NOTES PREPARED BY::::>

PRANITH KUMAR V

WINDOWS XP USEFUL TIPS AND BASICS

How to Remove Windows XP's Messenger

Theoretically, you can get rid of it (as well as a few other things). Windows
2000 power users should already be familiar with this tweak.

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the

%SYSTEMROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the
percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEMROOT% is
C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it? Okay, on with the hack!
In the INF folder, open sysoc.inf (but not before making a BACKUP copy
first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in
it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is
not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide" (so that the flanking commas are
left sitting next to one another). Save the file and close it. Now, open the
Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add /
Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in
that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set. NOTE:
there are other hidden system components in that sysoc.inf file, too. Remove
"hide" and the subsequent programs at your own risk.

Set the Search Screen to the Classic Look

When I first saw the default search pane in Windows XP, my instinct was to
return it to its classic look; that puppy had to go. Of course, I later
discovered that a doggie door is built into the applet. Click "Change
preferences" then "Without an animated screen character." If you'd rather
give it a bare-bones "Windows 2000" look and feel, fire up your Registry
editor and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \

Explorer \ CabinetState.

You may need to create a new string value labeled "Use Search Asst" and set
it to "no".

New Sound Blaster Drivers

With the loads of problems reported by users with Soundblaster cards on

Windows XP Creative has stepped up and offered drivers for at least some
models of their Sound Blaster cards, but check your particular model closely.
 I have downloaded the SB128 drivers and my sound problems have been
resolved..! So they do work.

Upgrading to Windows XP

You can upgrade a computer that runs Windows 98, 98SE, or Me to Windows
XP Home Edition. Those same versions, along with Windows NT Workstation
4.0 and Windows 2000 Professional, can be upgraded to Windows XP
Professional.

(1).To ensure a smooth upgrade and avoid networking problems, follow

these tips before starting the upgrade:

(2)Install all network cards. XP will detect them and automatically install the
right drivers.

(3)Have your Internet connection available. The XP setup process will

connect to a Microsoft server to download the latest setup files, including
changes that have been made since XP was released.

Some programs are incompatible with XP and can cause networking

problems. Un-install these programs. After the upgrade is complete and the
network is working, re-install XP-compatible versions of these programs:
Internet Connection Sharing, NAT, Proxy Server Anti-Virus Firewall.

How to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition Profiles

to Windows XP Domain User Profiles

This guide describes how to upgrade a Microsoft Microsoft Windows 98-

based, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition-based client that has user
profiles to a Microsoft Windows XP-based client.

The following steps enable the Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition
(Me) profiles to be retained throughout the process.

Your best method to retain the profiles is to join the domain during the
upgrade installation process.
Otherwise, you must use a workaround method to transfer the profile
information over to the Windows XP profile.

During the upgrade installation process, at the networking section, the

administrator is offered the choice to join a domain or a workgroup.
If you join the domain at this juncture, you ensure that all the existing
profiles are migrated successfully to the Windows XP-based installation.
 If you did not join the computer to the domain during the upgrade process,
you must use the following workaround method:

Join the upgraded computer to the target domain.

All applicable users must log on and log off (which generates a profile).

Copy the appropriate Application Data folder from the Windows 95, Windows
98, and Windows Me profiles to the newly created user profiles.

How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent

Go to ontrol Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings
button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines

Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. Its

actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared
files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as
long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network
because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote
computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally
intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that
the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve
significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks
anymore. Here's how :

Open up the Registry and go to :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current
Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, select the key :

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

and delete it.

This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like
you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if
necessary.
This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost
immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing
processes

Set up and Use Internet Connection Sharing

With Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows XP, you can connect one
computer to the Internet, then share the Internet service with several
computers on your home or small office network. The Network Setup Wizard
in Windows XP Professional will automatically provide all of the network
settings you need to share one Internet connection with all the computers in
your network. Each computer can use programs such as Internet Explorer
and Outlook Express as if they were directly connected to the Internet.
You should not use this feature in an existing network with Windows 2000
Server domain controllers, DNS servers, gateways, DHCP servers, or systems
configured for static IP addresses.

Enabling ICS

The ICS host computer needs two network connections. The local area
network connection, automatically created by installing a network adapter,
connects to the computers on your home or small office network. The other
connection, using a 56k modem, ISDN, DSL, or cable modem, connects the
home or small office network to the Internet. You need to ensure that ICS is
enabled on the connection that has the Internet connection. By doing this,
the shared connection can connect your home or small office network to the
Internet, and users outside your network are not at risk of receiving
inappropriate addresses from your network.
When you enable ICS, the local area network connection to the home or
small office network is given a new static IP address and configuration.
Consequently, TCP/IP connections established between any home or small
office computer and the ICS host computer at the time of enabling ICS are
lost and need to be reestablished. For example, if Internet Explorer is
connecting to a Web site when Internet Connection Sharing is enabled,
refresh the browser to reestablish the connection. You must configure client
machines on your home or small office network so TCP/IP on the local area
connection obtains an IP address automatically. Home or small office network
users must also configure Internet options for Internet Connection Sharing.
To enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Discovery and Control on
Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition
computers, run the Network Setup Wizard from the CD or floppy disk on
these computers. For ICS Discovery and Control to work on Windows 98,
Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers,
Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later must be installed.

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to
complete this procedure.
Open Network Connections. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then
double–click Network Connections.)

Click the dial–up, local area network, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want to
share, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this
connection.

On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect
through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you want this connection to dial automatically when another computer on
your home or small office network attempts to access external resources,
select the Establish a dial–up connection whenever a computer on my
network attempts to access the Internet check box.

If you want other network users to enable or disable the shared Internet
connection, select the Allow other network users to control or disable the
shared Internet connection check box.

Under Internet Connection Sharing, in Home networking connection, select

any adapter that connects the computer sharing its Internet connection to
the other computers on your network. The Home networking connection is
only present when two or more network adapters are installed on the
computer.

To configure Internet options on your client computers for Internet

Connection Sharing

Open Internet Explorer. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click
Internet Explorer.)

On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

On the Connections tab, click Never dial a connection, and then click LAN
Settings.

In Automatic configuration, clear the Automatically detect settings and Use

automatic configuration script check boxes.

In Proxy Server, clear the Use a proxy server check box.

Set Processes Priority

Follow this tip to increase the priority of active processes, this will result in
prioritisation of processes using the CPU.
 CTRL-SHIFT-ESC

1.Go to the second tab called Processes, right click on one of the active
processes, you will see the Set Priority option

2.For example, your Run your CDwriter program , set the priority higher, and
guess what, no crashed CD’s

Set Permissions for Shared Files and Folders

Sharing of files and folders can be managed in two ways. If you chose
simplified file sharing, your folders can be shared with everyone on your
network or workgroup, or you can make your folders private. (This is how
folders are shared in Windows 2000.) However, in Windows XP Professional,
you can also set folder permissions for specific users or groups. To do this,
you must first change the default setting, which is simple file sharing. To
change this setting, follow these steps:
•Open Control Panel, click Tools, and then click Folder Options.
•Click the View tab, and scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings list.
•Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box.
•To manage folder permissions, browse to the folder in Windows Explorer,
right–click the folder, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab, and
assign permissions, such as Full Control, Modify, Read, and/or Write, to
specific users.

You can set file and folder permissions only on drives formatted to use NTFS,
and you must be the owner or have been granted permission to do so by the
owner.

Search For Hidden Or System Files In Windows XP

The Search companion in Windows XP searches for hidden and system files
differently than in earlier versions of Windows. This guide describes how to
search for hidden or system files in Windows XP.

Search for Hidden or System Files By default, the Search companion does not
search for hidden or system files. Because of this, you may be unable to find
files, even though they exist on the drive.

To search for hidden or system files in Windows XP:

Click Start, click Search, click All files and folders, and then click More
advanced options.

Click to select the Search system folders and Search hidden files and folders
check boxes.
NOTE: You do not need to configure your computer to show hidden files in
the Folder Options dialog box in Windows Explorer to find files with either the
hidden or system attributes, but you need to configure your computer not to
hide protected operating system files to find files with both the hidden and
system attributes. Search Companion shares the Hide protected operating
system files option (which hides files with both the system and hidden
attributes) with the Folder Options dialog box Windows Explorer.

Restricting Logon Access

If you work in a multiuser computing environment, and you have full

(administrator level) access to your computer, you might want to restrict
unauthorized access to your "sensitive" files under Windows 95/98.
One way is to disable the Cancel button in the Logon dialog box.
Just run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Network/Logon

Create the "Logon" subkey if it is not present on your machine: highlight the
Network key -> right-click in the left hand Regedit pane -> select New ->
Key -> name it "Logon" (no quotes) -> press Enter. Then add/modify a
DWORD value and call it "MustBeValidated" (don't type the quotes). Double-
click it, check the Decimal box and type 1 for value.
Now click the Start button -> Shut Down (Log off UserName) -> Log on as a
different user, and you'll notice that the Logon Cancel button has been
disabled.

Remove the Recycle Bin from the Desktop

If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get rid of its
desktop icon all together.

Run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/explo
rer/Desktop/NameSpace

Click on the "Recycle Bin" string in the right hand pane. Hit Del, click OK.

How to Rename the Recycle Bin

To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon, open Regedit and go
to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want (don't type any
quotes).

Provide Remote Assistance When Using a NAT Device

You can provide Remote Assistance to a friend who uses a Network Address
Translation (NAT) device by modifying the Remote Assistance invitation using
XML. Network Address Translation is used to allow multiple computers to
share the same outbound Internet connection. To open a Remote Assistance
session with a friend who uses a NAT device:

1. Ask your friend to send you a Remote Assistance invitation by e–mail.

2. Save the invitation file to your desktop.

3. Right–click the file, and then click Open With Notepad. You'll see that the
file is a simple XML file.
4.Under the RCTICKET attribute is a private IP address, such as
192.168.1.100.
5. Over–write this IP address with your friend's public IP address. Your friend
must send you his or her public IP address: they can find out what it is by
going to a Web site that will return the public IP address, such as
http://www.dslreports.com/ip.
6. Save the file, and then double–click it to open the Remote Assistance
session.

Now, you'll be able to connect and provide them with the help they need. So
that your inbound IP connection is routed to the correct computer, the NAT
must be configured to route that inbound traffic. To do so, make sure your
friend forwards port 3389 to the computer they want help from.

Ports That Are Used by Windows Product Activation

Windows Product Activation uses the following ports:

80 - HTTP
443 - HTTPS

NTFS vs. FAT

To NTFS or not to NTFS—that is the question. But unlike the deeper

questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer. For most users
running Windows XP, NTFS is the obvious choice. It's more powerful and
offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. But let's go
over the differences among the files systems so we're all clear about the
choice. There are essentially three different file systems available in Windows
XP: FAT16, short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File
System.

FAT16
The FAT16 file system was introduced way back with MS–DOS in 1981, and
it's showing its age. It was designed originally to handle files on a floppy
drive, and has had minor modifications over the years so it can handle hard
disks, and even file names longer than the original limitation of 8.3
characters, but it's still the lowest common denominator. The biggest
advantage of FAT16 is that it is compatible across a wide variety of operating
systems, including Windows 95/98/Me, OS/2, Linux, and some versions of
UNIX. The biggest problem of FAT16 is that it has a fixed maximum number
of clusters per partition, so as hard disks get bigger and bigger, the size of
each cluster has to get larger. In a 2–GB partition, each cluster is 32
kilobytes, meaning that even the smallest file on the partition will take up 32
KB of space. FAT16 also doesn't support compression, encryption, or
advanced security using access control lists.

FAT32
The FAT32 file system, originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, is
really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides for a
much larger number of clusters per partition. As such, it greatly improves the
overall disk utilization when compared to a FAT16 file system. However,
FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an important
additional limitation—many operating systems that can recognize FAT16 will
not work with FAT32—most notably Windows NT, but also Linux and UNIX as
well. Now this isn't a problem if you're running FAT32 on a Windows XP
computer and sharing your drive out to other computers on your network—
they don't need to know (and generally don't really care) what your
underlying file system is.

The Advantages of NTFS

The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a
completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased
security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the
default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an
upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to
convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already
upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a
problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point.
Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without
reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to.

The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating
systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've
booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system
administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at
least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This
partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special
drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself
out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities
built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's
necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition.

When to Use FAT or FAT32

If you're running more than one operating system on a single computer (see
Dual booting in Guides), you will definitely need to format some of your
volumes as FAT. Any programs or data that need to be accessed by more
than one operating system on that computer should be stored on a FAT16 or
possibly FAT32 volume. But keep in mind that you have no security for data
on a FAT16 or FAT32 volume—any one with access to the computer can read,
change, or even delete any file that is stored on a FAT16 or FAT32 partition.
In many cases, this is even possible over a network. So do not store
sensitive files on drives or partitions formatted with FAT file systems.

Make your Folders Private

•Open My Computer
•Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless
you have more than one drive on your computer).
•If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the
contents of this drive.
•Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
•Double-click your user folder.
•Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties.
•On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have
access to it check box.

Note

•To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.

•This option is only available for folders included in your user profile. Folders
in your user profile include My Documents and its subfolders, Desktop, Start
Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not make these folders private, they
are available to everyone who uses your computer.
•When you make a folder private, all of its subfolders are private as well. For
example, when you make My Documents private, you also make My Music
and My Pictures private. When you share a folder, you also share all of its
subfolders unless you make them private.
•You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS
For information about converting your drive to NTFS
 IP address of your connection

Go to start/run type 'cmd'

then type 'ipconfig'

Add the '/all' switch for more info.

How to use Windows Update Properly

If you want to save your files to your hard drive, so after a format you dont
have to download them all again, here's How:

- Logon to Windows Update

- Choose Windows Update Catalogue (left hand pane)

- Choose Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems (right hand
pane)

- Choose your version and language then Search

- Choose one the following:

- Critical Updates and Service Packs

- Service Packs and Recommended Downloads
- Multi-Language Features (0)

- Once chosen simply click on what you want to download and then back at
the top click Review Download Basket

- You are taken to the next page where at the top you can specify where the
downloads are to be saved.

- Click Download now. Each patch will make a directory under the root of the
folder you saved them to.
Once finished you need to go to where you saved the file (s) to and then
simply install all your patches.

Install/Enable NetBEUI Under WinXP

If for some reason you need to install NetBEUI then follow these instructions.

**Note - You will need the WinXP CD in order to to this!

Support for the NetBIOS Extended User Interface protocols (also called
NetBEUI or NBF) in Windows XP has been discontinued. If your configuration
requires temporary use of NetBEUI for Windows XP, follow these steps:

To install the NETBEUI protocol:

- Locate the Valueadd/msft/net/netbeui directory on your Windows XP

CD.Copy nbf.sys into the %SYSTEMROOT%SYSTEM32DRIVERS directory.

- Copy netnbf.inf into the %SYSTEMROOT%INF directory.

- In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections and then click
Network Connections.

- Right-click the connection you want to configure, and then click Properties.

- On the General tab, click the INSTALL button to add the NetBEUI protocol

How to remove the Default Picture and Fax Preview Action

Go To Start > Run and type `Regedit` and press `ok`

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Classes/CLSID/{e84fda7c-

1d6a-45f6-b725-cb260c236066}/shellex

Deleted the MayChangeDefaultMenu key.

How to Convert FAT to NTFS file system

To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.

Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.

In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd and then click OK.

At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.

Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion
from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data
on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert
command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup
before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair
disk (ERD).
 AVI File Fix in Windows XP

If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, which have
interference when opened in Windows XP, there is an easy fix to get rid of
the interference: Open Windows Movie Maker. Click View and then click
Options. Click in the box to remove the check mark beside Automatically
create clips. Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto
the timeline. Then save the movie, and during the re-rendering, the
interference will be removed.

Mustek 600 CP scanner or other software unable to install on XP

If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you
are not running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers for a Mustek
scanner!!) you can simply edit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows
NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName

to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also
have to edit the version number or build number, depending on how hard the
program tries to verify that you are installing on the correct OS. I had to do
this for my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn't help!!!) and it
worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a tech at
Mustek can now eat his words). BTW, don't forget to restore any changes
you make after you get your software installed

How do I enable advanced security settings like found in Windows

2000

Open windows explorer then click on Tools->Folder Options

Click on the View Tab.

Scroll to the bottom and deselect (uncheck) the option that reads 'use simple
file sharing'

This will allow you to see the security tab when viewing the properties of a
file/folder.

Hide 'User Accounts' from users

Go to Start/Run, and type:

 GPEDIT.MSC

Open the path

User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel

doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"

put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"

click Add button,

type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box

Force users to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to Logon

(XPPro only)

Go to start/run,

and type control userpasswords2

Fix your Slow XP and 98 Network

You can run "wmiprvse.exe" as a process for quick shared network access to
Win98/ME machines. Stick it in Startup or make it a service.

"On the PC running XP, log in as you normally would, go to users, manage
network passwords.
Here is where the problem lies. In this dialog box remove any win98
passwords or computer-assigned names for the win98 PCs. In my case , I
had two computer-assigned win98 pc names in this box (example G4k8e6). I
deleted these names (you may have passwords instead). Then go to My
Network Places and -- there you go! -- no more delay!

Now, after I did this and went to My Network Places to browse the first
Win98 PC, I was presented with a password/logon box that looked like this:
logon: G4k8e6/guest (lightly grayed out) and a place to enter a password. I
entered the password that I had previously used to share drives on the
Win98 PCs long before I installed XP. I have the guest account enabled in XP.

This solves the problem for Win98 & XP machines on a LAN; I can't
guarantee it will work for Win2K/ME machines as well, but the whole secret
lies in the passwords. If this doesn't solve your slow WinXP>Win98 access
problems, then you probably have other things wrong. Don't forget to
uncheck 'simple file sharing,' turn off your ICS firewall, enable NetBIOS over
TCP/IP and install proper protocols, services & permissions."
 How to Convert a FAT Partition to NTFS

To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.

Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.

In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.

At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.

Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion
from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data
on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert
command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup
before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair
disk (ERD).

Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

Copy Files and Folders to CD

To copy files and folders to a CD

•Insert a blank, writable CD into the CD recorder.

•Open My Computer.

•Click the files or folders you want to copy to the CD. To select more than
one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want. Then,
under File and Folder Tasks, click Copy this file, Copy this folder, or Copy the
selected items.

•If the files are located in My Pictures, under Picture Tasks, click Copy to CD
or Copy all items to CD, and then skip to step 5.

