder, or program, you can see the icon's creation date, size, and file type. Plus, depending on the icon type, you can give the icon a shortcut keystroke, change a folder icon's graphic, and more. There are many ways to view the properties of an icon; here are a few: 1. Right-click the icon and select "Properties". 2. Click the icon, press the Properties button if you have a Windows-enabled keyboard (it should be between the right ALT and CTRL keys), and select "Properties". 3. Hold down the ALT key while double-clicking an icon. Select All Files For Moving Or Copying In XP! Need to copy or move all of the files in one folder to another folder? You can select all files by clicking in the folder, holding down the mouse button, creating a bounding rectangle that encompasses all icons, etc. However, the easiest way to select all of the files and subfolders in a folder is by using a mouse or keyboard shortcut. Focus on the folder window, then: 1. Select "Edit" - "Select All"

10 OR 2. Press CONTROL-A. Do Not Display Folder Size In Windows XP! Normally, when you hover your mouse pointer over a folder in Explorer, Windows XP will automatically calculate the size of all files in the folder and subfolder, displaying the results as a tooltip popup. Many people find this functionality useful. However, others do not need this information, or they don't want Windows XP wasting CPU cycles and spinning up the hard drive to calculate folder size. Also, if you have a laptop and commonly navigate files using the Explorer, calculating the size of every folder you hover your mouse pointer on can drain some power from the battery, as the hard drive must be accessed. Thus, to disable this feature: 1. Open any folder in Explorer. 2. Choose "Tools" then "Folder Options". 3. When the multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select the "View" tab. 4. Uncheck "Display file size information in folder tips". 5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Remember Which Windows Were Open Between User Sessions! Tired of logging off your Windows XP computer with a bunch of useful windows open to various folders, then when you re-login to the system, all of the windows have disappeared? Many people prefer to start their Windows XP session with a clean slate, which is why this is the default behavior in Explorer. However, if you'd rather it remember your open windows and reopen them when you re-login, do the following: 1. Open any folder in Explorer. 2. Choose "Tools" then "Folder Options". 3. When the multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select the "View" tab.

11 4. Check "Restore previous folder windows at logon". 5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Easily Open Documents And Settings Folder In Windows XP! Your Windows XP "Documents and Settings" folder contains all types of useful information about your account, including: - Desktop icons - Internet Explorer cookies - Internet Explorer favorites - Miscellaneous application data - "My Documents" folder - Start Menu settings Normally, to get to this folder, you must run Explorer and access a folder name similar to "c:\documents and settings\your USER NAME". That's a lot of typing or browsing. Here's an easier way: 1. Click "Start", selecting "Run". 2. When the "Run" dialog box appears, enter a period (.) and press the "OK" button or ENTER on your keyboard. Toggle Viewing Folder List For A Particular Folder! When viewing a folder in Windows XP Explorer, you can toggle an Explorer 'Folders' view that can appear in the left pane of the folder. This lets you see where the currently open folder is in relation to other folders on your system. Plus, you can easily navigate the folder tree, move folders around, copy or move files in the current folder to other folders, etc. To toggle this view for a particular folder, check or uncheck "View" - "Explorer Bar" - "Folders" as desired. Note that this tip only works for the currently-open folder. Show Or Hide Control Panel In My Computer!

12 When double-clicking "My Computer" on the Windows XP desktop, you can toggle whether or not a link to the Control Panel appears. Some prefer the convenience; others would rather just see a list of drives and documents. 1. From "My Computer", select "Tools" - "Folder Options". 2. When the "Folder Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select the "View" tab. 3. Scroll down to "Show Control Panel in My Computer" and uncheck or uncheck the box as desired. 4. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Hide Or Show Protected Operating System Files And Hidden Folders! Windows XP can be configured to either hide or show protected operating system files and/or hidden files and folders. - Why hide them? If you are setting up a computer for someone else, you may wish to hide certain files to help prevent the user from accidentally deleting or moving critical Windows files. Or, even if you are an expert user, you may wish to hide files to prevent 'accidents'. - Why show them? If you are trying to diagnose a problem (virus, spyware, etc.) and are an expert user, you may need to see all of the files on your system to determine if they have been changed. 1. Double-click "My Computer" on the desktop. 2. Select "Tools" - "Folder Options". 3. When the "Folder Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, select the "View" tab. 4. Scroll down to "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)" and check or uncheck the box as desired. 5. Underneath "Hidden files and folders", check the desired radio button to show or not show these items. 6. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. Frequent Reboots During Intensive Operations!

