Windows XP Timesaving Techniques

Microsoft says that Windows XP contains 50,000,000 lines of program­ming code. 400,000,000 PCs run Windows. Half of them use Windows XP, and roughly half of them run Service Pack 2. Heaven only knows how many people have used Windows. Nobody — absolutely nobody — understands more than a tiny part of Windows XP. Yet everybody — everybody outside of an ashram, anyway — has to come to grips with it.

Not an easy task, eh?

Windows XP Timesaving Techniques For Dummies concentrates on high-payoff techniques that save you time. These techniques make Windows work faster, more reliably, and more like the way you work, day in and day out. Use these techniques to spend less time spluttering and futzing with your machine.

What’s in This Book

To save you time, I organized this book into techniques — groups of related tasks that make you or your computer (or possibly both!) more efficient and effective. Some techniques are short ’n’ sweet, tackle one specific topic, and get you in and out of the machine in record time. Other techniques are more involved and explore the pros and cons of vari­ous options.

Wherever an important ancillary topic, shorter tip, or loosely related timesaver may be of use, I include it. Watch for the icons. They can save you gobs of time. And don’t be surprised if you bump into a tip or two that urges you to change the way you work, as opposed to simply making changes to your computer.

This book is laid out in a unique, easy-to-read two-column format full of figures and other visual cues that make it easier for you to scan and jump into a technique at the point most appropriate for your cir­cumstances. Linear thinking is good. Nonlinear scan­ning is better. Lay the book flat so you can see exactly what you’re doing without flipping a bunch of pages (and tearing your hair out in the process).

You can read the book from front to back, or you can dive right into the technique of your choice. Either way works just fine. Anytime a concept is mentioned that isn’t covered in depth in that technique, you’ll find a cross-reference to another technique to find out more. If you’re looking for something specific, check out either the table of contents or the index.

The Cheat Sheet at the beginning of the book lists my choices as the most important timesaving tech­niques. Tear it out, tape it to your monitor, pass it around to other folks at the office, and be sure to tell ’em Woody shares their pain.

All Gaul may have been divided into three parts, but this book needs eleven (a particularly, uh, galling admission). Here’s what you’ll find.

Part I: No-Bull Installation and Setup

If you haven’t yet set up Windows XP, or if you’re still in the process of getting adjusted to Service Pack 2, this is the place to start. In addition to advice that gets you up and running in no time, I cover the rarely discussed aspects of product registration, retrieving your product key, and installing a legiti­mate copy of Windows over the top of a pirate copy — without losing all your settings or wiping out your hard drive.

Part II: Making Windows Lean and Clean

Fine-tune Windows so that it helps you work faster. Here you can decide which desktop settings really make a difference and which ones don’t. I also show you how to train Windows to respond to your needs. You find out how to transfer your old settings to a new PC, activate Passport without divulging your personal information, set up (or avoid) ClearType, “brand” your laptop computer to deter theft and identify you as its owner if it somehow gets lost, make your PC turn itself off when you shut down Windows, and how to switch users in the blink of an eye.
Part III: Convincing Windows to Work Your Way You discover how to launch your most frequently used programs quickly — both on the Windows taskbar and by using hot keys, including hot keys that you build yourself.

I also show you how to take good care of your data. Discover quick file management techniques, such as renaming a group of files en masse, finding files quickly and effectively (and getting rid of Rover the Search Companion in the bargain), printing a list of files in a folder with a click, and much more.

Part IV: Making the Most of Internet and E-Mail

Take back control of the World Wide Timesink. You can find out about configuring and customizing Internet Explorer (including zapping pop-up, pop-over, and pop-under ads for good), controlling cook­ies to reduce spam, taking control of Windows/MSN Messenger so everybody and their brothers don’t bother you when you’re online, and keeping Outlook Express running like a dream. I help you set up Trillian, so you can run instant messaging with any­one, anytime. I also show you how to make the most of Google. And if you’ve got kids, this is the part where I show you how to protect them online.

Part V: Optimizing Your Musical Entertainment

A surprising number of pitfalls await the unfortu­nate. Here’s how to avoid them. Get no-nonsense, person-to-person music gathering techniques; rec­ommendations for buying music; and inside tips on ripping and burning. Customize Windows Media Player 10 and manipulate playlists, create your own music CDs, transfer music to players and other PCs, and tune in to WMP radio. Yes, the free radio is still there, if you know where to find it.

Part VI: Having Fun and Saving Time with Visual Media

Video and pictures take time to handle, but they’re such fun. So here’s how to spend less time while hav­ing more fun. Take snapshots and record videos with a Webcam, edit your home movies, manage digital pictures, and decrease picture download times. Ever wonder how to retrieve pictures that you accidentally

deleted from your camera? The answer’s here. You can also find techniques for printing pictures and using your scanner effectively.

Part VII: Ensuring Peak Network Performance

These days, everyone’s networked, or so it seems. But how efficient is your network? Here you can find out how to get the most out of your peer-to-peer net­work, get home and small office network installation tips, find out the best way to share one Internet con­nection among several machines, and add (and con­figure) new network users.

If you’re looking for help installing a wireless net­work, look no further. I take you through the fastest way to set up your network — and, far more impor­tantly, secure it. I also tell you the whole story — the real story — behind Windows XP Simple File Sharing. It isn’t as simple (or as secure) as you think.

Part VIII: Fast Security Techniques

This part contains full behind-the-scenes coverage of the Windows Security Center, new in Service Pack 2. It gives you common-sense approaches to solving the rabidly hyped problem of computer security. Protect your PC from real viruses; conduct fast, easy, and safe online shopping transactions; and thwart intruders with a firewall. Best of all, I show you how to put an icon on your desktop that will “lock down” your system in a split-second. If you need to set up and monitor your security perimeter, look no further.

Part IX: Keeping Your PC Alive

An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of painful cures. Here you can discover how to run periodic maintenance automatically while you’re off lounging somewhere (or meeting some insane deadline). I show you how to decide how much maintenance is enough and how to determine when to run mainte­nance checks so that your workflow isn’t affected.And what about keeping Windows up to date? I show you why I don’t trust Microsoft to update my PCs automatically. Decide which updates are critical and which ones can wait, get Remote Assistance and other forms of help, and make backups without a problem.

Part X: Fast (Nearly Painless) Disaster Recovery

Has Windows gone to Hades in a handbasket? Again? Here are the tricks you need to try in down-to-earth language. Find out how to survive (and per­manently stop) the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. Find out how to get your PC to boot when it doesn’t want to, restore your system to its pre-calamitous condition, and recover lost passwords. It ain’t pretty, but sometimes you have to take the Windows bull by the horns.

Part XI: The Scary (Or Fun!) Stuff

Most of the techniques in the first ten parts are pretty straightforward. In Part XI, I take you deep into the belly of Windows XP. Find out how to make changes to the Registry without getting burned, and go through three of my favorite Registry tweaks that aren’t covered by Microsoft’s programs. I also show you how to use Program Compatibility Mode when you absolutely, positively have to get an old program to work.

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