•In the Copy Items dialog box, click the CD recording drive, and then click
Copy.
 •In My Computer, double–click the CD recording drive. Windows displays a
temporary area where the files are held before they are copied to the CD.
Verify that the files and folders that you intend to copy to the CD appear
under Files Ready to be Written to the CD.

•Under CD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD. Windows displays the
CD Writing Wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard.

Notes:

•Do not copy more files to the CD than it will hold. Standard CDs hold up to
650 megabytes (MB). High–capacity CDs hold up to 850 MB.

•Be sure that you have enough disk space on your hard disk to store the
temporary files that are created during the CD writing process. For a
standard CD, Windows reserves up to 700 MB of the available free space. For
a high–capacity CD, Windows reserves up to 1 gigabyte (GB) of the available
free space.

•After you copy files or folders to the CD, it is useful to view the CD to
confirm that the files are copied. For more information, click Related Topics.
To stop the CD recorder from automatically ejecting the CD

•Open My Computer.

•Right–click the CD recording drive, and then click Properties.

•On the Recording tab, clear the Automatically eject the CD after writing
check box.

Create a Password Reset Disk

If you’re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup

environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your
computer when you forget your password. To create the disk:

1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
2.Click your account name.
3.Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.
4.Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a
password reset disk.
5.Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access
your local user account.

Disable CD Autorun
 1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC

2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.

3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire

20 things you didn't know about Windows XP

You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and
operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of
Windows XP's secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows
were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of
its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All
Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will
produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these,
type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at
later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the
Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc';
then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows
Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the
Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many
interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer
behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a
new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter
'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the
shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your
computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will
do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as

Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything.
Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the
word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs
in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will
be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of
interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers'
for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring
performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled
tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of
options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.
6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this
is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your
LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing
network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If
you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by
using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process
number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about
what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast
machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by
typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind
later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but

doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you
were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you
the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the
desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the
second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on
laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as
well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control
Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network
address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get
your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under
the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace
this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to
www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port
3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back
in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and
password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is
particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a
program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running
programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can
have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates,
registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while,
the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity
before that point, run Regedit, go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current
Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called
EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password.
Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which
will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for
Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and
click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user
name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if
you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and
Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty
Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see
the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on
the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your
LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in
notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on
the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can
speed things along by changing the registry entry
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the
default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a
set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other
files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to
distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised
groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the
tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks
from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can
put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just
call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box;
Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through
the taskbar buttons.

20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late
next year or early 2003 and won't be much to write home about. The next
big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2004.
 Adding Programs To Stay On The Start Menu

Right click on any .exe file in Explorer, My Computer, Desktop and select 'Pin
to Start Menu', the program is then displayed on the start menu, above the
separator line. To remove it, click the file on the start menu and select 'Unpin
from Start Menu'. Below you can check the before and after shots.

Boot Defragment

A very important new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a

boot defragment. This basically means that all boot files are placed next to
each other on the disk drive to allow for faster booting. By default this option
is enabled but some upgrade users have reported that it isn't on their setup.

1. Start Regedit.
2. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
3. Select Enable from the list on the right.
4. Right on it and select Modify.
5. Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable.
6. Reboot your computer.

Getting an Older Program to Run on Windows XP

1.Right–click the executable or the program shortcut to the executable, and

then click Properties.

2.Select the Run this program in compatibility mode check box.

3.From the list, select an operating system that the program runs in
comfortably.

If necessary, also change the display settings and/or resolution, or disable

the Windows XP visual themes.
Run the program again when you’re finished changing the settings. Adjust
the compatibility settings again if the program is still not running smoothly: a
program that’s unhappy on Windows 2000 may flourish on Windows 98.

User Accounts and Fast User Switching

Introduction

Windows XP represents Microsoft's big push to get the largely Windows 9X-
based user community to an operating system family based on the Windows
NT-kernel. In Windows XP, new client services not only blend the ease of use
of familiar Windows 9X profiles with the robustness of Windows NT (and
Windows 2000) user management, but significantly improve on the
combination. While the majority of these advancements will be appreciated
 most by home users, enterprise customers that share assets-for instance,
with shift workers and telecommuters or with users who access e-mail from
multiple machines while roaming-will also see improvements.

Many computers are shared between multiple users, particularly in the home
environment where studies have shown that 80% of computers are used
routinely by multiple people. In previous versions of Windows NT, user
account management-which could be strictly enforced across the enterprise
by administrators-was a somewhat tricky process that was beyond the
abilities of most non-computing professionals. Simple-to-use Windows 9X
profiles, however, were not enabled by default and were largely ignored: The
cost of actually using the profiles, which required that users log off before
allowing other users to access the system, meant that the vast majority of
machines made do with a single shared profile, with all of the corresponding
security, configuration, and data-loss risks.
In Windows XP, user profiles are always enabled and even non-enterprise
users are encouraged to create accounts during the Setup process. These
accounts are based on Windows NT profiles and allow Windows XP to provide
strong isolation and protection of users' data and settings. If multiple user
accounts are configured on a machine, then users are presented with a
Welcome screen that appears featuring separate-and customizable-graphics
for each user. Users of Windows XP machines that are members of an NT-
style domain do not see this screen, since presenting a list of machine users
could be considered a security violation. A new control panel applet replaces
the familiar Windows NT User Manager and Windows 2000 Computers and
Users snap-in, providing a simple interface that allows almost anyone to set
up a new user and give them appropriate rights and privileges.

Fast User Switching

Windows XP introduces fast user switching. Undoubtedly, fast user switching

is the single most important feature that makes sharing Windows-based
computers workable. Using fast user switching, it is not necessary for a user
to log off the computer before allowing a second user to access their own
account. Instead, the first user's account is "disconnected," which leaves all
the programs running; the second user can then log on, and then the users
can switch quickly between logged-on accounts. Many accounts can be open
simultaneously on one computer, though only one account at a time will be
able to interact with the keyboard, screen, and input devices.

In the home environment, for instance, fast user switching allows a parent
working on a personal finance program to yield the computer to a child to
work on homework by browsing the Internet, without requiring the parent to
shut down and restart the finance program and without exposing the child to
the parent's financial information. In the business environment, fast user
switching can allow multiple users in a common environment, such as a
research lab, to share a single machine.
Fast user switching is just one of two mechanisms that allow multiple users
 to work with a single system. Remote desktop, another built-in Windows XP
feature, allows users to interact with machines remotely across a network
and to access data and applications on those remote machines. While fast
user switching is aimed principally at the home market, remote desktop
enables business users to access their corporate desktops from remote
computers-and vice versa, enabling them to operate home machines while at
work.

Programming Issues

Both fast user switching and remote desktop use Windows XP's updated
terminal services technology. Improvements have been made to both the
server and client components of terminal services. Windows XP now features
support for both local and remote sound, 24-bit video, performance
optimizations, and the mapping of the local drives and printers.
Fortunately, most applications don't have to be rewritten to work with
terminal services and, thus, fast user switching and remote desktop. Rather,
they need to respect basic user settings management guidelines. These
guidelines are not new: Most are covered in the Windows 2000 Certified for
Windows Application Specification, which has been available on Microsoft's
Web site for some time. The Data and Settings Management section of this
specification includes several topics that are particularly important when
supporting multiple users on a single machine:

· Default to the My Documents folder for storage of user-created data;

· Classify and store application data correctly;
· Degrade gracefully on "Access denied" messages.
Mostly, this means isolating data and settings for each user. And an
important step in this direction is to ensure that you are using the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key rather than HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE for
storing settings in the system registry. You should also be careful to install
programs correctly and to classify and store data correctly. You can use the
ShGetFolderPath API to obtain the path of a specific named folder-such as
"My Documents" or even "Program Files"-as well as the appropriate
directories for storing Roaming, Non-Roaming, and Shared application data.
The following are some general guidelines for locating data:
· Profiles\username\Application Data\appname
- Roaming, auto-created user files (e-mail DB, custom dictionaries…)
· Profiles\username\Application Data\Local Settings\appname
- Discardable/local-only user data files (e.g., offline stores)
· Profiles\All Users\Application Data\appname
- Last-resort for local-only, common dynamic data (e.g., log files)

A notable exception to the isolation rule is that you should support "All Users"
installations: It is extremely frustrating for users to install the same
application repeatedly for multiple user accounts.
By carefully locating user data, user settings, and computer settings,
applications can make it easier for users to backup individual documents and
 settings, share a computer among multiple users, and even to work with the
same documents and settings on multiple computers. By handling data and
settings properly, you can enable your application to run in both the home
(fast user switching) and business enterprise (remote desktop) marketplaces.

Controlling Running Instances

It is common for applications to control their startup so that only a single

instance may be running on a machine at any given time. There are many
valid reasons for doing this: licensing restrictions, required dedicated access
to specific hardware resources, and perhaps even enforcing data integrity.
However, with multiple users on the same machine, it might be desirable to
allow multiple users-each with their own instance-to work with (for example)
a personal finance program as long as their data remains isolated. At this
point, the commonly used mechanisms for controlling running instances may
exhibit some unwanted side effects when operating under Windows XP's fast
user switching or remote desktop.
The most common method for discovering whether another instance is
running is to use the FindWindow or FindWindowEx APIs to search for a
window that, if your application is running, you know to be open. Somewhat
unexpectedly, both of these APIs work in a single user session only. So using
this method won't prevent another instance of your application from being
started by another user.
A more robust method for controlling multiple instances is to use one of the
NT kernel objects: events, semaphores, mutexes, waitable timers, file-
mapping objects, and job objects can all be used with Global\ or Local\
prefixes on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. By default, each user (terminal
service) session will have its own namespace for kernel objects. By creating a
Global\ object-for instance, a mutex or semaphore-when your application is
started (and closing it upon exit), your application can detect running
instances across multiple user (terminal service) sessions. Of course, you
can't just switch to the previous instance: It may be in another session! What
typically happens in that case is the user clicks on an icon and then nothing
appears to happen (since the app thinks it's located another running
instance). At a minimum, you should warn the user that there's another
instance running.

What about sound? Well, the terminal services in Windows XP have been
designed to configure sound to both the interactive and disconnected
sessions. While it may be difficult to imagine at first, there may be valid
scenarios where it would desirable to output multiple audio streams. For
instance, what if you used a sound card in one user session to output audio
to the home stereo system and at the same time the active user wanted to
hold an interactive meeting with sound? In this case, you certainly would not
want to blend the two streams. And neither would you want to suspend the
audio stream in the disconnected session. Getting this right can be
particularly important when working with shared media devices like DVD
players.
 One general guideline is to do "as little as possible, as much as necessary"
when you are the disconnected session. To do this, it can be helpful to know
when a session switch occurs. While most applications won't need to be
notified, if your application accesses a shared resource-such as a serial port
or other hardware device-you may want to know when the machine switches
between user sessions. To be notified when a session switch occurs, you
must register to receive the WM_WTSSESSION_CHANGE message by calling
the WTSRegisterConsoleNotification API. Using this function, you can choose
to be notified for a single session or for all sessions, and when either local or
remote sessions connect or disconnect. When you no longer require
notification, you should unregister using the
WTSUnRegisterConsoleNotification API.

Summary

If you isolate access to your application's data and settings and take care not
to tie up shared resources, your application should work well with Windows
XP's terminal services. By developing your application to assume it's not the
only thing running on the machine, your users are likely to have a much
better experience when they start using it with Windows XP's new fast user
switching and remote desktop features.

Rename a Series of Files

When you download photos from your digital camera, they often have
unrecognizable names. You can rename several similar files at once with the
following procedure. This also works for renaming other types of files.

1.Open the My Pictures folder. (Click Start, and then click My Pictures.) Or
open another folder containing files that you want to rename.
2.Select the files you want to rename. If the files you want are not adjacent
in the file list, press and hold CTRL, and then click each item to select it.
3.On the File menu, click Rename.
4.Type the new name, and then press ENTER.

All of the files in the series will be named in sequence using the new name
you type. For example, if you type Birthday, the first will be named Birthday
and subsequent files in the series will be named Birthday (1), Birthday (2),
and so on. To specify the starting number for the series, type the starting
number in parentheses after the new file name. The files in the series will be
numbered in sequence starting with the number you type. For example, if
you type Birthday (10), the other files will be named Birthday (11), Birthday
(12), and so on.
 Licensing Issues

Here you can find a Description of the things which are done by the Program
or you can manually change the following settings to have the same effect:

• - MediaPlayer: Don't Acquire licenses automatically - Open the

MediaPlayer-Extras - Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the
groupbox 'Internetsettings' and uncheck 'Acquire licenses
automatically'.
• - MediaPlayer: No identification by internetsites - Open the
MediaPlayer-Extras-Options... Click the tab ‘Player’, look at the
groupbox 'Internet settings' and uncheck 'Allow identification by
internet sites'
• - MediaPlayer: don't download codecs automatically - Open the
MediaPlayer-Extras-Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the
groupbox 'Automatic Updates' and uncheck 'Download Codecs
Automatically'
• - Error report: Don't report errors - Open the Explorer, right-click on
'My Computer' and select 'Properties', click on the Tab 'Advanced' and
click the button 'Errorreports', in the upcoming dialog uncheck all 3
items and select 'Disable Errorreports'

Never Re-Activate After Installation

If you have to reinstall Windows XP you normally will have to reactivate too.
Well not anymore. Just copy wpa.dbl after you activated the first time. It is
located in the WINDOWS\system32 folder. Now if you reinstall Windows XP
just copy the file back and you're up and running again

How to make My Computer' open in Explore mode with folder

list

In My Computer click Tools menu, and then click Options.

Click the File Types tab.In the list of file types, highlight "(NONE) Folders"

Click Advanced button, In the Actions box, highlight "Explore" Click "Set
Default"

XP to directly access WebDAV "internet disks"

Windows XP can directly access WebDAV "internet disks" such as Apple's

iDisk.
 In Internet Explorer, use the "Open..." command, type the name of the
WebDAV server you want to access (e.g., http://idisk.mac.com/username)
and select the "Open as Web Folder" checkbox. Enter the password when
prompted and you're in!

This trick also works on Windows Me and Windows 2000. Interestingly,

Windows XP doesn't seem to support iDisk via the "Add a Network Place"
command, possible with these other operating systems.

Once set up using the "Open" command, however, the idisk can be accessed
by simply double-clicking its icon in the Network Places folder.

Win XP Won’t Completely Shutdown

- Goto Control Panel, then goto Power Options.

- Click on the APM Tab, then check the "Enable Advanced Power Management
support."
- Shut down your PC. It should now successfully complete the Shut Down
process.

Adjust various visual effects

1. Open up the control panel

2. Go under system and click on the advanced tab
3. Click settings under Performance options
4. You can now change various graphical effects (mainly animations and
shadows)

Disable Error Reporting

1. Open Control Panel

2. Click on Performance and Maintenance.
3. Click on System.
4. Then click on the Advanced tab
5. Click on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
6. Select Disable error reporting.
7. Click OK
8. Click OK

Remove shortcut arrow from desktop icons

Here's how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop icons in
Windows XP.
 1. Start regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

You may need to restart Windows XP.

Easy sendto menu modification

first open - X:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo (it is hidden)

where X is your drive letter and username is your username make and delete
shortcuts to folders and devices at will

Enable Clear Type

Easy way- Click on or cut and paste link below:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/cleartypeactivate.htm?fnam
e=%20&fsize=
or
- Right click on a blank area of the Desktop and choose Properties
- Click on the Appearance Tab; Click effects
- Check the box: Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts
- In the drop down box select: Clear Type

Getting MP3 ripping to work in Windows Media Player 8 in XP

Enter the following in the registry :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMediaPlayerSettingsMP3Encodin
g]
"LowRate"=dword:0000dac0
"MediumRate"=dword:0000fa00
"MediumHighRate"=dword:0001f400
"HighRate"=dword:0002ee00

This corresponds to 56, 64, 128 and 192 Kbps.

You can change this to your liking using the following dword hex values :

320 Kbps = dword:0004e200

256 Kbps = dword:0003e800
224 Kbps = dword:00036b00
192 Kbps = dword:0002ee00
160 Kbps = dword:00027100
128 Kbps = dword:0001f400
112 Kbps = dword:0001b580
 64 Kbps = dword:0000fa00
56 Kbps = dword:0000dac0

Internet Broadband

this ones simple:

this is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for
dial up.
1.make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator". do not log on with
any account that just has administrator privileges.
2. start - run - type gpedit.msc
3. expand the "local computer policy" branch
4. expand the "administrative templates" branch
5. expand the "network branch"
6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window
7. in right window double click the "limit reservable bandwidth" setting
8. on setting tab check the "enabled" item
9. where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0
reboot if you want to but not necessary on some systems your all done.
Effect is immediate on some systems. some need re-boot. I have one
machine that needs to reboot first, the others didn't. Don't know why this is.

This is more of a "counter what XP does" thing. In other words, XP seems to

want to reserve 20% of the bandwidth for its self. Even with QoS disabled,
even when this item is disabled. So why not use it to your advantage. To
demonstrate the problem with this on stand alone machines start up a big
download from a server with an FTP client. Try to find a server that doesn't
max out your bandwidth. In this case you want a slow to medium speed
server to demonstrate this. Let it run for a couple of minutes to get stable.
The start up another download from the same server with another instance
of your FTP client. You will notice that the available bandwidth is now being
fought over and one of the clients download will be very slow or both will
slow down when they should both be using the available bandwidth. Using
this "tweak" both clients will have a fair share of the bandwidth and will not
fight over the bandwidth.

Add Album Art to any Music Folder

This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP
is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate
album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in
WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their
CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art
from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new
Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each
folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties
for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to
reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.
When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images
as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then,
Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder
and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP
(MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization.
And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation
as well. Your music folders never looked so good!

XP file Sharing

File sharing. Is the sharing of a disk or printer between computers . If a

disk or folder is shared, everyone on the network can access it. You have
the ability to set password and permissions for the shared disk or folder for
security therefore Windows XP tries to protect you from some potential
security risks.
Right click the disk or folder that you want to share and select Sharing and
Security.

NOTE: The first time you do this the Networking wizard will appear ..CLOSE
IT..:-

The Wizard automatically enables the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) to

prevent other Internet users from accessing your shared disks and folders.
Enabling ICF is a good idea if you connect directly to the Internet through a
dial-up, DSL, or cable modem. But it's a terrible idea if you connect to the
Internet through your LAN, using a software router (like Internet
Connection Sharing) or a hardware router, since it will block File and Printer
Sharing.

The disk or folder that you share, along with all of the folders that it
contains, will be accessible by other network users. If you're sharing an
entire disk, Windows XP gives a warning. The implication of the warning is
that it's better to share a specific folder, since only that folder (and its
subfolders) will be accessible by others, and the rest of the disk will be
inaccessible. Click where indicated if you want to go ahead and share the
entire disk. This screen doesn't appear if you're sharing a folder.
XP will display a warning. If you want ICF enabled, select Use the wizard to
enable file sharing. Otherwise, select Just enable file sharing.