13 Frequent reboots during intensive operations are more likely caused by hardware problems. There are several possible causes. First, your PC may be overheating owing to dust accumulation. Over time, dust can gather inside a PC chassis, layering over heat sink surfaces, memory modules, and circuit boards. You can blow the dust out with canned air. Open the case and check to see where dust has accumulated. Be sure to use short bursts, and get inside the surface of cooling fans mounted on CPU or GPU heat sinks. (Turn the system off before doing this.) Another possible cause is power-supply problems. For example, if you've recently added a high-performance graphics card, you may have exceeded the power supply's capacity to deliver adequate power. Or it may simply be that the power supply is going south and failing. Another common culprit is memory that's going bad. You can easily test for this by downloading a free copy of Memtest86+ ( ). Run Memtest from a bootable floppy disk or CD. It will run a series of tests on your system memory to see if it's failing. Securing An Auto Logon In Windows XP! Perhaps you prefer to have Windows XP automatically log you on to the system at start up, but because you're concerned with security you choose to manually log on. With an Auto-logon configuration, you can turn on your computer in the morning and, say, go get a cup of coffee. When you return, your system has logged on, loaded all the start-up programs, and is ready for you to sit down and go to work no waiting involved. The bad thing is that while you're away, anyone can sit down at your computer and do whatever they want. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have your computer be totally ready to work, yet still password-protected when you return with your coffee? Well, you can! Here's how: 1. Press [Windows]+R to access the Run dialog box. 2. Type Control userpasswords2 in the Open text box and click OK to access the User Accounts dialog box. 3. Select your user name and clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" check box. 4. Click OK to display the Automatically Log On dialog box, type your password in both the Password and Confirm Password text boxes, and click OK. 5. Right-click on the desktop and select New Shortcut from the context menu to access the Create Shortcut wizard. 6. Type rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation in the "Type the location of the item" text box and click Next. (Take note of the uppercase letters in the word LockWorkStation as you type it if you don't use the exact case, the shortcut will fail.) 7. Type Lock Down in the Type A Name For This Shortcut text box and click Finish. 8. Double-click the Lock Down shortcut to make sure that is works correctly.

14 9. Drag the Lock Down shortcut over to the Start menu and place it in the All Programs Startup folder. Now when you turn on or reboot your system, it will automatically log on and then display the Unlock Computer dialog box or the Welcome screen while startup programs continue to load in the background. Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Professional and Home when used in standalone or in workgroup configurations. Remove A Destination From The Send To Menu In Windows XP! To remove a destination from the Send To menu, do the following: 1. Click Start, and then click Run. 2. In the Open box, type sendto, and then click OK. 3. Right-click the shortcut that you want to remove, and then click Delete. The shortcut is removed. Delete Unneeded Files In Windows! It is essential to delete all unwanted or unnecessary files from your drives. This frees up available space to save recent, important files. To do this, go into the Windows Explorer by choosing Start, which is located in the bottom left side of your screen. Point to Programs, then point to Accessories, and then click on Windows Explorer. Your Windows Explorer Screen will open: In the left pane, click the plus sign next to My Computer, then the plus sign next to the local disk you wan to see. The contents of that disk will appear in the right pane. Click on the file(s) you wish to delete. Choose Delete from the File menu. Click Yes to delete the file. This moves the file(s) to the Recycle Bin. If you want to delete several files at once, you can select multiple files by holding down CTRL when you click on the file names. Each name will stay highlighted as you select the next file. If all the files you wish to delete are listed sequentially in a group, you can click on the first file, hold down the Shift key and click on the last file. Choose Delete from the File menu. Click Yes to move the files to the recycle bin. When deleting files, be sure you only remove files when you know what they are and that you are certain you don't need them. Creating A Graphics Or Documents Folder!