Having successfully stopped the Wizard's , you now have to specify a Share
name, which users on other networked computers will use to access this
disk or folder. For maximum compatibility with all versions of Windows, use
1-12 characters.

By default, users on other computers have full access: they can read, write,
and delete shared files. If you only want them to be able to read files, un-
check Allow network users to change my files.

Warning: If a user has full access, deleting a file doesn't put it in the
Recycle Bin. Once it's deleted, it's gone for good.

Hiding a Shared Disk or Folder

What if you don't want everyone on the network to be able to access a
shared disk or folder?

The answer is to create a hidden share by adding a dollar sign ('$') to the
end of the share name. A hidden share doesn't appear in My Network
Places or Network Neighborhood on any of the networked computers. Only
people who know the share name can access it.

To create a hidden share, right click the disk or folder and select Sharing
and Security.

Specify a share name that ends with a dollar sign. Once again, use 1-12
characters (1-11 before the dollar sign). If the people on your network are
clever enough to guess a name like myfiles$, use a more secure name, like
a combination of letters and numbers. Just make sure that you can
remember it.
Mapping Hidden Drives
Accessing a Hidden Share:
A hidden share doesn't appear on any of the networked computers, so how
can someone on another computer access it? The answer is to map it as a
network drive, which assigns a drive letter to the hidden share. Once it has
a drive letter, you access it just like a disk on the same computer.

To map a network drive, open My Computer, click Tools, and select Map
Network Drive.

Specify an unused drive letter and enter the network path for the hidden
share, being sure to include the dollar sign. If you check Reconnect at
logon, the mapping will happen automatically every time you start your
computer. Otherwise, you'll have to map it manually every time.

Set up and Use Internet Connection Sharing

With Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows XP, you can connect
one computer to the Internet, then share the Internet service with several
computers on your home or small office network. The Network Setup
Wizard in Windows XP Professional will automatically provide all of the
network settings you need to share one Internet connection with all the
computers in your network. Each computer can use programs such as
Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as if they were directly connected
to the Internet.

You should not use this feature in an existing network with Windows 2000
Server domain controllers, DNS servers, gateways, DHCP servers, or
systems configured for static IP addresses.
 Enabling ICS
The ICS host computer needs two network connections. The local area
network connection, automatically created by installing a network
adapter, connects to the computers on your home or small office network.
The other connection, using a 56k modem, ISDN, DSL, or cable modem,
connects the home or small office network to the Internet. You need to
ensure that ICS is enabled on the connection that has the Internet
connection. By doing this, the shared connection can connect your home
or small office network to the Internet, and users outside your network
are not at risk of receiving inappropriate addresses from your network.

When you enable ICS, the local area network connection to the home or
small office network is given a new static IP address and configuration.
Consequently, TCP/IP connections established between any home or small
office computer and the ICS host computer at the time of enabling ICS
are lost and need to be reestablished. For example, if Internet Explorer is
connecting to a Web site when Internet Connection Sharing is enabled,
refresh the browser to reestablish the connection. You must configure
client machines on your home or small office network so TCP/IP on the
local area connection obtains an IP address automatically. Home or small
office network users must also configure Internet options for Internet
Connection Sharing. To enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Discovery and Control on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and
Windows Millennium Edition computers, run the Network Setup Wizard
from the CD or floppy disk on these computers. For ICS Discovery and
Control to work on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and
Windows Millennium Edition computers, Internet Explorer version 5.0 or
later must be installed.

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order
to complete this procedure.

Open Network Connections. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then
double–click Network Connections.)

Click the dial–up, local area network, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want
to share, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this
connection.

On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect
through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you want this connection to dial automatically when another computer
on your home or small office network attempts to access external
resources, select the Establish a dial–up connection whenever a computer
on my network attempts to access the Internet check box.

If you want other network users to enable or disable the shared Internet
connection, select the Allow other network users to control or disable the
shared Internet connection check box.

Under Internet Connection Sharing, in Home networking connection,

select any adapter that connects the computer sharing its Internet
connection to the other computers on your network. The Home
networking connection is only present when two or more network
adapters are installed on the computer.
To configure Internet options on your client computers for
Internet Connection Sharing
Open Internet Explorer. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click
Internet Explorer.)

On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

On the Connections tab, click Never dial a connection, and then click LAN
Settings.
In Automatic configuration, clear the Automatically detect settings and
Use automatic configuration script check boxes.

In Proxy Server, clear the Use a proxy server check box.

XP Network Protocols

Im not going to explain everything about Protocols that is way out of scope
of this guide.
 There are three main Protocols : TCP/IP, IPX/SPX and NETBEUI

TCP/IP :

Is automatically installed, can't be un-installed, and is used by default for

all networking functions.Windows XP provides one other supported protocol
-- IPX/SPX -- and one unsupported protocol, NetBEUI.
By default, XP configures TCP/IP to obtain an IP address automatically. If
there's a DHCP server on the network, it will assign the IP address and
other TCP/IP settings to the connection. Otherwise, Windows XP will use
Automatic Private IP Addressing to assign an IP address to the connection.

By default, XP configures TCP/IP to obtain an IP address automatically. If

there's a DHCP server on the network, it will assign the IP address and
other TCP/IP settings to the connection. Otherwise, Windows XP will use
Automatic Private IP Addressing to assign an IP address to the connection.
This default configuration should work, unchanged, to connect a Windows
XP computer to a network that uses TCP/IP for File and Printer Sharing in
these common configurations:

Using an Internet sharing program or a hardware router protects the local

area network from access by other Internet users, so it's safe to use TCP/IP
for File and Printer Sharing on the LAN. The computers have private IP
addresses that aren't accessible from the Internet. No other protocol is
needed.

If your network uses static IP addresses, click Use the following IP address
-- 192.168.0.3 and enter the configuration information. For example, here
are settings for a network that uses a proxy server at IP address
192.168.0.1 for Internet access.
 IPX/SPX

If the existing network uses IPX/SPX for File and Printer Sharing, you can
add that protocol to the Windows XP computer. IPX/SPX is fully supported
in XP. In the connection's Properties, click the Install button to add a
network component. XP will ask what type of network component to install.

Click Protocol and Add.

Click NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol and click OK.

Two NWLink items are added to the connection's Properties
Have your winXP CD handy.

NetBEUI
NetBEUI was the default protocol in Windows 95, but Microsoft has been
moving away from NetBEUI ever since. Starting with Windows 98, TCP/IP
has been the default protocol, and NetBEUI has been available for
installation as a supported protocol.
• Starting with Windows XP, NetBEUI is unsupported. This doesn't mean
that NetBEUI won't work! It means that:
• Microsoft recommends against using it.
• It doesn't appear in the list of protocols that can be installed.
• Microsoft's technical support staff won't answer questions about NetBEUI
or help solve problems with it.
Because it's been around for so long, some people think that NetBEUI is
required, and they install it on all Windows networks. Actually, nothing in
Windows networking has ever required NetBEUI. You can even un-install
 NetBEUI in Windows 95 and use a different protocol.
• If your existing network uses NetBEUI for File and Printer Sharing,
consider changing to a different protocol. Most networks can safely use
TCP/IP. The main exceptions to this rule are when:
• All of the networked computers are connected directly to a cable or DSL
modem and receive public IP addresses from an Internet service provider.
• You've separated your LAN from the Internet, but you've opened ports or
have placed a computer outside the firewall to use certain applications or
services.
• If, after considering all the options, you decide to install NetBEUI on
Windows XP, you can do it using files on the Windows XP CD-ROM. Follow
the instructions in the article HOW TO: Install NetBEUI on Windows XP in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base. These tips will help with the installation
process:
• If the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP screen appears when you insert
the CD-ROM, click Perform additional tasks followed by Browse this CD.
• Where the article refers to %SYSTEMROOT%, substitute the name of the
Windows XP installation folder, which is typically C:Windows.
• To see the hidden INF directory, go to My Computer | Tools | Folder
Options | View. Scroll down the list of Advanced settings, and un-check
Hide protected operating system files.
If you have a new computer that didn't come with a Windows XP CD-ROM,
see if the computer manufacturer will send you the CD-ROM or the
necessary NetBEUI files. If that isn't possible, you'll have to use a different
protocol on your network.

XP Hibernate Option

Whenever you want to logoff, shut down or reboot your Windows XP machine
you have only 3 choices
(1) Standby ONLY IF the ACPI/APM function is properly enabled BOTH in your
motherboard's BIOS AND in WinXP!
(2) Restart
(3) Shutdown.

To properly enable Hibernation in WinXP:

Start button -> Control Panel -> Power Options -> Hibernate tab -> check
Enable hibernate support box -> Apply/OK -> reboot.

NOTE: If the Hibernate tab is unavailable your computer does NOT support
it!
For some reason Microsoft did NOT enable the 4th option:
(4) Hibernate, which should be available on power saving (ACPI) enabled PCs
 and laptops.
But you CAN bring it back: just hold the Shift key while the Shut down menu
is displayed on your screen, and notice the Standby button being replaced by
a new, fully functional Hibernate button, which can be clicked with the left
button of your mouse.

If you release the Shift key, the Hibernate option will disappear once again,
to be replaced by Standby.

XP Computer management console

To quickly access the computer management console, where you can see
event logs (to see what's causing a problem, for example), right-click My
Computer and choose Manage.

Then, select the Event viewer and double-click highlighted events in the
Applications or System areas to view detailed explanations of what went
wrong.

off window animation ("exploding" windows), displayed when you play

around with minimizing/maximizing open windows. This makes navigating
Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP a lot quicker, especially if you don't have a
fast video controller, or if you got tired of seeing it all the time (like I did). :)
To do this, run Regedit (or Regedt32) and go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Control Panel | Desktop | WindowMetrics
or if you are the only user of your Windows computer go to:

HKEY_USERS | .Default | Control Panel | Desktop | WindowMetrics

Right-click on an empty spot in the right hand pane. Select New -> String
[REG_SZ] Value. Name it MinAnimate. Click OK. Double-click on
"MinAnimate" and type 0 to turn OFF window animation or 1 to turn it ON.
Click OK. Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows. Done.

TweakUI, the famous Microsoft Power Toy [110 KB, free, unsupported] can
also turn off animated windows.
Just remove the check mark from the "Window Animation" box under the
General tab.

What are XP powerToys

PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after the product
has been released to manufacturing, but before the next project has begun.
These toys add fun and functionality to the Windows experience.
We've taken great care to ensure that PowerToys operate as they should. But
please note that these programs are not part of Windows and are not
supported by Microsoft. For this reason, Microsoft Technical Support is unable
to answer questions about PowerToys

The PowerToys are installed into the directory you specify during setup.
Typically this is the system32 directory.

To uninstall the PowerToys, Open the control Panel. Launch the Add/Remove
Programs control panel applet. Find the PowerToys for Windows XP entry,
and choose Modify/Remove. From here you can remove specific toys or all of
them.

Faster User Switcher

Note: You cannot use this toy if fast user switching is not enabled.

What it is: With Fast User Switching enabled on Windows XP, this PowerToy
allows you to switch users without having to use the logon screen.
Special requirements: This PowerToy requires a Windows key on your
keyboard.
How to use: Press the Windows key then the Q key to activate; release and
press Q to switch to a different user tile, then release both Q and Windows
key to switch to that user.

Shell Player
What it is: This PowerToy plays MP3 files and WMA files from the taskbar.
How to use: Right click on the taskbar, click toolbars, then click "Audio
Player." If the taskbar is locked and you want to resize the player, you will
have to unlock it. This will allow you to access the play list editor and view all
the buttons.

Task Switcher
What it is: Replaces the existing Alt + Tab application switching mechanism
of Windows XP. It provides a thumbnail preview of windows in the task list
and is compliant with the new Windows XP visual style.
How to use: (NOTE: You must log off and then log on again for the changes
to take effect). Use just as you do the existing Alt + Tab mechanism by
pressing the Alt key and the Tab key to activate. While holding down the Alt
key, press the Tab key to cycle through running applications. To move
backwards, press Shift + Alt + Tab. Release all keys when the desired
application is highlighted.

Open Command Window Here

What it is: This PowerToy adds an "Open Command Window Here" context
menu option on file system folders. This gives users a quick way to open a
command window (cmd.exe) pointing at a selected folder in the Explorer UI.
How to use: After installation, right click on the folder you would like to have
a quick launch command window for.

Tweak UI
What it is: Provides access to system settings that are not exposed in the
Windows XP default user interface.
How to use: Go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, TweakUI for Windows XP.

PowerToy Calc
What it is: Graphing calculator
How to use: Go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, PowerToy Calc

Bulk Resize for Photos

What it is: Allows you to make a new, resized copy of your selected pictures
in the same folder they are currently located in. You can opt to resize one or
many pictures (as a batch).
How to use: Right click any image(s) and select Resize Pictures in the
context menu.

ISO Image Burner

What it is: Allows you to burn an ISO Image using a CD-ROM burner that is
compatible with Windows XP
How to use: Go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, ISO Burner

Slide Show Generator

What it is: Generate a slideshow when burning a CD
How to use: Add only images to a CD-ROM using Windows XP Explorer, then
Write these files to disk. A new task is presented in the wizard for generating
the autorun for the slideshow.

Virtual Desktop Manager

What it is: Manage up to 4 desktops from the Windows Shell Taskbar.
How to use:Right click on the taskbar, click toolbars, then click "Desktop
Manager." If the taskbar is locked and you want to resize the manager, you
will have to unlock it.

Background Wallpaper switcher

What it is: Allows you to switch the background image periodically.
How to use: Access this PowerToy by right clicking the desktop, click
properties. It has added a new tab that will allow you to specify the interval
as well as the directory to obtain the images from.

Taskbar Magnifier
What it is: Allows you to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.
How to use:Right click on the taskbar, click toolbars, then click "Taskbar
Magnifier." If the taskbar is locked and you want to resize the magnifier, you
will have to unlock it.

Slide Show Wizard

What it is: This wizard helps you create a slide show of your digital pictures.
When you're done, you can put your slide show on the Web so that your
family and friends can view it.
How to use: Launch the Wizard from the Start Menu under All
ProgramsPowertoys for Windows XPSlide Show Wizard. Follow the steps of
the wizard to select and arrange your pictures, choose from a few simple
options, and then save a Web-ready HTML slide show to a folder.

Use the Internet Connection Firewall to Secure Your Small Network

A firewall is a security system that acts as a protective boundary between a

network and the outside world. Windows XP includes Internet Connection
Firewall (ICF) software you can use to restrict what information is
communicated between the Internet and your home or small office network.
ICF also protects a single computer connected to the Internet with a cable
modem, a DSL modem, or a dial–up modem.

If your network uses Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to provide Internet

access to multiple computers, you should use ICF on the shared Internet
connection. However, ICS and ICF can be enabled separately. You should not
enable the firewall on any connection that does not directly connect to the
Internet, and ICF is not needed if your network already has a firewall or
proxy server.

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to

complete this procedure. You should not enable Internet Connection Firewall
on virtual private networking (VPN) connections or on client computers
because ICF will interfere with file and printer sharing. ICF cannot be enabled
on the private connections of the Internet Connection Sharing host computer.

To enable or disable Internet Connection Firewall

Open Network Connections (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double–
click Network Connections.)

Click the Dial–up, LAN or High–Speed Internet connection that you want to
protect, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this
connection.

On the Advanced tab, under Internet Connection Firewall, select one of the
following:
To enable Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), select the Protect my computer
and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the
Internet check box.

To disable Internet Connection Firewall, clear the Protect my computer and

network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet
check box. This disables the firewall, your computer and network are then
vulnerable to intrusions

Turn off Welcome screen

Open User Accounts in Control Panel.

Click Change the way users log on or off

Speed up viewing shared files across a network

Windows 2000 & XP machines delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to
view shared files across a network because Windows is using the extra time
to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Here's how to
prevent this remote search for Scheduled Tasks:
Open up the Registry and go to :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explore
r/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, select the key :

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

and delete it.

If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore
the key if necessary. This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot
and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up
your browsing processes.

Setup XP from a Network drive

You use three switches. If D: is the target, and G: is the net drive.

G:i386winnt32 /tempdrive:D /makelocalsource /s:G:i386

Use a Shortcut to Local Area Network Connection Information

Something new in Windows XP—instead of using the command line program
and typing ipconfig to find local area network information, you can use the
following shortcut:

1.Click Start, point to Connect to, and then click Show All Connections.

2.Right–click the connection you want information about, and then click
Status.

3.In the connection Properties dialog box, click the Support tab.

For even more information, click the Advanced tab. To automatically enable
the status monitor each time the connection is active, in the connection
Properties dialog box, select the Show icon in taskbar notification area when
connected check box.

"STOP” ERROR MESSAGES AT SHUTDOWN

Some users have gotten an error message similar to the following when
attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP:

STOP 0000009F, DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

STOP 0x0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
STOP 0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

TechNet and the Microsoft Knowledge Base have numerous articles

discussing this type of error condition; for example, these. As a review of
these articles will show, these are commonly device driver problems, but
may also be caused by troublesome software (such as the notorious
CrashGuard), or a problem in a system service. MSKB article Q262575
discusses a shutdown problem of this type, known to exist in Windows 2000
due to a resource (IRQ) conflict, if you have PACE Interlok anti-piracy
software installed. This problem may occur in Windows XP as well.
Microsoft advises the following as one approach to these problems: Restart
the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select “Last Known Good
Configuration.” If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you
likely have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return
you to a previous working condition. (Would System Restore accomplish the
same thing? I don’t know, and don’t have a broken system to test it on.)

Microsoft reported similarly that these STOP code error message occur when
Windows XP is trying to shut down devices. He says that he has seen this
twice: once with Logitech Quickcam installed (with an unsupported driver),
and once with a USB DSL modem that would hang if it wasn’t disconnected
before shutdown.

SHUTDOWN WORKS, BUT IT’S REAL SLOW.

If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users
have reported a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Thus far, it
appears that this is a consequence of software that is running when
shutdown is attempted, and it also may have something to do with particular
hardware. If you are experiencing this problem, be sure to close all running
programs before attempting shutdown and see if this solves your problem. If
so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which program(s) are
involved.
One specific solution for this was provided by Microsoft support. ” In Control
Panel | Administrative Tools | Services. (You can also get this by launching
SERVICES.MSC from a Run box. This utility is also built into the Computer
Management console.) Stop the Nvidia Driver Helper service. Many other
friends quickly confirmed that this solved this “extremely slow shutdown”
problem for them.

POWERDOWN ISSUES.

“Powerdown issues” are quite distinctive from “shutdown issues.” I define a

shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn’t make it at least to the
“OK to shut off your computer” screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther,
then it has shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown
correctly after that. This is a different problem, and I encourage that people
reporting these issues to make a very clear distinction in their labeling.

When Windows XP won’t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy

Power Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My
Computer icon, click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check
the box labeled “Show Hidden Devices.” If it’s available on your computer,
there will be a red X on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if
this resolves the powerdown problem.

This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other
factors can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that
case, consider the following tips:
· If you are changing the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a
powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will likely
fix it.

OTHER KNOWN ISSUES & HINTS.

· BIOS UPGRADE.
As with every new operating system that comes along - especially one that is
as much of a “step up” as Windows XP is from Windows 9x - the
recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is updated. Many people have
reported that this has solved their shutdown problems (and had other
advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier versions of Windows
 Speed up your Windows 2000/XP system and save resources at the
same time

You can improve performance of your Windows 2000/XP and reclaim memory
by simply disabling the services that is also known as "System Services" you
don't need which Windows 2000 or XP automatically provide by default.

What Are System Services in the 1st place

System services are actually small helper programs that provide support for
other larger programs in Windows 2000. Many of the services are set up to
run automatically each time you start Windows 2000. However, if you're not
using the larger programs that these services are designed to support, these
services are simply wasting RAM that could be put to better use by your
applications. While the word "Disable" is used here to describe the idea that
you'll remove these services from memory, what you'll really be doing is
changing the startup setting from Automatic to Manual. When you do, the
services won't automatically start each time you launch Windows 2000
Professional. However, Windows 2000 will be able to manually start the
services if they're needed. That way you won't be unnecessarily wasting
RAM, but you won't be crippling your system either. Note: If you're running
Windows 2000 Professional on a corporate network, you may not be able to
adjust system services. Regardless of whether you can or not, you should
check with your system administrator before attempting the make these
changes.

Changing the startup type of a service from Automatic to Manual is a

relatively simple operation. To begin, open the Control Panel, open the
Administrative Tools folder, and then double click the Services tool. When
you see the Services window, set the View to Detail if it isn't already. Then
click the Startup Type column header to sort the services by Startup Type.
When you do, all the Services that start automatically will appear at the top
of the list.

As you scan through the list of services on your system whose Startup Type
setting is set to Automatic, look for the services in listed in the Table below.
These are some of the services are good candidates to be set to a Manual
Startup Type.

Examples of services that can be safely changed to Manual :-

DHCP Client -- You're not connecting to a specific DHCP server on your local
network

Distributed Link Tracking Client -- You're not connected to a Windows 2000

domain

DNS Client -- You're not connecting to a specific DNS server on your local
network
FTP Publishing Service -- You don't need your system to act as an FTP server

IIS Admin Service -- You don't need your system to act as an WWW server

IPSEC Policy Agent -- You're not connected to a Windows 2000 domain

Messenger -- You're not connected to a Windows 2000 domain

Remote Registry Service -- You don't remotely access the Registry of other
systems on your local network

RIP Service -- You don't need your system to act as a router

Run As Service -- You don't use any applications that run as an alias

World Wide Web Publishing Service

You don't need your system to act as an WWW server
If you find a match and think that your system doesn't need that particular
service, right-click on the service and choose the Properties command from
the shortcut menu. When you see the Properties dialog box for that service,
click the Startup Type drop down list and select Manual. Then click OK. As
you change the Startup Type for any service, take note of the service's
name. That way you'll have a record of which services you changed and can
change them back if you need to, as I'll explain in a moment.

Using the Windows Task Manager

Trick : To determine the amount of RAM you'll regain by disabling
unnecessary system services, use the Windows Task Manager. Here's how:
Before you disable any system services, reboot your system and don't launch
any applications. If you have applications that automatically load when you
start Windows, hold down the [Shift] key to bypass the Startup folder. Then,
right click on the task bar and select Task Manager from the shortcut menu.
When you see the Windows Task Manager dialog box, select the Performance
tab. Now take note of the Available value in the Physical Memory panel. After
you disable those system services you deem unnecessary, reboot your
system in the same manner and compare the Available value in the Physical
Memory panel to the one that you noted earlier.

Final thoughts
Keep in mind that you may not find all the services listed in the Table set to
Automatic on your system. In fact, you might not even see some of the
services listed present on your system. If that's the case, don't worry about
it. Each Windows 2000/XP installation is unique depending on the system and
installed software, and different sets of services may be installed and set to
start automatically.
On the other hand, you may find services other than those listed in Table set
to Automatic that you may think are unnecessary. If so, you can find out
what each service does by hovering your mouse pointer over the service's
description. When you do, a tool tip window will pop up and display the entire
description of the service. You can then better determine if the service is
unnecessary. Remember, by changing the Startup Type to Manual, Windows
2000 can still start the service if it's needed. If you decide to experiment with
changing the Startup Types of certain services, you can monitor the services
over time by launching the Services utility and checking the list of running
services. If you consistently find one of the services you set to Manual
running, you may decide to change the Startup Type back to Automatic.

Use Windows Update to Keep Your Computer Current

Windows XP takes the chore out of keeping your software updated with the
newest and best code for device drivers, security, reliability, and
performance.

Windows Update is the online extension of Windows. It’s a Web site where
you find the most recent updates for your operating system, software
programs, and hardware. Windows Update scans your computer and lists the
code updates needed on your system. Then you can choose whether to
download and install them.

To find available updates

1. Open Windows Update.

2. Click Scan for updates to find out about recent releases for your
system.
3. Click Yes when prompted to install any required software or device
drivers.

Notes:

• To open Windows Update, click Start, then click Help and Support.
Under “Pick a task,” click Keep your computer up–to–date with
Windows Update.

• The first time you go to the Windows Update Web site, click Yes when
prompted to install any required software or controls.

• To use Windows Update, you need to establish a connection to the

Internet.

• You might need to be logged on as an administrator or a member of

the Administrators group in order to perform some tasks

Use Virtual Private Networks for Secure Internet Data Transfer

Data sent across the public Internet is generally not protected from prying
eyes, but you can make your Internet communications secure and extend
 your private network with a virtual private network (VPN) connection. VPN
uses a technique known as tunneling to transfer data securely on the
Internet to a remote access server on your workplace network. Using a VPN
helps you save money by using the public Internet instead of making long–
distance phone calls to connect securely with your private network.

The connection over the Internet is encrypted and secure. New

authentication and encryption protocols are enforced by the remote access
server. Sensitive data is hidden from the public, but it is securely accessible
to appropriate users through a VPN.

There are two ways to create a VPN connection: By dialing an Internet

service provider (ISP), or by connecting directly to the Internet.

• If you dial–in to an ISP, your ISP then makes another call to the
private network’s remote access server to establish the PPTP or L2TP
tunnel. After authentication, you can access the private network.

• If you are already connected to the Internet, on a local area network,

a cable modem, or a digital subscriber line (DSL), you can make a
tunnel through the Internet and connects directly to the remote access
server. After authentication, you can access the corporate network.

To make a virtual private network (VPN) connection

1. Open Network Connections. (Click Start, click Control Panel, click

Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network
Connections.)

2. Under Network Tasks, click Create a new connection, and then

click Next.

3. Click Connect to the network at my workplace, and then click

Next as shown below.

4. Click Virtual Private Network connection, click Next, and then

follow the instructions in the wizard.
 Notes:

• You can create multiple VPN connections by copying them in the

Network Connections folder. You can then rename the connections and
modify connection settings. By doing so, you can easily create
different connections to accommodate multiple hosts, security options,
and so on.

• If you have an active Winsock Proxy client, you cannot create a VPN. A
Winsock Proxy client immediately redirects data to a configured proxy
server before the data can be processed in the fashion required by a
VPN. To establish a VPN, you should disable the Winsock Proxy client.

Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail?

First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it
up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a
standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail,
oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two
parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail
cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you
perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will
accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could
make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are
interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your
setupp.ini file would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:

Pid=51882OEM

Note that this does NOT get rid of WinXP's activation. Changing the Pid to a
Volume License will not bypass activation. You must have a volume license
(corporate) key to do so.

Ping

In a previous tip, it was revealed how to continuously ping a host until

stopped. Here are all of the ping options:

example .. In DOS .. c:>ping 192.168.0.1 -t

-t Ping the specifed host until interrupted

-a Resolve addresses to hostnames

-n count Number of echo requests to send

-l size Send buffer size

-f Set Don't Fragment flag in packet

-i TTL Time To Live

-v TOS Type Of Service

-r count Record route for count hops

-s count Timestamp for count hops

-j host-list Loose source route along host-list

-k host-list Strict source route along host-list

-w timeout Timeout in milliseconds to wait for each reply

Experiment to see how helpful these can be!

Use System Restore to Undo Changes if Problems Occur

Windows XP Professional makes it easier to resolve problems if they occur in

your system. You can use System Restore to remove any system changes
that were made since the last time you remember your computer working
correctly. System Restore does not affect your personal data files (such as
Microsoft Word documents, browsing history, drawings, favorites, or e–mail)
so you won’t lose changes made to these files. Windows XP creates “restore
points” every day, as well as at the time of significant system events (such
as when an application or driver is installed). You can also create and name
your own restore points at any time. Creating a restore point can be useful
any time you anticipate making changes to your computer that are risky or
might make your computer unstable. If something goes wrong, you select a
restore point and Windows XP undoes any system changes made since that
time.

When you run System Restore, a calendar is displayed to help you find
restore points. If you don't use your computer every day, some days might
not have any restore points. If you use your computer frequently, you might
have restore points almost every day, and some days might have several
restore points.

To create a Restore Point

1. Access the System Restore Wizard through Help and Support Center.
(Click Start, and then click Help and Support. Click Performance and
Maintenance, click Using System Restore to undo changes, and then
click Run the System Restore Wizard.
2. Click Create a restore point, and then click Next.
3. In the Restore point description box, type a name to identify this
restore point. System Restore automatically adds to this name the date and
time that this Restore Point is created.

• To finish creating this restore point, click Create.

 • To cancel restore point creation and return to the Welcome to
System Restore screen, click Back.

• To cancel restore point creation and exit the System Restore Wizard,
click Cancel.

To view or to return to this restore point, from the Welcome to System

Restore screen of the System Restore Wizard select Restore my computer
to an earlier time. Then select the date when the restore point was created
from the calendar in the Select a Restore Point screen. All of the restore
points that were created on the selected date are listed by name in the list
box to the right of the calendar.

To set advanced restore options

1. Open Backup. (Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories,

point to System Tools, and then click Backup.) The Backup Utility Wizard
starts by default, unless it is disabled.

2. Click the Advanced Mode button in the Backup Utility Wizard.

3. Click the Restore and Manage Media menu and select the files to
restore.

4. Click the Start Restore button.

5. On the Confirm Restore dialog box, click Advanced.

6. Set the advanced restore options you want, and then click OK. See the
Notes section for a description of each option.

Use PostScript Type 1 fonts in XP

 You don't need Adobe Type Manager to use PostScript Type 1 fonts under
Windows XP.

Just drag the Type 1 font files to your fonts folder; XP automatically installs
and activates the font. This works for TrueType and OpenType fonts, too.

Use Offline Files When You're off the Network

Offline Files in Windows XP Professional can help you be more productive.

You can use this feature on a portable computer, or on a desktop computer
that occasionally connects to your workplace network. For example, this
feature is useful if you are working at home on a desktop computer, and
need to automatically get files off the network whenever you connect.

The files that you select are automatically downloaded from shared folders on
the network and stored on your computer. When you disconnect, the files are
available to use. When you reconnect to the network, your changes are
added to the files on the network in a process called synchronization. If
someone else on the network made changes to the same file, you can save
your version, keep the other version, or save both.

To set up your computer to use offline files

1. Open My Computer. (Click Start, and then click My Computer.)

2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.

3. On the Offline Files tab, make sure that the Enable Offline Files check
box is selected as shown below.

4. Select Synchronize all offline files before logging off to get a full
synchronization. Leave it unselected for a quick synchronization. A full
synchronization ensures that you have the most current version of every
shared network file that you work with offline. A quick synchronization
ensures that you have complete versions of your offline files, although they
may not be the most current versions. You might select a quick
synchronization if you are the only person working on a file or if you do not
need the most current version of a file.

If you want to control which offline files are synchronized, when they are
synchronized, and whether Windows prompts you before synchronizing your
files, you can use Synchronization Manager.
 To make a file or folder available to you offline

After you set up your computer to use offline files, you need to make shared
network files available to you offline.
1. Open My Computer. (Click Start, and then click My Computer.)

2. Double–click a network drive to view its contents. If My Computer does

not contain links to any network drives, you need to assign a drive letter to a
shared network resource.

3. Click the shared network file or folder that you want to make available
offline.

4. On the File menu, click Make Available Offline. This option appears on
the File menu only after you set up your computer to use offline files as
described above.

5. To make a network file or folder unavailable offline, right–click the item,

and click Make Available Offline again to clear the check mark.
 To view a list of all of the shared network files that are available
offline

1. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.

2. On the Offline Files tab, click View Files.

Use Infrared Data Transfer to Connect Computers and Devices

You can connect your computer to other nearby computers and devices
without wires, using infrared light to transfer data, the same way your TV
remote control sends signals. Most new portable computers have built–in
infrared transceivers, and Windows XP supports the Infared Data Association
(IrDA) standards and protocols, allowing you to connect with such devices as
printers, modems, digital pagers, personal digital assistants, electronic
cameras, organizers, cellular phones, and hand–held computers.

To establish an infrared link

1. Verify that the devices you want to connect with have infrared
functionality enabled and work correctly.

For information about verifying infrared functionality on your computer, see

below. For information about verifying infrared functionality on other devices,
see the device manufacturer's documentation.

2. Align your devices so that the infrared transceivers are within one meter
of each other, and the transceivers are pointing at each other.

When the devices are correctly aligned, the icon appears on the taskbar.

• The infrared transceiver is the small, dark red window on your portable
computer, printer, digital camera, adapter, or other device.
• You can choose whether to hide or display the Wireless Link taskbar
icon when two infrared devices are aligned. By default, the Wireless
Link taskbar icon is displayed.

To verify infrared support on your computer

1. Verify that your computer has an infrared transceiver (the transceiver will
appear as a small, dark red window).

If your computer does not have an infrared transceiver, see your

manufacturer's documentation to verify whether IrDA functionality is
supported. You could also consider adding a IrDA card which can found at
most good computer supply shops.
 2. Open Device Manager. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click
Printers and Other Hardware, and then click System in the left panel. On
the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.

3. Double–click Infrared Devices

If you have an infrared transceiver, but Infrared Devices does not appear
in Device Manager, you do not have an infrared device installed.

If no infrared devices are listed, do one or both of the following:

• Enter BIOS setup to verify whether the infrared device is enabled in

BIOS, in IrDA, or Fast IrDA (FIR) mode. For information about how to
enter BIOS setup, see your computer manufacturer's documentation.
If the infrared device is disabled in BIOS, you might be able to use
your computer's BIOS setup to enable it.

Warning: Using a BIOS setup utility incorrectly can cause your

computer to operate incorrectly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
problems resulting from the incorrect use of the BIOS setup can be
solved. Use this utility at your own risk. Before you make any changes,
make a note of the original settings so that you can reinstate them if
necessary.

• See your computer manufacturer's documentation to determine

whether the BIOS needs to be updated.
1. Verify that at least one infrared device is listed and that it is
enabled.

If infrared devices are listed but they are not enabled, verify that the
infrared devices are installed correctly on your computer. Infrared
transceivers are now installed in nearly all new portable computers. If
your computer does not have an infrared transceiver, but it supports
IrDA, and IrDA is enabled in BIOS, you can install an external infrared
transceiver.

Use Hibernate and Standby to Conserve Batteries

The Hibernate function in Windows XP Professional can make the batteries in

your laptop computer last longer.

Windows XP supports the industry standard power management technology

known as the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), which
enables the operating system to control power to your computer and
peripheral devices. The power management features in Windows XP include
Hibernate and Standby. Hibernate saves an image of your desktop with all
open files and documents, and then it powers down your computer. When
 you turn on power, your files and documents are open on your desktop
exactly as you left them. Standby reduces the power consumption of your
computer by cutting power to hardware components you are not using.
Standby can cut power to peripheral devices, your monitor, even your hard
drive, but maintains power to your computer’s memory so you don’t lose
your work.

Power Management Performance

Windows XP wakes from Hibernate faster than any earlier version of

Windows. So you can preserve your batteries without taking time to close all
your files and shut down, and then restart and open all your files when
you’re ready to work again. If you need to leave your computer, you can just
leave it. Windows XP can automatically put your computer into Hibernate
mode after a specified period of inactivity. Or Windows XP can detect when
your batteries are running low, and then automatically put your computer in
Hibernate mode to save your work before the battery fails. To put your
computer into hibernation, you must have a computer that is set up by the
manufacturer to support this option.

To automatically put your computer into hibernation

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to

complete this procedure.

1. Open Power Options in Control Panel. (Click Start, click Control Panel,
and then double-click Power Options.)

2. Click the Hibernate tab, select the Enable hibernate support check
box, and then click Apply.

If the Hibernate tab is unavailable, your computer does not support this
feature.
 3. Click the APM tab, click Enable Advanced Power Management
support, and then click Apply.

The APM tab is unavailable on ACPI–compliant computers. ACPI

automatically enables Advanced Power Management, which disables the APM
tab.

4. Click the Power Schemes tab, and then select a time period in System
hibernates. Your computer hibernates after it has been idle for the specified
amount of time.

To manually put your computer into hibernation

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of either the

Administrators or Power Users group in order to complete this procedure. If
your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also
prevent you from completing this procedure.

1. Open Power Options in Control Panel. (Click Start, click Control Panel,
and then double-click Power Options.)

2. Click the Hibernate tab, and then select the Enable hibernate support
check box.
 If the Hibernate tab is not available, your computer does not support this
feature.
3. Click OK to close the Power Options dialog box.

4. Click Start, and then click Shut Down. In the What do you want the
computer to do drop-down list, click Hibernate.

If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, or Windows XP Professional with

Fast User Switching turned on, the Shut Down menu will present the options
to Stand By, Turn Off, or Restart your computer. Hold down the Shift key,
and the Stand By button will change to Hibernate.