15 You might have need for a folder to file downloaded graphics or documents from attachments. If so, in Explorer, place your cursor on the C Drive option and highlight it. Then click on File, New, and Folder. Now you will see a highlighted folder icon that appears at the bottom of a file list. You should rename this file folder by typing Download (or whatever name suits you) in the highlighted box. If you want this particular folder to appear at the top of the C Drive file list, type an underline _ character in front of this name, i.e., _Download. This underlined character comes first alphabetically in the list of files on your C Drive making it easier for you to find while on the Internet. Save Time By Simultaneously Closing All Open Applications (Win XP) When you re done working on your computer for the day, you probably close each open application individually. If so, chances are that you ve wished you could close all your open applications at the same time. Fortunately, Windows XP includes a hidden technique that allows you to do so. To begin, hold down the [Ctrl] key and click on each application button on your taskbar. When you do, you ll notice that each button remains selected. Once you ve selected all the application buttons on the taskbar, right-click on any one of them and select the Close command (or Close Group if you have open more than one file of each application type) from the shortcut menu. When you do, all your applications close. If you have any application in which an open file hasn t yet been saved, that application prompts you to save the file. Clean Up Disk Errors With Disk Check! Whenever a program crashes, or you experience some power outage, your computer may create errors on your computer's hard disk. Over time, the errors can slow your computer. Luckily, the Windows operating system includes a Disk Check program to check and clean any errors on your computer and keep it running smooth. To run Disk Check: 1. In your Start menu, click My Computer. 2. In the My Computer dialog box, right-click on the drive you wish to check for errors (for most of us this will be the C: drive, unless you have multiple drives on your computer), and click Properties. 3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab. In the Error-Checking section, press the Check Now button. A Check Disk dialog box displays. Access Check Disk to check for errors on your computer.

16 4. In the Check Disk dialog box, check all the check boxes. Click Start. 5. You will see a message box that says you can schedule the disk check to start the next time you restart your computer. Click Yes. The next time you restart your computer, it will automatically run through a disk check before displaying your login screen. After the disk check finishes, Windows will automatically bring you to your login screen. Making The Windows XP Favorites Menu More Useful In Windows Explorer! Similar to Internet Explorer, the Favorites menu in Windows XP appears in Windows Explorer. This makes it easy for you to access the Internet from within Windows Explorer. However, it really serves no other purpose in Windows Explorer even though it has the potential to do so much more. You can make hard disk and network navigation much easier and more efficient if you use the Favorites menu as a place to keep shortcuts to deeply nested folders on your hard disk, as well as to network drives that you access frequently. Doing so just takes a bit of rethinking about how you use and organize the Favorites menu. Here's how: 1. Press [Windows]R to access the Run dialog box, type Favorites in the Open text box, and click OK to open the Favorites folder in Windows Explorer. 2. Use the "Make A New Folder" command in the File And Folder Tasks pane to create three new folders naming them Internet, Local Folders, and Network Folders. 3. Move all of your Internet links, except the folder titled Links into the newly created Internet folder. 4. Navigate to some of the deeply nested folders on your hard disk that you access frequently and use the Add To Favorites command on the Favorites menu to create links in the Local Folders folder. 5. Navigate to some of the network shares that you access frequently and use the Add To Favorites command to create links in the Network Folders folder. Now, when you're in Windows Explorer you can use the Local Folders and Network Folders shortcuts on the Favorites menu to make quick work of your regular hard disk and network navigation. Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Professional and Home. Quickly Renaming Digital Files In Windows XP! Windows XP offers a method of renaming a group of files. It doesn't offer many options, but it can help get you organized. To select a series of files to rename, select the first filename, and then hold down [Shift] and click on the last item. To select nonconsecutive files, hold down [Ctrl] and click on each item. Then, right-click on the group and choose

17 Rename to open the Rename dialog box. Next, type your new filename and press Enter. The selected filenames are changed to the new name plus a sequential number starting with (1), except for the first file, which will just contain the new name. So, if your new name was InternetFixes, your files would be renamed InternetFixes, InternetFixes (1), InternetFixes (2), etc. Here's another renaming tip for Windows XP. If you find another group of photos you want to add to a renamed group, select the files, right-click on them and choose Rename. Then, enter the series name followed by the next number in the sequence. For example, the new name InternetFixes (10) would yield consecutive filenames of InternetFixes (11), InternetFixes (12), InternetFixes (13), etc. Control Your Cookie Intake In Windows XP! If you're worried about too many cookies being stored on your PC, you'll be pleased to know that there's an easy way to control your PC's cookie intake. Just click the Start button and then choose Control Panel. If you're using Category view, click on the Network And Internet Connections link and then click on Internet Options. If you're using Classic view, double-click on the Internet Options icon. Next, select the Privacy tab, and use the slider bar to modify your cookie settings. To increase your PC security, try out all the privacy settings in this property sheet to choose the best one for your needs. The lowest level is Accept All Cookies while the highest is Block All Cookies, with Low, Medium, Medium-high, and High settings in between. View Maximum Screen Real Estate While Browsing In Windows XP! If you find yourself constantly scrolling web pages while surfing online, you can easily view more of Internet Explorer's screen with a simple keyboard stroke. Simply press [F11], and Internet Explorer switches to Full Screen mode. In this view, the Windows taskbar and system tray on the bottom of your screen disappear. To get the most possible viewing space, right-click on the empty gray area on the right side of the top menu bar and select Auto-Hide. This will hide the top menu bar as well. Simply hover your mouse over the bottom or top of the screen to display the corresponding menu or taskbar. You can exit this view mode by pressing [F11] again. Quickly Adjust Your Speakers By Adding The Volume Icon To The System Tray In Windows XP! If you often need to adjust the volume of your speakers or headphones while listening to tunes at work, you can have faster access to volume control settings on your Windows XP system simply by adding an icon to your system tray.