What upgrade paths does Windows XP support

A. XP Home Edition and XP Professional are available in full and upgrade

versions. If you're upgrading from a qualifying OS, you can purchase the
less-expensive upgrade version; otherwise, you need to purchase the full
version. However, even if you purchase the full version, XP doesn't support
all upgrade paths. Review the following table to determine whether XP
supports your upgrade path:

Current Version Win XP Home Win XP Pro

Win 3.1/3.11 No No
Windows 95 No No
Windows 98/98SE Yes Yes
Windows ME Yes Yes
Windows NT 3.51 No No
Windows NT 4.0 No Yes
Windows 2000 Pro No Yes
Windows XP Home N/A Yes
Windows XP Pro No N/A

File Sharing without ICS

To enable file and printer sharing on networks not using Internet Connection

Sharing, you must run the Network Setup Wizard and select the following
option:

This computer connects to the Internet through another computer on my

network or through a residential gateway.
 If your computer is directly connected to the Internet, re-run the Network
Setup Wizard and select the following option:

This computer connects to the Internet directly or through a network hub.

Other computers on my network also connect to the Internet directly or

through a hub.

Error - ''boot_unmountable_drive'' when installing XP

For those who are getting this error when you try to install WinXP on a
motherboard that has UDMA 100 Promise Controllers you need to do the
following in order to get XP to install correctly if your hard drives are
connected to the UDMA 100 controller.

Now there are two ways to get XP installed, the first one I am going to
mention is the easiest way and the second is a bit more complicated but will
work never the less.

#1 - Easiest Way

I have an Asus A7V motherboard and I have run into this more than once.
What you need to do (this is the easiest way to do it that I have found) is to
move your hard drives cable off the UDMA 100 controller (normally color
coded blue) over to the UDMA 66 master controller on the motherboard.
Once you have done that make sure your PC still boots into your current OS
correctly. If it does then start your XP install or upgrade. Everything should
be fine. Now, once XP is up on My Computer and choose Manage. Look under
Device manager and you will see an error with a yellow exclamation point on
it. Right click on it and install the Promise Drivers. You can download them
directly from here -
ftp://ftp.promise.com/Controllers/IDE/Ultra66/UltraFamily/U100d160b32.zip

Once you have the drivers installed re-boot the system and make sure the
yellow exclamation points are gone and the promise drivers are listed under
SCSI devices, if they are then turn off your system, move the HD's back to
the UDMA 100 controller and boot it up. That should fix it.

#2 - Fresh Install

If you plan on installing XP to a freshly formatted hard drive the easiest way
I have found to do this is to use the above method but for those with only
one UDMA 66 controller on there motherboard you may need to do the
following:
 - First use the URL above and download the Promise drivers from the
Promise website.

- Second you need to extract the drivers to a floppy or to the partition on

your hard drive that XP can see (FAT32 works great for this) but there is a
trick to this in order to make XP see the drivers. Once you extract the drivers
the promise drivers automatically make folders for each individual OS (see
screen shot), what you need to do is move the files from under the Win2K
directory to the of the Promise Folder. So you take the three files under the
Win2K folder and copy them, don't move them but copy them to the root of
the main folder where you extracted the Promise drivers to (if you don't see
three files go to Tools/Folder Options/View and check "show hidden files").
The three files you need to copy to the area are:

- Ultra.cat
- Ultra.inf
- Ultra.sys

Now that you have all the files in the copy them to a floppy, reboot (if
needed) and start your install of XP.

Now pay attention here - at the bottom of the very first blue setup screen
you will see a prompt to hit F6 to install third party SCSI or RAID drivers. HIT
F6 A FEW TIMES NOW!!! Now it might take a couple of seconds but you
should be prompted to insert your drivers into your floppy drive. Do so and
choose the Promise ATA100 controller. Keep this disk handy as you will be
prompted for it one more time during the install.

Once XP has the drivers and loads them successfully XP should install just
fine, well at least as far as the controller goes.

FDISK Tutorial

The Basics of Fdisk:

Primary partitions are the only one that are bootable. They're always the C:
drive when active. Normally you can only have one (more with some special
tricks etc.) Extended partitions are needed when you want more than one
partition. You can only have ONE Extended partition. Logical Drives come
into the Extended partition. They are handy since you know that you can only
have one Primary and one Extended so you can get more than only two
partitions. They would be your D:, E:, etc. drives.

First you need to reboot your system with the Boot Disk inserted.

1.At the A: prompt start "FDISK."

2.If asked to use Large Disc support say Yes.

3.The first screen looks like this:

Create Dos Partition or Logical Drive

Set Active Partition
Delete Partitions or Logical DOS Drives
Display Partition Information
Change current fixed drive. (In case you have two or more Hard Drivess)
So, to prepare you hopefully did a backup from your data. You did, didn't you
?!

4.Next we need to remove the existing partitions. So go to 3.

5.Next screen like this:

Delete Primary DOS

Delete Extended DOS
Delete Logical Drives
Delete Non-DOS
Delete always in the following order

Logical (All) > Extended > Primary (Last)

6.Go back to first screen after all partitions have been removed.

7.Now we need to setup our new partitions. Go to 1.

This screen looks like this:

Create Primary DOS

Create Extended DOS
Create Logical DOS Drives
Here we create in the following order

Primary > Extended > Logical Drives.

8.First create the Primary. If asked to use all space say No and enter the
amount you wish for the C: drive. It should be set automatically to be the
(only) Active partition. If not it may ask you or you have to select "2. Set
active partition" from the main menu.

9.Next create the Extended Partition. Use all space left.

It probably advances automatically to the next step, creating the Logical DOS
Drives.
10.Enter the amount you wish for the D: partition and than the rest for the
third partition.

Think first about the size for the partitions.

OK now we're finished with FDISK so just exit it. Next you need to reboot
with the disc still inserted and Format all partitions (the C: partition might
need to be formatted with "format c: /s", check the Win95 tip). Another
reboot and you can go ahead and install Windows.

When your system supports booting from CD just insert the Windows CD and
reboot. The setup will start.

If not, follow these steps:

Win98: insert Boot Disk and CD, reboot, choose "2. boot with CDROM
support" and once you're at the prompt change to your CD-drive letter
(depends on your partition setup) and enter "setup".
Win95: You must format the C: partition with "Format C: /s"!. Next install
your CDROM driver, reboot, insert the Win95 CD, change to the CD-
driveletter, enter "setup".
I hope I made no mistakes.

Dual Boot XP

A computer can be configured to let you choose between two or more

operating systems each time you restart the computer. With multibooting,
you can choose which operating system to run or specify a default OS if no
selection is made during the restart process.

Computers Containing Multiple Windows 2000 or Windows XP Partitions

Before installing Windows 2000 and Windows XP on the same machine, you
need to prepare your system with different partitions (a process that divides
a hard disk into separate sections that can be formatted for use by a file
system. Partitions typically have different drive letters such as C or D).
One OS per partition
It’s important to install each operating system on a different partition and
install the applications used with each operating system on the same
partition as the OS. If an application is used with two different operating
systems, install it on two partitions. Placing each operating system in a
separate partition ensures that it will not overwrite crucial files used by the
other OS.

Install Latest OS Last

In general, you should install the most recent OS last—after you have
installed all other operating systems on the target computer. In this case,
you should install Windows 2000 and then install Windows XP.
 Unique Computer Name
You can set up a computer so that it has multiple installations of Windows XP
on multiple partitions. However, you must use a different computer name for
each installation if the computer participates in a Windows 2000 Server
domain. Because a unique security identifier (SID) is used for each
installation of Windows XP on a domain, the computer name for each
installation must be unique—even for multiple installations on the same
computer.

Checklist Summary
To configure a computer containing Windows 2000 and Windows XP, review
the following guidelines:

Install each operating system on a separate drive or disk partition.

Install Windows XP after you have installed Windows 2000.
When you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as opposed to an
upgrade), by default, the installation is placed on a partition on which no
other operating system is located. You can specify a different partition during
Setup.
Don’t install Windows XP on a compressed drive unless the drive was
compressed with the NTFS file system compression feature.
On any partition where you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as
opposed to an upgrade), you will need to re-install any programs, such as
word processing or e-mail software, after Setup is complete.
Install the programs used by each operating system on the partition with
that system. If you want your programs to run with multiple operating
systems, you need to install separate copies of the programs in each of the
operating system partitions.
If the computer is on a Windows 2000 Server domain, each installation of
Windows XP on that computer must have a different computer name.

Computers Containing Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP

Setting up a computer to run Windows XP as well as an earlier operating
system such as Windows NT Workstation 4.0 requires addressing
compatibility issues among different file systems: NTFS, FAT, and FAT32.

Normally, NTFS is the recommended file system because it supports

important features, including the Active Directory™ service and domain-
based security. However, using NTFS as the only file system on a computer
that contains both Windows XP and Windows NT is not recommended. On
these computers, a FAT or FAT32 partition containing the Windows NT 4.0
operating system ensures that when started with Windows NT 4.0, the
computer will have access to needed files. In addition, if Windows NT is not
installed on the system partition, which is almost always the first partition on
the disk, it is recommended that the system partition also be formatted with
FAT. This is because earlier operating systems, with one exception, can't
access a partition if it uses the latest version of NTFS. The one exception is
 Windows NT version 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later, which has access to
partitions with the latest version of NTFS, but with some limitations.

Even the latest Service Pack does not provide access to files using the new
features in NTFS. Windows NT 4.0 cannot access files that have been stored
using NTFS features that did not exist when Windows NT 4.0 was released.
For example, a file that uses the new encryption feature won’t be readable
when the computer is started with Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, which was
released before the encryption feature existed.

Note: If you set up a computer so that it starts with Windows NT 3.51 or

earlier on a FAT partition, and Windows XP on an NTFS partition, when that
computer starts with Windows NT 3.51, the NTFS partition will not be visible.

Checklist Summary
To configure a computer containing Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP, review
the following guidelines:

As explained above, using NTFS as the only file system on a computer

containing both Windows XP and Windows NT is not recommended.
Make sure that Windows NT 4.0 has been updated with the latest released
Service Pack available for download before installing Windows XP.
Install each operating system on a separate drive or disk partition.
When you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as opposed to an
upgrade), by default, the installation is placed on a partition on which no
other operating system is located. You can specify a different partition during
Setup.
Don’t install Windows XP on a compressed drive unless the drive was
compressed with the NTFS file system compression feature.
On any partition where you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as
opposed to an upgrade), you will need to re-install any programs, such as
word processing or email software, after Setup is complete.
Install the programs used by each operating system on the partition with
that system. If you want your programs to run with multiple operating
systems, you need to install separate copies of the programs in each of the
operating system partitions.
If the computer is on a Windows NT Server or Windows 2000 Server domain,
each installation of Windows XP on that computer must have a different
computer name.

Computers Containing MS-DOS or Windows 9x and Windows XP

As explained above you need to address file system compatibility to ensure a
multibooting configuration with these earlier operating systems and Windows
XP. Remember to install the latest operating system last otherwise important
files may be overwritten.
 Checklist Summary
To configure a computer containing Windows XP and Windows 9x or MS-DOS,
review the following guidelines:

On computers that contain MS-DOS and Windows XP:

MS-DOS must be installed on a basic disk on a partition formatted with FAT.

If MS-DOS is not installed on the system partition, which is almost always
the first partition on the disk, the system partition must also be formatted
with FAT.
Windows XP must be installed last. Otherwise important files needed for
starting Windows XP could be overwritten.
On computers that contain Windows 95 and Windows XP:

As in the case above, Windows 95 must be installed on a basic disk on a

partition formatted with FAT. (For Windows 95 OSR2, FAT32 may be used.) If
Windows 95 is not installed on the system partition, which is almost always
the first partition on the disk, the system partition must also be formatted
with FAT (or FAT32 for Windows 95 OSR2).
Compressed DriveSpace or DoubleSpace volumes won’t be available while
you are running Windows XP. It is not necessary to uncompress DriveSpace
or DoubleSpace volumes that you will access only with Windows 95.
Windows XP must be installed last. Otherwise important files needed for
starting Windows XP could be overwritten.
On computers that contain Windows 98 (or Windows ME) and Windows XP:

As in the cases above, Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition (ME) must

be installed on a basic disk on a partition formatted with FAT or FAT32. If
Windows 98 or Windows ME is not installed on the system partition, which is
almost always the first partition on the disk, the system partition must also
be formatted with FAT or FAT32.
Compressed DriveSpace or DoubleSpace volumes won’t be available while
you are running Windows XP. It is not necessary to uncompress DriveSpace
or DoubleSpace volumes that you will access only with Windows 98.
Windows XP must be installed last. Otherwise important files needed for
starting Windows XP could be overwritten.

Installation and How to :

The order of installation is critical if you want a successful multiboot

installation. In general terms, install non–Microsoft operating systems and
earlier versions of the Windows operating system first. This would mean
installing UNIX or Linux operating systems first; then Windows 95 or
Windows 98 or Windows Me; then Windows NT; and finally, Windows 2000
and/or Windows XP. (In the unlikely event that you’re installing MS–DOS,
you can install that either before or after UNIX– or Linux–based operating
systems, and generally I’d opt for before.) It’s also important to understand
 that, without using a third–party product to help out, you can’t install non-
Microsoft operating systems, or Windows 95 and Windows 98 on the same
computer, and that you can install only a single version of
Windows95/98/Me. But you can install as many different versions of Windows
NT and later versions of the Windows operating system as you have available
logical drives, with the sole caveat that you must install all Windows NT
versions before you install any Windows 2000 or Windows XP versions.

Let’s take a typical installation. Our target computer must be able to boot
into Windows 98, Windows NT 4 Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional,
and Windows XP Professional. We have a 2–GB partition to hold our
programs and the whole thing must fit on a single 10–GB hard drive. No
problem. First, we partition the hard drive into two partitions: a 2–GB
primary partition, and an 8-GB extended partition using FDisk. In the
extended partition, we’ll create four logical volumes—D, E, F and G—to hold
our remaining operating systems and our programs.

After the disk is partitioned, format the primary partition using the FAT16 file
system and install Windows 98 on it. So far so good. Now, format your D
drive with FAT16 as well. Eventually, you’ll install your programs on D drive.

Next, install Windows NT 4 Workstation. You will install this on any of the
logical volumes not already used (either E drive, F drive or G drive) and
choose NTFS as your file system. Leave D drive alone, because your
applications go there where they’re visible to all operating systems. When
you install Windows NT, it recognizes that you already have Windows 98 on
the computer. Then it automatically sets up for dual booting between
Windows 98 and Windows NT by creating a boot.ini file, which creates a
menu of available operating systems. After you have Windows NT 4 installed,
immediately apply Service Pack 6, before you install Windows 2000.

Finally, install Windows 2000 and Windows XP, each in its own logical
volume. Again, choose NTFS as the file system. As you install them, they are
automatically added to the boot.ini file on your C drive, which lets you
choose operating systems at start up.

Don't Ignore the Windows Logo Key

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer
keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don't ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor
for the following commands: Windows: Display the Start menu Windows +
D: Minimize or restore all windows Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for
computer Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center Windows + R:
Display Run dialog box Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog
box Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows Windows + L: Lock the
workstation Windows + U: Open Utility Manager

Disable CD Autorun

( WinXP PRO Only)

1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC

2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.

3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire

Disable Attachment restrictions in Outlook from Office

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Office > 10.0 >Outlook >
Security]

"Level1Remove" = "exe;bat;vbs

Create a Password Reset Disk

If you’re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup

environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your
computer when you forget your password. To create the disk:

1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
2.Click your account name.
3.Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.
4.Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a
password reset disk.
5.Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access
your local user account.

Do most of my programs from Windows 9* work in Windows XP

Most programs that work on Windows 95/98/Me and NT will work on

Windows XP. As with Windows 2000, several compatibility updates are sure
to made after the product is released. There will be problems running older
DOS programs (if they will run at all).

Error: Installing XP on an Asus UDMA 100 Board.

For those who are getting this error when you try to install WinXP on a
 motherboard that has UDMA 100 Promise Controllers you need to do the
following in order to get XP to install correctly if your hard drives are
connected to the UDMA 100 controller.

Now there are two ways to get XP installed, the first one I am going to
mention is the easiest way and the second is a bit more complicated but will
work never the less.

#1 - Easiest Way
I have an Asus A7V motherboard and I have run into this more than once.
What you need to do (this is the easiest way to do it that I have found) is to
move your hard drives cable off the UDMA 100 controller (normally color
coded blue) over to the UDMA 66 master controller on the motherboard.
Once you have done that make sure your PC still boots into your current OS
correctly. If it does then start your XP install or upgrade. Everything should
be fine.
Now, once XP is up right click My Computer and choose Manage. Look under
Device manager and you will see an error with a yellow exclamation point on
it. Right click on it and install the Promise Drivers.

Once you have the drivers installed re-boot the system and make sure the
yellow exclamation points are gone and the promise drivers are listed under
SCSI devices, if they are then turn off your system, move the HD's back to
the UDMA 100 controller and boot it up. That should fix it.
Another option is to check the MS web site once you have XP installed and
BEFORE you move your controller back to the UDMA 100 slot for XP
compatible Promise drivers.
See this FAQ on how to do a manual search for the drivers when you are on
the new XP Windows Update site.

#2 - Fresh Install

If you plan on installing XP to a freshly formatted hard drive the easiest way
I have found to do this is to use the above method but for those with only
one UDMA 66 controller on there motherboard you may need to do the
following:

- First use the URL above and download the Promise drivers I have here on
the site.
- Second you need to extract the drivers to a floppy making sure when you
extracted the above file that you left the directories/folders as they were.
This is VERY important!
If you used WinZip to extract the files I have made the directories for you.
Simply unzip them to a floppy and out it aside. The key to this whole process
is the Textsetup.oem file. Windows XP setup must see that in the root of the
floppy.
<<<< It should look like this once your done. Reboot and start your install..
Now pay attention here - at the bottom of the very first blue setup screen
you will see a prompt to hit F6 to install third party SCSI or RAID drivers. HIT
F6 A FEW TIMES NOW!!! Now it might take a couple of seconds but you
should be prompted to insert your drivers into your floppy drive. Do so and
choose the Promise ATA100 controller for Windows 2000. Keep this disk
handy as you will be prompted for it one more time during the install.
Once XP has the drivers and loads them successfully XP should install just
fine, well at least as far as the controller goes.

Using Windows XP Help and Support Center

Although most Windows programs include an individualized Help program,

which you can access by clicking Help from their menus, Windows XP also
includes an all-encompassing Help program. It helps with general Windows
questions, as well your computer in general. To start using it, choose Help
and Support Center from the Start menu. The program rises to the screen.

The Windows Help and Support Center works much like a Web site. To move
back one page, click the little green Back arrow in the upper left corner. That
arrow helps you out if you've backed into a corner. Just click it to move on to
a more helpful page.

The Help and Support Center offers assistance in these categories:

Pick a Help Topic: Click these to see general information about a topic.
Clicking Customizing Your Computer, for example, displays a list of things
that you can change about your computer. Choose Your Start Menu from the
list, and the Help menu lists how to add items to the Start menu, change the
way they open when clicked, or tweak the menu's list of recently used files
and documents.

Ask for Assistance: Stumped? Here are two ways of bringing in outside help.
The Remote Assistance program lets you invite a savvier Windows XP user to
connect to your computer through the Internet. When the Geek connects to
your computer, he sees your desktop on his screen. He can walk you through
problems, offer tutorials, and behave as if he were standing over your
shoulder. If you're not into that kind of computer intimacy, try the other
option: Contact Microsoft for Help, or connect to help sites through the
Internet.

Pick a Task: Microsoft placed the most commonly used items here. One click
enables you to keep your computer up-to-date, find Windows XP-compatible
parts for your computer, restore your computer back to a time when it
 worked well, and run diagnostic tools to view information and test your
computer.

Did You Know?: Windows XP tosses little updated tips here. You may just get
lucky and spot one that's useful.

For best results, start your quest for help by glancing at the Pick a Help Topic
area. If your troublesome spot is listed here, click it and begin narrowing
down the search for pertinent information.

If that doesn't help, use the Search command at the page's top. Type in a
key word or two describing your problem and click the green arrow next to
the Search box. Typing e-mail, for instance, brings up 30 bits of information.
Click any of the suggested topics to see if they solve your problem.

The Search command groups its results in three areas. Suggested Topics, the
first and most valuable, lists troubleshooters, step-by-step tutorials, and
general information. The Full-text Search Matches area lists any area
containing the words you searched for. The last, Microsoft Knowledge Base,
shows any results found in a Microsoft-created database listing information
about all its products. (Microsoft Knowledge Base requires an Internet
connection.)

Understanding My Music in Windows XP

The My Music folder is the place where Windows automatically saves all the
audio clips you download from the Internet or save on your hard drive with
Windows Media Player. The My Music folder, like My Pictures, is an automatic
part of the My Documents folder.

To open the My Music folder from the Windows XP desktop, click the Start
button and then click My Music (normally third from the top in the right-hand
column in the Start pop-up menu). To open this folder from another folder,
such as My Computer, click the Address bar drop-down button (on the right
side) and then click My Documents at the top of the pop-up list (right below
Desktop at the very top). You can then open My Music by double-clicking that
folder icon (the one with the music note in it) in the My Documents window.

Like the folders in My Pictures, the folders in My Music appear in thumbnail

view. To play a particular audio file that you've saved in the My Music folder
with Windows Media Player, right-click the file icon and then click Play on the
shortcut menu. Windows Media Player opens and begins playing your
selection.

To play all the audio files in a particular folder, click the folder icon before
clicking the Play All hyperlink in the Music Tasks section of the My Music
folder. To play all of the audio clips and tracks saved in the My Music folder,
make sure that no folder or file is selected before you click the Play All
hyperlink.

Understanding Microsoft .NET Passport

In its ever-expanding push toward computer domination, Microsoft launched

a concept called the .NET Passport. (Soon after installation, Windows XP
urgently asks you to sign up for one.) In theory, the Passport sounds great:
Give Microsoft a user name and password, and you have a Passport. When
you visit any Passport-aware Internet sites, you type in your same Passport
name and password. You no longer have to remember different user names
and passwords for every place that you visit or shop on the Internet.

In fact, when you move from one Passport-enabled site to another, you don't
even need to log on again. With the Passport, your personal data travels with
you: name, address, and, if you purchased anything, your credit card
number. Microsoft says its .NET Passport enables software, Internet services,
and computer gadgetry to work together and share information, making the
Internet easier for everyone to use.

Think about it, though. No entity should govern your Internet use — except
you. The Microsoft Passport contains your Internet identity. With Passport,
Microsoft creates a consumer database that's just too powerful. Microsoft can
collect information from any Passport-enabled site you visit, so Microsoft
knows the stocks you track in Investor.com, the Web pages you view in
MSN.com, and where you travel through Expedia.com. When you move from
one Passport-enabled site to another, that information could be shared, too.

In concept, Passport sounds great. When computers are working well, they
do great things. But everybody knows how terrible computers can be if
something goes wrong. Passport offers too much opportunity for things to go
wrong. Sure, it's okay to occasionally use a Passport account when there's no
alternative. But avoid Passport-enabled sites whenever possible.

Turning Off the Licensing Feature in Windows XP

Everybody but the record industry agrees that the Microsoft licensing feature
is awful. Luckily, you have a way to turn it off:

1. Choose Options from Media Player's Tools menu.

2. Click the Copy Music tab.

3. Remove any check mark from the box marked Protect Content.
If no check mark is there, Media Player doesn't embed any license or copy
protection in your copied files. Disabling the licensing feature lets you copy
your files to any of your computers and portable music devices.

Radio and the Windows Media Player

Select a Preset Station

Windows Media Player for Windows XP features preset Web radio stations
that make listening a snap. It's an easy way to get started and a great
introduction to the music capabilities of Windows XP. Once you're on the
Internet, you can tune in Web radio.

To listen to Internet radio

Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Media Player.
Click Radio Tuner.
Double-click a preset Web radio station from the list of featured presets.
That’s all there is to it. Loading a station usually takes a few seconds, after
which playing begins automatically.

Create Your Own Presets

Of course, you’re not limited to listening only to preset stations. After all,
Internet radio is all about choice. It’s easy to find interesting new stations
and create your own presets.

To create preset radio stations

Click Start, and then click Windows Media Player.

Click Radio Tuner.
Click Find More Stations.
Search for stations by keyword or zip code (U.S. only), or browse through
editor's selections in genres from Jazz & Blues to Modern Rock to New Age to
Sports Radio and more.
Click Use Advanced Search to search for stations based on genre, language,
country, and more criteria.
If you find a station that looks interesting, you can click it for more
information. To create a preset, click Add to My Stations.
When you are finished, click Return to My Stations.
Click any station in My Stations to play it.
Note Because Radio Tuner contains a live Web page that is hosted by
WindowsMedia.com, the process for adding radio stations may change
without notice.

Streaming Audio

Web radio is broadcast by a method called streaming. Instead of sending out

a constant signal, the station sends out audio in batches, or packets, across
 the Internet to reach your computer. Each packet is separately numbered,
and the data it contains is compressed (reduced in size) for speedier
delivery. When the computer receives packets, it decompresses
(reconstitutes) their data and plays them in their proper order. The effect is
the same as if the information was delivered by means of a continuous
signal.

Packets might travel by separate routes to reach your computer and might
arrive out of order. To allow for delays, your computer initially stores packets
instead of playing them until enough have arrived to fill the time it takes to
receive any missing packets before it is their turn to play. The storing
process is called buffering. Without streaming audio Web radio would not be
possible, and full-length media files would take ages to download.

Take your favorite tunes with you transfer music to a portable player

Take your favorite tunes with you when you jog or work out at the gym.
Windows Media Player for Windows XP is set up to make the transfer of
music to portable players as simple as 1-2-3. And since the music is stored
on your computer hard drive, you can keep refilling your portable player as
often as you want.

To transfer music to a portable player

Connect your portable player to your computer, according to the directions

supplied with the player.
Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Media Player.
Click Copy to CD or Device. If necessary, click the player to which you want
to copy music.
Choose a playlist from the Music to Copy drop-down menu.
Clear the check boxes beside any tracks you do not want to copy.
Click Copy Music.

Playing DVDs in Windows XP

Microsoft raves about how Media Player plays DVDs. But that's a lie. Windows
XP can't play DVDs right out of the box. See, even though you've bought a
Windows XP computer, a DVD drive, and a DVD, you need something else:
special software called a decoder. This bit of software, called a codec because
it converts one format to another, enables your computer to translate
numbers on a disc into videos of galloping horses on the screen.

Unfortunately, Windows XP doesn't come with a DVD codec, so you must pick
up one somewhere else. Where? Well, most computers with DVD drives come
with DVD-playing software — a little box with its own little controls. That
software installs its own DVD codec in Windows, and Media Player simply
borrows that. But if you don't have DVD-playing software, there's nothing to
borrow, and Media Player ignores your DVDs.
 If you choose Windows Media Player instead of your third-party DVD player
to watch DVDs, the controls are pretty much the same as they are for
playing CDs.

You probably need to update your DVD software so that it will work under
Windows XP. Otherwise, your DVD software won't work under Media Player,
either. Head for the Web site of your DVD player's manufacturer and look for
a Windows XP patch or upgrade. If you're lucky, the manufacturer won't
charge you for the upgrade. Some companies, however, make you buy a new
version.

DVD stands for Digital Video Disc & Digital Versatile Disc.

Bending to pressure, Microsoft made a last-minute deal with three companies

to provide software for Windows Media Player to create MP3s and play DVDs.
The catch? The complete package costs between $20 and $30, with separate
components (the DVD decoder on its own, for instance) costing less.

The three companies, CyberLink, InterVideo, and RAVISENT, each offers a

DVD Decoder Pack for Windows XP. After October 25, 2001, Windows XP
users may order and download the add-on packs from each company's Web
site through links inside Windows Media Player.

If you've upgraded to Windows XP from an earlier version of Windows, and

your old DVD software no longer works, using the links to get the add-ons
might be your best option.

Logging On to Your computer

After you've installed Windows XP Professional, you can configure common

settings, including user accounts and network connections.

If you already have a user account, log on to your computer with that
account name and password. If you don't have a user account, you must first
log on as the administrator to create one.

Log On as the Administrator

Until you set up a user account on your computer, you need to log on as the
Administrator. For security reasons, you should create a user account for
yourself and a user account for each person who may be using the computer.
After you complete Setup, your computer restarts and the “Log On to
Windows” dialog box appears.

To log on as the Administrator

In “Log On to Windows,” type Administrator and the password you assigned

to the administrator during Setup.

Click OK.

If a message appears informing you that the system could not log you on,
verify that CAPS LOCK is not turned on, and then retype your password.

IMPORTANT
Running Windows XP as an administrator makes the system vulnerable to
unnecessary security risks. Instead, use your user account to perform routine
tasks such as running programs, working on documents, and visiting Internet
sites.

Joining a Network

If you want to connect to a network during Setup, you must have the correct
hardware installed on your computer and be connected to your network.

If you will be using a network, first determine whether your computer is

joining a domain or a workgroup.

If you're not sure, select Workgroup when you are prompted during Setup.
(You can always join a domain later, after Windows XP Professional is
installed.) Any computer user can join a workgroup—you don’t need special
administrative permissions. You must provide an existing or new workgroup
name, or you can use the workgroup name that Windows XP Professional
suggests during Setup.

If you select Domain ask your network administrator to create a new

computer account in that domain or to reset your existing account. Joining a
domain requires permission from the network administrator.

Joining a domain during Setup requires a computer account to identify your

computer to the domain you want to join. If you’re upgrading, Setup uses
your existing computer account; or if there isn’t one, Setup prompts you to
provide a new computer account. Ask your network administrator to create a
computer account before you begin Setup. Or, if you have the appropriate
privileges, you can create the account yourself and join the domain during
Setup. To join a domain during Setup, you need to provide your domain user
name and password.
Unless you're an advanced user, it's recommended you use the default
settings.

Multibooting with Windows XP - Installing Windows 2000 and

Windows XP

You can install two or more operating systems on your computer, and then
choose the one that you want to use each time you restart. This is known as
multibooting. You can configure your computer to start Windows XP,
Windows 2000, Windows NT, and either Windows 95 or Windows 98.

Consider Disk Space, Type, and File System

Before using the multibooting feature, consider the tradeoffs: each operating
system uses valuable disk space, and file system compatibility can be
complex if you want to run Windows XP on one partition and an earlier OS on
another partition. In addition, dynamic disk format introduced in Windows
2000 does not work with earlier operating systems. However, multibooting
capabilities are a valuable feature providing the single-machine flexibility to
run multiple operating systems.

In the past, some users installed multiple operating systems as a safeguard

against problems with starting the computer. With Windows XP, you have
more and better options for system recovery. For example, if you have a
problem with a newly-installed device driver, you can use safe mode, in
which the operating system restarts with default settings and the minimum
number of drivers. Windows XP also includes compatibility mode, so you no
longer need to keep an older operating system to run most of your older
programs.

However, multibooting continues to be a useful feature if you are using

Windows XP but occasionally need to replicate older computing
environments. This article provides an overview of multibooting, beginning
with a summary of disk requirements followed by guidelines for multibooting
with Windows XP. It also addresses multibooting issues for running Windows
XP with earlier operating systems including Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0,
Windows 9x, and MS-DOS®. Each section includes a checklist summary for
easy reference.

Does Your Disk Support Multibooting?

The following table shows the disk configurations on which you can install
more than one operating system.

Disk Requirements for multiple operating systems

configuration
Basic disk This is the common name for the hard disk in your computer.
You have a basic disk unless you have converted it to
dynamic disk. MS-DOS and all Windows-based operating
systems can access basic disks. A basic disk can contain up
to four primary partitions. A partition is a section of the disk
that functions as a separate unit. Each partition can have a
different file format and different drive letter, for example,
C: and D:. Each operating system must be on a separate
partition.

Single If you have one hard disk and you have converted it to
dynamic disk dynamic disk, you can install only one operating system. You
cannot multiboot.
To determine if you have a dynamic hard disk, click Start,
click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance,
click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Computer Management, and then click Disk
Management. In the right pane, your disk will be labeled as
a basic or dynamic type.

Multiple If you have two or more hard disks installed in your

dynamic disks computer, each dynamic disk can contain one installation of
Windows XP Professional, or Windows 2000. No other
operating systems can start from a dynamic disk. Windows
XP Home Edition does not support dynamic disks.

One OS Per Partition

Before installing and Windows XP and an earlier version on the same

machine, you must prepare your hard disk with different partitions.

When you install Windows on a new or reformatted hard disk, the Setup
program typically does not partition your hard disk automatically. To create
multiple partitions, choose Advanced Options during Setup and follow the
instructions to create and name multiple partitions. You can also create
partitions using Fdisk.

If you have already installed Windows, and you have only one partition, you
must reformat and partition your hard drive before you can multiboot.

You can divide your hard disk into multiple partitions, and each partition can
function as a separate logical drive. For example, logical drives C: and D: can
both exist on the same hard disk, but function as separate disks. You should
install each operating system on a different partition. Then install
applications on the same partition as the operating system with which you
run them. If an application is used with two different operating systems,
install copies on both partitions. Placing each operating system in a separate
partition ensures that it will not overwrite crucial files used by the other OS.

A basic disk can contain up to four partitions. Each partition can be formatted
for use by a file system, such as FAT32 or NTFS.

In general, you should always install the most recent OS last. In this case,
you should install Windows 2000 and then install Windows XP.

Unique Computer Name

You can set up a computer so that it has multiple installations of Windows XP

and Windows 2000 Professional. However, you must use a different computer
name for each installation if the computer participates in a Windows 2000
Server domain. Because a unique security identifier (SID) is used for each
installation of Windows XP on a domain, the computer name for each
installation must be unique—even for multiple installations on the same
computer.

Checklist Summary

To configure a computer containing Windows 2000 and Windows XP, review

the following guidelines:

Install each operating system on a separate drive or disk partition.

Install Windows XP after you have installed Windows 2000.

When you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as opposed to an

upgrade), by default, the installation is placed on a partition on which no
other operating system is located. You can specify a partition during Setup.

Don’t install Windows XP on a compressed drive unless the drive was

compressed with the NTFS file system compression feature.

On any partition where you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as

opposed to an upgrade), you will need to re-install any programs, such as
word processing or e-mail software, after Setup is complete.

Install the programs used by each operating system on the partition with
that system. If you want your programs to run with multiple operating
systems, you need to install separate copies of the programs in each of the
operating system partitions.

If the computer is on a Windows 2000 Server domain, each installation of

Windows XP on that computer must have a different computer name.

Mapping Network Drives in Windows XP

If you use Windows XP on a local area network (LAN), and you save and
open files in shared folders as part of a workgroup on a server, you can
create a virtual drive whose drive letter appears in the My Computer window
along with those of your local drives — a process referred to as mapping a
network drive. To map a network drive, follow these steps:

1. Click Tools-->Map Network Drive on the My Computer menu bar to open

the Map Network Drive dialog box.

2. Click the Drive drop-down list button and select the drive letter you want
to assign to the virtual drive containing this network folder (note that the list
starts with Z: and works backwards to B:) from the pop-up menu.

3. Type the path to the folder on the network drive in the Folder text box or
click the Browse button and select the folder directly from the outline of the
network drives and folders shown in the Browse For Folder dialog box. Now
click OK to close the Browse For Folder dialog box and return to the Map
Network Drive dialog box (where the path to the selected folder now
appears).

4. If you want Windows to recreate this virtual drive designation for the
selected network folder each time that you start and log on to your
computer, leave the check mark in the Reconnect at Logon check box.

If you only want to use this drive designation during the current work
session, click the Reconnect at Logon check box to remove the check mark.

5. If you're mapping the network drive for someone else who uses a logon
different from your own, click the Different User Name hyperlink and enter
the user name and password in the associated text boxes in the Connect As
dialog box before you click OK.

6. Click the Finish button in the Map Network Drive dialog box to close it and
return to the My Computer window.

The network folder that you mapped onto a virtual drive now appears at the
bottom of the contents area under a new section called "Network Drives" and
Windows automatically opens the folder in a separate window.

After mapping a network folder onto a virtual drive, you can redisplay the
contents in the My Computer window by double-clicking that drive icon.

To remove a virtual drive that you've mapped onto My Computer, click Tools-
->Disconnect Network Drive; next click the letter of the virtual drive in the
Disconnect Network Drives dialog box and then click OK. Windows then
displays an alert dialog box warning you that files and folders are currently
open on the virtual drive and that you run the risk of losing data if files are
open. If you're sure that you have no files open on that drive, click the Yes
button to break the connection and remove the virtual drive from the My
Computer window.

If you use Windows XP on a local area network (LAN), and you save and
open files in shared folders as part of a workgroup on a server, you can
create a virtual drive whose drive letter appears in the My Computer window
along with those of your local drives — a process referred to as mapping a
network drive. To map a network drive, follow these steps:

1. Click Tools-->Map Network Drive on the My Computer menu bar to open

the Map Network Drive dialog box.

2. Click the Drive drop-down list button and select the drive letter you want
to assign to the virtual drive containing this network folder (note that the list
starts with Z: and works backwards to B:) from the pop-up menu.