18 All you need to do is open the Control Panel and double-click on the Sounds And Audio Devices applet. On the Volume property sheet, select the Place Volume Icon In The Taskbar check box, and then click OK. You can now adjust your sound settings by double-clicking on the speaker icon in your system tray. Delete Unnecessary Thumbs.db Files In Windows XP! Have you ever been mystified as to how the small Thumbs.db files end up in your Windows XP folders? When viewing a folder with the Thumbnails view, Windows XP creates a Thumbs.db file, which is a cache of the current pictures in that folder. If you want to get rid of these annoying extra files and save a little disk space, you can easily do so. Open Windows Explorer, choose Tools Folder Options, and then select the View tab. Under Files And Folders, select the Do Not Cache Thumbnails check box, and then click Apply and OK. Assign A Drive Letter To A Network Computer Or Folder! 1. Open My Computer. 2. On the Tools menu, click Map Network Drive. 3. In Drive, select a drive letter. 4. In Folder, type the server and share name of the computer or folder you want. Example: \\servername\sharename. -or- Click Browse to find the computer or folder. Side Notes: - To open My Computer, double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop. - To reconnect to the mapped drive every time you log on, select the Reconnect at logon check box. - Mapped drives are available only when the host computer is available. - Network drives are assigned letters from Z to A, and local drives (your hard drive and removable storage devices) are assigned letters from A to Z. - You can assign a computer or shared folder to a different drive letter by disconnecting from the drive and then reassigning it to a new drive letter. Automatically End Unresponsive Tasks In Windows XP

19 Have you ever been frustrated by system freezes that occur when a particular program stops responding? If so, you can end the wait and get back to working faster simply by having Windows XP end the programs automatically after a certain amount of time has passed. All you need to do is open the Registry Editor by clicking the Start button, choosing Run, and typing Regedit in the Open text box. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and double-click on the AutoEndTasks value. Change the Value Data to 1, and then click OK. Next, open the WaitToKillAppTimeout value and change the Value Data to the number of milliseconds you want XP to wait before terminating the unresponsive application. Then, click OK. Caution Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause data loss or even operating system failure. Be careful when directly editing the registry. Click Here To Learn How To Backup The Registry! To Create A Compressed Folder In Windows XP! To create a compressed folder, use either of the following methods. Open My Computer: 1. Double-click My Computer, and then open the folder where you want to make the compressed folder. For example, if you want to make a compressed folder in the root folder of drive C, double-click My Computer, and then double-click drive C to open the root folder. 2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folder. 3. Type a name for the new compressed folder, and then press ENTER. Your new compressed folder appears as a folder icon with a zipper. Right-click a blank area on the desktop or in a folder: 1. Right-click a blank area in an open folder or on the desktop, point to New, and then click Compressed (zipped) Folder. 2. Type a name for the new compressed folder, and then press ENTER. Your new compressed folder appears as a folder icon with a zipper. To Add Items To Or Remove Items From A Compressed Folder! - Moving files and folders: Moving files and folders to or from compressed folders works the same as with normal uncompressed folders. For example, you can drag files or folders to the compressed folder. When you place a file in a compressed folder, that item is automatically