3. Type the path to the folder on the network drive in the Folder text box or
click the Browse button and select the folder directly from the outline of the
network drives and folders shown in the Browse For Folder dialog box. Now
click OK to close the Browse For Folder dialog box and return to the Map
Network Drive dialog box (where the path to the selected folder now
appears).

4. If you want Windows to recreate this virtual drive designation for the
selected network folder each time that you start and log on to your
computer, leave the check mark in the Reconnect at Logon check box.

If you only want to use this drive designation during the current work
session, click the Reconnect at Logon check box to remove the check mark.

5. If you're mapping the network drive for someone else who uses a logon
different from your own, click the Different User Name hyperlink and enter
the user name and password in the associated text boxes in the Connect As
dialog box before you click OK.

6. Click the Finish button in the Map Network Drive dialog box to close it and
return to the My Computer window.

The network folder that you mapped onto a virtual drive now appears at the
bottom of the contents area under a new section called "Network Drives" and
Windows automatically opens the folder in a separate window.
After mapping a network folder onto a virtual drive, you can redisplay the
contents in the My Computer window by double-clicking that drive icon.

To remove a virtual drive that you've mapped onto My Computer, click Tools-
->Disconnect Network Drive; next click the letter of the virtual drive in the
Disconnect Network Drives dialog box and then click OK. Windows then
displays an alert dialog box warning you that files and folders are currently
open on the virtual drive and that you run the risk of losing data if files are
open. If you're sure that you have no files open on that drive, click the Yes
button to break the connection and remove the virtual drive from the My
Computer window.

Make Windows XP Professional Accessible

Do you have trouble reading the screen, hearing the sound themes, using the
keyboard, or moving the mouse? Windows XP Professional includes features
such as Accessibility Wizard, Accessibility Options, and Utility Manager that
make Windows XP accessible and usable by everyone.

For more detailed information about accessibility options, keyboard

shortcuts, and assistant technology programs in Windows XP Professional:

Click Start, then click Help and Support, and then click Accessibility, in the
left-hand column.

–or–

Press the Windows Logo key + F1, use the TAB key to highlight Accessibility,
and then press ENTER.
To learn more about Microsoft products available for people with disabilities,
visit the Microsoft Accessibility Web site.

Note: The information in this section applies only to users who license
Microsoft products in the United States. If you obtained this product outside
the United States, your package contains a card that lists Microsoft
subsidiary support services, telephone numbers, and addresses. Contact your
subsidiary to find out whether the type of products and services described
here are available in your area.

Accessibility Wizard
The Accessibility Wizard asks you questions about your accessibility needs
and automatically configures text size, and settings for display, sound, and
pointer.
To start the Accessibility Wizard

Click Start and point to All Programs. Then point to Accessories, point to
Accessibility, and click Accessibility Wizard.

–or–

Press the Windows Logo key , press P to open All Programs, and then press
ENTER. Press A to open Accessories, press ENTER to open Accessibility, and
then press ENTER again to start Accessibility Wizard.
Note: Utility Manager lets you start, stop, and check the status of the
accessibility programs you select from the Accessibility Wizard.

To open the Utility Manager

Click Start and point to All Programs. Then point to Accessories, point to
Accessibility, and click Utility Manager.

–or–

Press the Windows Logo key , press P to open All Programs, and then press
ENTER. Press A to open Accessories, press ENTER to open Accessibility. Use
the arrow keys to highlight Utility Manager, and then press ENTER.
Accessibility Options
Accessibility Options allow you to directly customize keyboard, display, and
mouse functions.

To open Accessibility Options

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Accessibility Options.

–or–

Press the Windows Logo key , use the arrow keys to highlight Control Panel,
and then press ENTER. Use the TAB key to highlight Accessibility Options,
and then press ENTER.

Installing Windows XP with MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98 or

Windows Millennium Edition

You must address file system compatibility to ensure a multi-booting

configuration with these earlier operating systems and Windows XP.
Remember to install the latest operating system last, otherwise important
files may be overwritten.
Checklist Summary

To configure a computer containing Windows XP and Windows 9x or MS-DOS,

review the following guidelines:

On computers that contain MS-DOS and Windows XP:

• MS-DOS must be installed on a basic disk on a partition formatted with

FAT. If MS-DOS is not installed on the system partition, which is
almost always the first partition on the disk, the system partition must
also be formatted with FAT.
• Windows XP must be installed last. Otherwise important files needed
for starting Windows XP could be overwritten.

On computers that contain Windows 95 and Windows XP:

• As in the case above, Windows 95 must be installed on a basic disk on

a partition formatted with FAT. (For Windows 95 OSR2, FAT32 may be
used.) If Windows 95 is not installed on the system partition, which is
almost always the first partition on the disk, the system partition must
also be formatted with FAT (or FAT32 for Windows 95 OSR2).
• Compressed DriveSpace or DoubleSpace volumes won’t be available
while you are running Windows XP. It is not necessary to uncompress
DriveSpace or DoubleSpace volumes that you will access only with
Windows 95.
• Windows XP must be installed last. Otherwise important files needed
for starting Windows XP could be overwritten.

On computers that contain Windows 98 (or Windows Me) and

Windows XP:

• As in the cases above, Windows 98 or Windows Me must be installed

on a basic disk on a partition formatted with FAT or FAT32. If Windows
98 or Windows Me is not installed on the system partition, which is
almost always the first partition on the disk, the system partition must
also be formatted with FAT or FAT32.
• Compressed DriveSpace or DoubleSpace volumes won’t be available
while you are running Windows XP. It is not necessary to uncompress
DriveSpace or DoubleSpace volumes that you will access only with
Windows 98.
• Windows XP must be installed last. Otherwise important files needed
for starting Windows XP could be overwritten.

Multibooting with Windows XP - Installing Windows NT Workstation

4.0 and Windows XP

Setting up a computer to run Windows XP as well as an earlier operating

system such as Windows NT Workstation 4.0 requires addressing
compatibility issues among different file systems: NTFS, FAT, and FAT32.

Normally, NTFS is the recommended file system because it supports

important features, including the Active Directory™ service and domain-
based security. However, using NTFS as the only file system on a computer
that contains both Windows XP and Windows NT is not recommended. On
these computers, a FAT or FAT32 partition containing the Windows NT 4.0
operating system ensures that when started with Windows NT 4.0, the
computer will have access to needed files. In addition, if Windows NT is not
installed on the system partition, which is almost always the first partition on
the disk, the system partition should also be formatted with FAT.

Windows NT 4.0 cannot access files that have been stored using NTFS
features that did not exist when Windows NT 4.0 was released. For example,
a file that uses the new NTFS encryption feature won’t be readable when the
computer is started with Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, which was released
before the encryption feature existed.

Note: If you set up a computer so that it starts with Windows NT 3.51 or

earlier on a FAT partition, and Windows XP on an NTFS partition, when that
computer starts with Windows NT 3.51, the NTFS partition will not be visible.

Checklist Summary
To configure a computer containing Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP, review
the following guidelines:

As explained above, using NTFS as the only file system on a computer

containing both Windows XP and Windows NT is not recommended.

Make sure that Windows NT 4.0 has been updated with the latest released
Service Pack available for download before installing Windows XP.

Install each operating system on a separate drive or disk partition.

When you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as opposed to an

upgrade), by default, the installation is placed on a partition on which no
other operating system is located. You can specify a partition during Setup.

Don’t install Windows XP on a compressed drive unless the drive was

compressed with the NTFS file system compression feature.

On any partition where you perform a new installation of Windows XP (as

opposed to an upgrade), you will need to re-install any programs, such as
word processing or email software, after Setup is complete.

Install the programs used by each operating system on the partition with
that system. If you want your programs to run with multiple operating
systems, you need to install separate copies of the programs in each of the
operating system partitions.

If the computer is on a Windows NT Server or Windows 2000 Server domain,

each installation of Windows XP on that computer must have a different
computer name.

Step by Step Guide to Installing a New Printer in Windows XP

When installing a new printer with the Add Printer Wizard, you can choose
between adding a local printer (one that's directly cabled to your computer
through one of the ports) or a network printer (a printer that's connected to
your network with an Ethernet connection, just as your computer is
connected to the LAN).

To install a new local printer with the Add Printer Wizard, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar and then click Control Panel
on the right side of the Start menu.

2. Click the Printers and Other Hardware hyperlink if the Control Panel
window is in Category View.

Otherwise, double-click the Printers and Faxes icon if the Control Panel
window is in Classic View.

3. Click the Add a Printer hyperlink in the Printers and Other Hardware
window to start the Add Printer Wizard and then click the Next button, or
press Enter to advance to the Local Printer or Printer Connection dialog box.

4. Make sure that the Add Printer Wizard selects the Local Printer radio
button, and the Automatically Detect and Install my Plug and Play Printer
check box beneath this radio button before you click the Next button.

5. If the wizard is unable to detect your printer in the New Printer Detection
dialog box, click Next to install the printer manually.

6. Select the port for the printer to use in the Use the Following Port drop-
down list box in the Select a Printer Port dialog box and then click the Next
button.

7. Click the manufacturer and the model of the printer in the Manufacturers
and Printers list boxes, respectively, of the Install Printer Software dialog
box.
If you have a disk with the software for the printer, put it into your floppy or
CD-ROM drive and then click the Have Disk button: Select the drive that
contains this disk in the Copy Manufacturer's Files drop-down list box and
then click OK.

8. Click the Next button to advance to the Name Your Printer dialog box.

If you want, edit the name for the printer in the Printer Name text box. If
you want to make the printer that you're installing the default printer that is
automatically used whenever you print from Windows or from within a
Windows program, leave the Yes radio button selected beneath the heading,
Do you want your Windows-based programs to use this printer as the default
printer?

9. Click the Next button to advance to the Printer Sharing dialog box.

If you want to share this printer with other users on the network, click the
Share Name radio button and then, if you want, edit the share name (this is
the name that the other users on the network see when they go to select this
printer for printing their documents) that the wizard gives the printer in the
Share Name text box.

10. To print a test page from your newly installed printer, click the Yes radio
button selected beneath the heading, Would you like to print a test page? in
the Print Test Page dialog box.

11. Click the Next button to advance to the Completing the Add Printer
Wizard dialog box, where you can review the settings for your new printer
before you click the Finish button or press Enter to finish installing the new
printer.

To use the Add Printer Wizard to install a printer that's available through
your Local Area Network, you follow just slightly different steps:

1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar and then click Control Panel
on the right side of the Start menu.

2. Click the Printers and Other Hardware hyperlink if the Control Panel
window is in Category View. Otherwise, double-click the Printers and Faxes
icon if the Control Panel window is in Classic View.

3. Click the Add a Printer hyperlink in the Printers and Other Hardware
window to start the Add Printer Wizard and then click the Next button or
press Enter to advance to the Local or Network Printer dialog box.
4. Click the A Network Printer or a Printer Attached to Another Computer
radio button in the Local or Network Printer dialog box and then click the
Next button or press Enter to the Specify a Printer dialog box.

5. If you know the name of the network printer, click the Connect to This
Printer (or to Browse for a Printer, Select this Option and click Next) radio
button and then enter the network path in the Name text box.

If your network printer is on a network that uses an Internet address and

you know this URL address, click the Connect to a Printer on the Internet or
on a Home or Office Network radio button and then enter the address in the
URL text box. If you know neither of these pieces of information, leave the
Browse for a Printer radio button selected and then click Next to advance to
the Browse for Printer dialog box.

6. In the Browse for Printer dialog box, locate the printer in the Shared
Printers list box by clicking the network icons until you expand the outline
sufficiently to display the printer icon.

When you click the printer icon in this outline, the wizard adds the path to
the Printer text box above.

7. Click the Next button to advance the Default Printer dialog box.

If you want to make the printer that you're installing the default printer that
is automatically used whenever you print from Windows or from within a
Windows program, leave the Yes radio button selected beneath the heading,
Do you want your Windows-based programs to use this printer as the default
printer?

8. Click the Next button to advance to the Completing the Add Printer Wizard
dialog box, where you can review the settings for your new printer before
you click the Finish button or press Enter to finish installing the new printer.

After you add a printer to your computer, you can start using it when printing
with programs such as Word 2002 and Excel 2002, or when printing from
Windows itself.

To switch to a new printer that you haven't designated as the default printer
in programs such as Word and Excel, you need to open the Print dialog box
(choose File-->Print) and then select the printer name in the Name drop-
down list box.

Install Windows XP Professional - New Installation

There are three reasons why you may need to install a new copy of Windows
XP:

• Your current operating system doesn’t support an upgrade to Windows

XP Professional.

• Your current operating system supports an upgrade to Windows XP

Professional, but you don’t want to keep your existing files and
personalized settings.

• Your computer does not have an operating system.

The setup process is similar for new installations and upgrades with a few
notable exceptions. For example, during a new installation, you are able to
configure Special Options, convert your file system, and create a new
partition for the Windows XP installation.

IMPORTANT
A new installation deletes all programs or system files from a previous
installation.

Special Options

Under Special Options, you have the choice to change Language, Advanced,
and Accessibility settings during the setup process.

Note: If you are in a country that has recently adopted the euro as its
currency, you may have to modify the currency settings to display monetary
amounts correctly.

For more information, go to Help and Support Center and type “euro” in the
Search box.

Select If you want to...

Language • Choose the primary language and
regions for Windows XP, which affects the
default settings for date, time, currency,
numbers, character sets, and keyboard
layout.

• Choose additional language groups and

character sets to use with the programs
you are running on Windows XP.
Advanced
• Change the default location of the Setup
Options
 files.

• Store system files in a folder other than

the default (Windows) folder

• Copy the installation files from the CD to

the hard disk.
Accessibility • Use Narrator or Magnifier during Setup.

IMPORTANT
Unless you're an advanced user, it's recommended that you use the default
settings.

Choosing a File System

During a new installation of Windows XP, you may have to choose which file
system your computer should use. Windows XP Professional supports:

• FAT32: An enhanced version of the file allocation table (FAT) system

that is standard on all Windows operating systems starting with later
(32-bit) versions of Windows 95. The FAT32 system can be used on
large hard disks, from 512 megabytes (MB) to 32 gigabytes (GB).
• NTFS: The NT file system (NTFS) is used with the Windows NT,
Windows 2000, and Windows XP operating systems. NTFS provides
enhanced reliability, stability, and security, and supports large hard
disks of up to 2 terabytes (TB).

IMPORTANT
You can convert your file system any time, even after you install Windows
XP, without losing any of your data.

The conversion to NTFS is one–way only; if you convert your FAT or FAT32
file system to NTFS you can’t convert your hard disk back to FAT later.

If you’re not sure which file system to use, keep the one your computer
defaults to during Setup. If you want to change your file system, here are a
few recommendations:

• Use FAT32 if your hard disk is smaller than 32 GB.

• Use FAT32 if you want to install more than one operating system on
your computer.
• Use NTFS if your hard drive is larger than 32 GB and you are running
only one operating system on your computer.
 • Use NTFS if you want enhanced file security.
• Use NTFS if you need better disk compression.

Disk Partitions

You can create partitions to organize information—for example, to back up

data—or to install more than one operating system on your computer. A hard
disk can contain up to four partitions.

If you’re performing a new installation, the appropriate disk partition is

selected automatically during Windows XP Setup unless you click Advanced
Options and specify your own requirements

For more information about configuring, sizing, reformatting, or converting

disk partitions, see your current online Help before you install or upgrade to
Windows XP Professional.

How to Use Qfixapp.exe In Windows XP

This article describes the Quick Fix utility (Qfixapp.exe) that is included with
the Application Compatibility Toolkit for Windows XP and Windows .NET.
Qfixapp.exe is a tool that includes pre-packaged fixes that provide an easy
way to fix a program.

Use Qfixapp.exe To Apply Program Fixes

You can use Qfixapp.exe to quickly apply various program fixes (AppFixes,
also known as "shims") to a program to determine their effectiveness.
Qfixapp.exe reads the %SystemRoot%\windows\apppatch\sysmain.sdb
database to produce a list of available fixes. When you select an AppFix, you
can start the program executable (.exe) file, and the AppFix will be applied.
If a suitable AppFix is found, the tool eventually helps you to generate and
test matching file information. When you run Qfixapp.exe, you see the
following items:

• The The application for which to apply the fix(es) check box. This
setting disables existing fixes in the database.

• The Layer tab with the Choose one of the existing layers to apply
to your app box that contains the following entries:

256 Color
640X480
Disable Themes
Internaltional
 LUA(Limited User Account)
LUACleanUp
NT4SP5
ProfilesSetup
Win2000
Win95
Win98

• The Fixes tab. On this tab you can select the individual fixes that you
want to apply.

Example of How to Use Qfixapp.exe

1. Start Notepad, and then click About Notepad on the Help menu. Note
that the version is 5.1.

2. Start Qfixapp.exe, click Win95, click Browse, and then open the Windows
folder. Note that the Windows\System32 folder is protected by Windows File
Protection, so it is not able to use the layers.

3. Click Notepad.exe, click Open, and then click Run.

4. Start Notepad, and then click About Notepad on the Help menu. Note
that the version is now 4.0.

If you click ViewLog, you could see what AppFix(es) are being used. If you
click Advanced, you could see information about the .exe file. You can click
Add Matching Info, and then select files that are related to the .exe file to
identify that particular program. After you finish that step, you could click
Create Fix Support to add the layers with the Matching Information
(GRABMI) and create an XML-based database that is named
YourAppName.sdb. Note that in the preceding example it is named
Notepad.sdb, and is in the AppPatch folder.

Burning CDs in Windows XP and the Limitations

Windows XP's integrated CD burner is powered by the Roxio engine but lacks
the familiar Easy CD Creator interface. There is no CD Burner icon on the
desktop or in the start menu. So where is this promised CD burner? There
are two answers, depending on if you want to burn audio or data CD's.

To burn data CDs

Open a folder. Look at the folder options on the left of your screen. You
should see an option to Copy All Items to CD or Copy to CD, depending on
your folder view. You can also right-click a file or folder and choose Send To
and then CD drive. I appreciate that XP has made it as easy to drop files to a
CD as it is a Zip disk. It does not copy the files immediately. Instead, it
places them into a repository and waits for further instruction on when and
where to burn the CD. Now, place a blank CD into your CD drive or navigate
to your CD drive in My Computer, and choose to write the files to a CD.

To burn music CDs

The Windows Media Player was always a monstrosity, and now it now
includes a new function -- CD burning. Select a song in your My Documents
folder, and choose Copy to Audio CD from the folder options on the left.
Surprise! Up pops the Windows Media Player, waiting for you to choose Copy
to CD. Hit the record button, and have a good time.