20 compressed. A file that is moved from a compressed folder is automatically uncompressed. - Extract all files: When you open a compressed folder, the Extract all files command appears in the Folder Tasks list. When you click Extract all files, the Extraction Wizard starts. You are prompted to choose a location to place the extracted files, and then the files are extracted. NOTE: The original compressed files remain in the compressed folder. Set The Compatibility Properties Manually In Windows XP! As an alternative to running the Program Compatibility Wizard, you can set the compatibility properties for a program manually. The settings are the same as the options in the Program Compatibility Wizard. To set the compatibility properties for a program manually. 1. Right-click the program icon on your desktop or the shortcut on the Start menu for the program you want to run, and then click Properties. 2. Click the Compatibility tab, and change the compatibility settings for your program. Side Notes: - The Compatibility tab is only available for programs installed on your hard drive. Although you can run the Program Compatibility Wizard on programs or setup files on a CD-ROM or floppy disk, your changes will not remain in effect after you close the program. - For more information about an option on the Compatibility tab, right-click the option and then click What's This. Update your program or drivers! If your program does not run correctly after testing it with the Program Compatibility Wizard, check the Web for updates or other fixes, as follows: - Check the Web site of the program's manufacturer to see if an update or patch is available. - Check Windows Update to see if a fix is available for the program. Click Home on the menu bar of Help and Support Center, then click Windows Update in the right pane. - If the program is a game that uses DirectX, ensure that you are using the latest version of DirectX. In addition, check the Web site of the manufacturer of your video card or sound card to see if newer drivers are available for either of them.

21 Enable Or Disable Windows XP Interface Components! You can enable or disable portions of the new interface by clearing or selecting a check box: 1. Right-click My Computer and then click Properties. 2. On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings. To select all of the check boxes, click Best Appearance. To clear all of the check boxes, click Best Performance. If you select Restore Defaults, several check boxes are selected. The default selections are determined by your computer's capabilities. Portions of the New Interface - Animate Windows when minimizing and maximizing - Fade or slide menu items into view - Fade or slide ToolTips into view - Fade out menu items after clicking - Show shadows under menus - Show shadows under mouse pointer - Show translucent selection rectangle - Show window contents while dragging - Slide open combo boxes - Slide taskbar buttons - Smooth edges of screen fonts - Smooth-scroll list boxes - Use background image for each folder type - Use common tasks in folders - Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop - Use visual styles on windows and buttons NOTE: Enabling or disabling these components can significantly hinder or enhance performance depending on the hardware specifications of your computer. Windows XP interface is enabled by default in the Home Edition and Professional Edition. Create Your Own Desktop Theme In Windows XP! When you modify any element of a theme, It is recommended that you always save your changes with a new theme name. If you select a different theme before you save your changes, the changes that you made to the theme are lost. To create your own desktop theme, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display. Or, right-click an empty area of the desktop, and then click Properties.

22 2. Click the Themes tab, and then, in the Theme list, click the theme that you want to modify. 3. Make your intended changes to the elements of the theme that you want to modify. The following list shows individual desktop theme elements and their locations on the Display Properties dialog box tab or in Control Panel: - To change the background design, the color, or the position of the background design on your screen, click the Desktop tab in the Display Properties dialog box. - To change the icons on your desktop, click the Desktop tab in the Display Properties dialog box, and then click Customize Desktop. - To change the screen saver, click the Screen Saver tab in the Display Properties dialog box. - To change the color scheme, the window and button styles, or the font size, click the Appearance tab in the Display Properties dialog box. - To change the color, the size, and the font settings of individual window elements, click the Appearance tab in the Display Properties dialog box, and then click Advanced. - To change your mouse pointer scheme or the appearance of individual pointers, click the Pointers tab in the Mouse Properties dialog box. (Click Start, click Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Mouse.) - To change a sound scheme or to apply a sound to individual program events, click the Sounds tab in the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box. (Click Start, click Control Panel, click Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices, and then click Sounds and Audio Devices.) 4. When you finish making the changes that you want, click the Themes tab in the Display Properties dialog box, and then click Apply. The changes that you make to the theme are saved as Previous theme name (Modified), where "Previous theme name" is the name of the previous theme. This name is displayed in the Theme list, and it is the default name of the theme when you modify it but before you save it with a new name. 5. Click Save As. 6. In the Save As dialog box, type a name for your new theme, and then click Save. 7. Click OK. Your new theme is displayed in the Theme list and is applied to your desktop. New themes are saved in the My Documents folder with the.theme file name extension. For example, you might name your file InternetFixes.theme. To open the My Documents folder, click Start, and then click My Documents. Creating A Windows XP Password Reset Disk!

23 Windows XP lets you create a reset disk so that, if you should forget your password at the logon screen, you'll be able to use the disk to reset the password. Otherwise, you might never be able to log onto the account again. To make the disk, you use the Forgotten Password Wizard. Here's how (the following assumes your computer is not a member of a domain): 1. Click Start-->Control Panel, and double click User Accounts. 2. Click the account name under which you're logged on. 3. Under Related Tasks in the top box on the left, click Prevent a forgotten password. 4. On the first page of the wizard, click Next. 5. On the next page, choose the drive letter of the disk on which you want to create the reset disk (typically a:). 6. Enter your current password. 7. Click Next. 8. Click Finish. This places an encrypted copy of your password on the disk. Now if you forget the password, you can use your reset disk to start the Password Reset Wizard and create a new password. Remember that you'll need to create a new reset disk any time you change your password. Want To See What Your PC Is Running? They're called processes. These are the programs that are running in your computer. One of them could be using up the system's CPU cycles and causing a system slowdown. Finding the one isn't that difficult. You just need to know where to look. In Windows XP and Windows 2000, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. On the Windows Security window, click Task Manager. Select the Processes tab. This will show you which processes are running. Under CPU, you'll find the percentage of microprocessor time each process is taking. It should be easy to identify the hog. Make a note of its name, then click the name to highlight it. Click End Process. Then put the process name in a search engine and hunt for information about it on the Web. Windows 98 and ME do not include process details. But you can get that information with Process Explorer v10.2, available free at:

24 Quickly Lock Your Computer In Windows XP! In Windows NT 4 or 2000, pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del followed by Enter will lock the computer to keep other people from accessing your system. Strangely, Windows XP does not use the same keystrokes. Fortunately, you don't have to wait around for the password-protected screen saver to kick in; you can simply press the key combination Windows-L. In case your system lacks a Windows key (as many laptops do), there's another solution. Right-click on the desktop and choose New Shortcut from the pop-up menu. When prompted to type the location of the item, instead enter this command line: %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,lockworkstation. Launch this shortcut to lock the computer. Note that when Fast User Switching is enabled, the shortcut will simply return you to the welcome screen, leaving you logged on. Renaming A Drive Letter In Windows XP! Windows XP contains administrative tools, such as the Disk Management snap-in, that allows you to perform certain tasks that you couldn't perform in Windows 9x. For example, you can use the Disk Management snap-in to change drive letters. Follow these steps to change the drive letter in XP: 1. Log on to the computer with administrator rights. 2. Select Performance And Maintenance within Control Panel. 3. Open the Computer Management console from the Administrative Tools folder. 4. Select Disk Management under the Storage tree. 5. Right-click on the partition or device for which you want to change the drive letter. 6. Choose Change Drive Letter And Paths. 7. Select the current drive letter and click Change. 8. Choose Assign The Following Drive Letter, select the drive letter replacement, and click OK.

25 Here's How To Create A Mounted Drive In Windows XP! 1. Open the Computer Management console from the Administrative Tools folder. 2. Select Disk Management under the Storage tree. 3. Right-click on the partition or device for which you want to change the drive letter. 4. Choose Change Drive Letter And Paths. 5. Click Add. 6. Select Mount In The Following Empty NTFS Folder. 7. Type in the path to an empty NTFS folder on the hard drive. 8. Click OK. What Programs Are Installed On Your Windows XP Computer? Here's an easy way to get a list of all the Microsoft programs that are installed on your computer: 1. Click Start Help and Support. 2. In the left column of the Help and Support window, under Pick a Help Topic, click Windows basics. 3. In the left pane, click to expand Core Windows tasks. 4. Click Searching for information. 5. In the right pane, under Pick a task, click Get information about your computer. In the right pane, under What do you want to do?, Click View a list of Microsoft software installed on this computer. The list can be copied and pasted into another document. It also contains the Product ID numbers that you might find useful if you lose them and have to reinstall a program. Visit The Site Index For Many How-To Tips! * Copyright Notice *

26 This document can be redistributed, in electronic or print, provided that no changes are made to this document and this notice is left intact. If you wish to redistribute just pieces of this document, such as certain articles, contact Gary Chambers for information. This Tips Document is published as Part Of The Internet Fixes Network! Internet Fixes This issue of Internet Fixes is Copyright 2006 Gary Chambers of Internet Fixes. All other Copyrights and Trademarks are properties of their respective companies. Note that due to tip re-categorization, some of the URLs mentioned in the document may have changed. If you have any problems finding a particular tip, use the Internet Fixes "Search" feature to conveniently find what you are looking for! Visit The Site Index For Many How-To Tips!