Limitations of the incorporated CD burner

You cannot create bootable CDs with the Windows XP CD burner, nor can you
create a CD from an image (like a .iso file). If you want this functionality, you
need to install your favorite CD burning software. Don't try to install Easy CD
Creator 5 just yet -- Windows XP won't let you.

Roxio will have XP patches available on their website soon, but only for their
latest edition of CD creator. Roxio will not support Easy CD Creator 3.X and
4.X for Windows XP, and the user will be required to purchase the upgrade to
Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum.

Windows XP does not have a CD burning interface, but it has CD burning

artfully integrated into the operating system. However, third-party CD
burning software is still necessary for those who want to burn more than the
occasional audio CD.

Troubleshooting and Driver Issues

With Windows XP, installation and hardware configuration has never been
easier. The installation of new hardware and the recognition of hardware
devices during the installation process has never been so easy and reliable.

The Windows 2000 Factor

What do you do if XP is unable to find a driver for your device? Windows XP

is based on an enhanced Windows 2000 kernel, so 2000 drivers should work
in XP, but this is not always the case. I loaded one system that had a Wacom
board with a 2000 driver, and no matter what I tried, I was unable to find a
suitable driver for this component. I disconnected the unit and am waiting for
an XP driver update.
The .vxd drivers used in Windows 98 are not supported at all by Windows
2000 and Windows XP. Using these drivers could create more issues in
Windows XP, and you should stay away from them. Check your device
manager, and disable those devices that have yellow cautionary flags if you
are unable to locate an appropriate driver.

Now that XP has been officially released on the market, manufacturers of

those components that are lacking compatible drivers should be issuing those
drivers in the near future. Keep checking those manufacturers' websites.
When the driver become available, enable those devices, and update the
drivers.

Add Album Art to any Music Folder

One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail

generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the
folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what
about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive
using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as
cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder
customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes
time you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder
and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an
excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images
as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then,
Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder
and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP
(MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization.
And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation
as well. Your music folders never looked so good!

Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!

Change the location of the My Music or My Pictures Folders

In Windows 2000, Microsoft added the ability to right-click the My Documents

folder and choose a new location for that folder in the shell. With Windows
XP, Microsoft has elevated the My Music and My Pictures folders to the same
"special shell folder" status of My Documents, but they never added a similar
(and simple) method for changing those folder's locations. However, it is
actually pretty easy to change the location of these folders, using the
following method.
Open a My Computer window and navigate to the location where you'd like
My Music (or My Pictures) to reside. Then, open the My Documents folder in
a different window. Drag the My Music (or My Pictures) folder to the other
window, and Windows XP will update all of the references to that folder to
the new location, including the Start menu.

Add/Remove Optional Windows Components

For some reason, Microsoft has removed the ability to specify which Windows
components you want to install during interactive Setup, and when you go
into Add/Remove Windows Components in the Control Panel, you still don't
have the full list of applications and applets you can add and remove.
Thankfully, this is easy to fix.

To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows
XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct
drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under
Windows XP Professional Edition RC1, this file will resemble the following by
default:

[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$"

DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"

The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in
Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search
and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then,
save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the
installed applications to your heart's content.

Remove Windows Messenger

I don't recommend this but In Windows XP, Windows Messenger will be the
hub of your connection to the .NET world, and now that this feature is part of
Windows, I think we're going to see a lot of .NET Passport-enabled Web sites
appearing as well. But if you can't stand the little app, there are a couple of
ways to get rid of it, and ensure that it doesn't pop up every time you boot
into XP. The best way simply utilizes the previous tip:

If you'd like Windows Messenger to show up in the list of programs you can
add and remove from Windows, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting
the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open sysoc.inf (see
the previous tip for more information about this file). You'll see a line that
reads:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

Change this to the following and Windows Messenger will appear in Add or
Remove Programs, then Add/Remove Windows Components, then , and you
can remove it for good:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,7

Protect your Identity

Like many other audio players, Windows Media Player rushes out to the
Internet to find information for you when you play a CD. Some of this
information, such as song titles and album art, is useful, but Media Player
also identifies your copy of Media Player to the site where it's getting data.
Why? According to the help file, "The server uses this unique identifier to
monitor your connection. By monitoring your connection, the server can
make adjustments to increase the playback quality and to alert you about
events that occur when receiving streams over the Internet."

If you're disturbed by this exchange of information, here's how to stop it. In

Windows Media Player, click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab. Notice
the option that says "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?"
Turn it off.

Multiuser Features and Advanced Settings

Like Windows 2000, but unlike Windows 95, 98, and Me, the ability to log in
multiple users simultaneously plays a big role in Windows XP. There is a
default Administrator account set up when Windows XP is first installed, but
you can create as many accounts as you need later, depending on how many
people will be using the machine. Each user, once he or she has an account,
can customize XP to his or her liking. Individual users get their own
subfolders in the Documents And Settings folder; this folder serves as a
centralized location for most personalized information, such as the Start
Menu, Favorites, and Documents settings.

Missing Administrator account

Once you have created regular user accounts, the default Administrator
account vanishes from the Welcome screen, which you see when the
computer starts up. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to
retrieve the standard logon dialog. You can log on as Administrator from
here. To switch among accounts, just click the Log Off button on the Start
menu. You'll then see the Log Off Windows dialog box. Click the Switch User
button, and you'll be taken to the Welcome screen where you can select and
log on to other accounts.

Show yourself

Only the Administrator can set up new user accounts (go to Control Panel >
User Accounts > Create A New Account). You can select a picture to identify
the account. When you're logged on to the system under your username, this
picture, along with your username, peeks out at you from the top of the
Start menu. There are a slew of 48x48-pixel bitmap images to choose from
within XP. They're housed in D:\Documents And Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures. But
why limit yourself? You can also copy any graphic you want into this folder or
browse for another from your hard drive. Usable file types are BMP, GIF,
JPEG, or PNG. However, always use a square picture, to limit the white space
on the side. Your image can be any size but will be displayed as 48x48-pixel
image, so a close-up works best.
Hide yourself

Once you've created a user account, password-protect it to keep other users

from viewing your files, Favorites, and cookies. Why? You may not want your
child to see the note that you're sending to his or her teacher, or you may be
planning someone's surprise party. (Note: Anyone with an Administrator
account can still see them.)

Worried about remembering your password?

Create a hint to help you when you initially create it by following the prompts
during setup. XP stores the password hints in the Registry at
Hkey_local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Hints.

What if the hint doesn't help?

Any user or Administrator can create a password reset disk, which you can
use to log on and create a new password. Go to Control Panel > User
Accounts and select "Prevent a forgotten password" in the Related Tasks box
on the left. Follow the wizard's instructions. After creating the disk, find a
safe place for it. Don't forget the password or where you put the disk.
Someone else could use it to change your password without you knowing it.

Display the Quick Launch Bar

If you have opened more than one program, you might like to display and
use the Quick Launch bar. The Quick Launch bar makes it easy to access
frequently used programs like Windows Media Player and your e-mail, and to
open an Internet Explorer window. Windows XP loads several programs in
the Quick Launch, including Show Desktop. One click on Show Desktop
minimizes all the programs on your desktop. Another click restores them just
as you'd left them.

To display Quick Launch on the taskbar

1. If the Quick Launch bar is not displayed, right-click an empty area on the
taskbar and click Properties.
2. On the Taskbar tab, under Taskbar appearance, select the Show Quick
Launch check box and click OK.
After Quick Launch is displayed, click Show Desktop to minimize all open
programs.

Microsoft Product Activation

Microsoft Product Activation which will only allow you to install Windows XP
on one system at a time. Under this new policy, you must use the CD Key
code that comes with the software to install the operating system. You'll then
have 30 days in which to contact Microsoft, either via the Internet or by
telephone, and activate the software.

When you do, you won't have to give Microsoft any personal information, just
your CD Key code. Microsoft will assign you an activation code, which you'll
then enter in the appropriate text box in the Microsoft Product Activation
wizard. If you don't activate the software within the 30-day period, you won't
be able to boot Windows XP past a dialog box that prompts you to enter
activation code.

When you enter the activation code, it supposedly analyzes your system's
specific hardware configuration, generates some hardware ID code based on
this information, and then associates the activation code with this hardware
ID code. If for some reason you have to reinstall Windows XP on the same
system, you'll be able to use the same activation code.

If you purchase an additional computers and you want to install Windows XP

on your new system instead, you'll need to reactivate the software. While
Microsoft says it's possible to install it on another machine, it's unclear how
exactly this will work under its license agreement. Consumers should refer to
the terms of their license agreement to determine whether or not it is legal
to transfer a license to another computer. But in those cases where it is
allowed, the product must first be removed from the previous computer.
Users may be required to complete the activation on the new computer by
placing a call to the Microsoft Activation Center. The details are still a bit
hazy, but you can be sure that Microsoft will figure them out before the
release.

If you only have one PC and rarely reinstall the operating system, this really
won't be a problem. but, if you have multiple PCs in your home, you won't be
able to buy one copy of Windows XP and install it on all the PCs in your
home. Instead, you'll need to buy one copy for each system.

This may sound harsh, it's actually been a part of the Microsoft End-User
License Agreement for years. The only difference is that now Microsoft has
developed a physical way to enforce what the paper license has said all
along.

No Java in Windows XP

Microsoft has announced it will not include support for the Java programming
language in the upcoming Windows XP. After settling a lawsuit with Java
creator Sun Microsystems in January, the software giant decided the easiest
 way to prevent further litigation was to simply remove the code entirely.

The settlement stipulated that Microsoft would no longer license Java from
Sun, and refrain from stating that Windows is "Java Compatible." Outdated
Java support will remain available as an added download from Windows
Update if required. Java's removal from the software giant's new operating
system comes on the heels of announcements surrounding .NET, Microsoft
Web services based on XML.

These services are accessed over the Internet from a variety of devices.
Coincidentally, Sun has been developing its own Java-based version of .NET,
dubbed Jini. However, Microsoft vehemently denies claims that it intends to
phase out support for Java as an attack on Sun.

Prepare your Hardware

Windows XP is a cat's cradle of all the Windows versions

that precede it. Some of its features and functions mimic
Windows 95/98 and Millennium Edition; some act like
Windows 2000; others are all new. As a rule, however,
this OS does everything on a big scale. It demands higher
system requirements than we've seen before for a
consumer or business desktop OS. Any newer PC--one
less than two years old--should certainly meet or exceed
the minimums. In fact, if you're currently running
Windows Me, you can probably squeak by with a slower-
than-recommended CPU, but Windows XP setup will not
proceed without the required minimum processor,
memory, disk space, or video capability (640x480 is not
an option). Not sure if you have what it takes? Read on.

Meet XP's minimum requirements

Windows XP:
233MHz CPU (300MHz or higher recommended)
64MB of RAM
1.5GB of free disk space
Super-VGA (800x600 resolution) video adapter and
monitor
CD-ROM or DVD drive
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
 recommendations will only improve your system's
performance. Your CPU's speed and the amount of RAM
you have is usually shown on the screen when you turn
on your PC. Based on our experience, your disk drive
should support Ultra-ATA66 or ATA100 IDE and have a
fast average seek time of 10 milliseconds or less with
256-512KB of on-drive cache buffering.

Your video card should be a PCI version with 4MB or

more of video RAM; AGP is even better. Your CD-ROM
drive should be a late-model ATAPI device providing 8X,
12X or 16X performance. Your sound card should also be
a late-model, name-brand PCI version.

The specifications for your CD-ROM or hard drive are

usually printed on the label on the drive itself. The drives
included with most systems built since 1999 should meet
these specs just fine. You can look up the specs for your
devices by their model numbers on the equipment
manufacturer's Web site. Don't know the make or model
of the hard drive, CD-ROM drive, or video or sound card
you have? You can look these up through Start >
Settings > Control Panel > System; select the Device
Manager tab, then double-click the devices in the list.

Older I/O cards that use the ISA I/O slots (usually the
longer black connectors on your system board) will
perform slower than cards that use PCI (typically white
connectors) or AGP (typically green connectors) I/O slots
on your system board, and could make it harder for Plug
and Play and Windows to configure your system. System
boards with built-in video and sound features already use
the PCI bus, so they're as fast as they are going to get.

Like Windows Millennium Edition, NT, and 2000, XP does

not load DOS or real-mode drivers and programs before
Windows start-up. If XP recognizes your hardware, it will
try to use its own new drivers, but if you have a very old
(say pre-1995 or 1996) CD-ROM drive or an ISA-bus
sound card that required drivers to be loaded in your
C:\config.sys and C:\autoexec.bat files, XP may not
support those devices. For performance reasons, you
probably want newer hardware anyway.

Hint: We've found that, in many cases, if your hardware

or peripherals lack XP driver support, you can download
and install Windows 2000 drivers for the devices, and
 they will work just fine, although you may get a pop-up
message from XP telling you that the drivers you are
installing are unsigned (not registered with Microsoft) and
therefore not proven to work. Fortunately, you can use
XP's System Restore feature to keep track of things
before and after you try them and back out if you need
to.

Additional hardware requirements

Now that you have the baseline requirements, here are a

few items you'll need to fully take advantage of Windows
XP.

Windows XP:
For using the Internet in
general and Microsoft's
.Net Internet-based
services and features
(including Passport
credentials, e-mail,
Microsoft Messenger, voice
and videoconferencing,
Remote Assistance,
Remote Desktop, and
application sharing):
For voice and
videoconferencing over the
Internet, both parties also
need:
For Remote Assistance:
For sound:
For DVD video playback:
For Windows Movie Maker:
28.8Kbps modem for
dial-up or cable, DSL,
or wireless Internet
connection through an
ISP; Microsoft Passport
account
Videoconferencing
camera; microphone
and sound card with
speakers or headset
Windows XP on the
helper's PC and a
connection between
the two (local network
or Internet)
Sound card and
speakers or
headphones
DVD drive and DVD
decoder card or DVD
decoder software; 8MB
of video RAM
Video-capture feature
requires appropriate
 digital or analog video-
capture device and
400MHz or higher
processor for digital
video camera capture

Check with hardware companies

Windows XP should recognize and run on any hardware

that supports Windows 98 or Me (again, excepting any
device that requires a DOS-level driver). This includes
your PC's motherboard, BIOS, and chipsets. Since XP is
based on Windows 2000, most, if not all, Windows 2000
hardware drivers should work with XP.

If in doubt, or if a Windows 2000 driver doesn't work,

check your system's and device manufacturers' Web sites
or Microsoft's list for information about compatibility.
Microsoft's XP Web pages also list dozens of XP-ready
PCs, and the company will soon publish a downloadable
copy of Upgrade Advisor, a tool that tests system and
software compatibility. The Windows XP CD also contains
several vendor-specific text and HTML files in the
i386compdata folder that indicate precautions and
exceptions for many vendors' devices that may or may
not work under XP. Be prepared for some
disappointment: it's up to manufacturers to decide
whether they can or want to create new drivers for their
older products. Some manufacturers did not update their
drivers for older (1994-1999) hardware to work with Me
or 2000; they may not create new drivers for XP, either.
This could apply to products just a year or two old,
leaving your relatively new toys to become doorstops or
flea-market stock.

Windows XP Authentication

It wouldn't be fair to start off without placing a link to Microsoft's article

about Windows XP activation. In a nutshell, XP Activation is an anti-piracy
technology that links your computer to the CD that installed XP. This way, if
someone tries to install XP from the same CD, when XP installation goes out
to the internet to activate XP, it will see that the CD that XP is being installed
from already has a PC linked with it, and that the PC that it's currently being
installed on isn't that same PC that's in the Microsoft database. If this
happens, you can use XP for a certain period of time, but after that time (I
think it was changed to 30 days), you cannot boot back into XP on that
second PC without calling Microsoft and getting a 50-digit activation code.

At first I thought it was a little extreme, and I still think it is. Technically,
according to the EULA, you can only install Windows on one PC.

You can find the End User License Agreement (EULA) in

c:\windows\system32\eula.txt if you need to refer back to it after installation

Windows XP and DVD

Nowadays, PCs are sold with either a DVD-ROM drive, or a CD-R drive. There
are drives that do both, there are even drives that burn both. Either way,
those of you with DVD-ROM drives will want to know if you can play DVD
movies on your XP machine. XP out of the box won't play DVD Video. DVD's
video is stored in a format called "MPEG 2", and you need an MPEG decoder
to get the video off the DVD into a format that the computer can show you.

Without yet installing any third-party applications, I popped in my DVD of

Fantasia 2000. XP asked me which application I wanted to open the disc with
and I selected "Windows Media Player" since it was the only option - the
other one being "Do Nothing". When WMP started I got a message box
saying "WMP cannot play DVDs because there is no DVD decoder".

As a registered user of PowerDVD 3.0, I installed it on my XP machine. After

reboot, I got an error about a missing ASPI file, but ignored it. I rebooted
again and the message didn't come up a second time. Update Oct. 16, 2001:
After installing PowerDVD 3 under the retail version of Windows XP Pro, this
message no longer shows up. The error happened under Win XP Home
Edition RC2. I started Power DVD 3.0 and without any hassle, Fantasia 2000
was playing on my PC.

I don't know the exact reason why Microsoft chose not to include DVD
decoding in their XP operating system, especially since Apple includes DVD
decoding in MacOS 9 and the soon to be released MacOS 10.1.

Update: Microsoft announced MP3 and DVD support via third-party add-on
packs, available on Oct. 25, 2001.

Windows XP support OpenGL

Although the operating system does not have built-in support for the 3D
graphics standard, according to Microsoft. However, XP does support the
graphics standard OpenGL by way of your video card drivers. If you're
getting graphics errors after you upgrade to Windows XP, check your video
settings (click Control Panel > Display > Properties > Settings > Advanced >
Adapter) for OpenGL controls. If you don't see any, check with your video
card's maker to get updated video drivers for Windows XP.

XP expires

To reduce instances of "casual copying" (a nice name for software piracy),

Microsoft has implemented a two-stage antipiracy scheme in its upcoming
OS. The first stage is the installation and registration counter: this lets you
install Windows XP only five times on the same system. (Note that you'll be
able to install the final version of XP on only one machine, as opposed to the
current beta, which can be installed on five machines for testing purposes.)
The second stage creates a profile of the system to prevent you from
reinstalling or registering the OS on different PCs.

To make this scheme work, you must activate your copy of Windows--over
the Internet or by calling for an activation code--within 30 days of
installation. Activation differs from a classic registration process in that no
personal information is requested by or sent to Microsoft, just a record that a
specific copy of Windows XP is installed on your specific PC. If you fail to
activate your copy of the OS within 30 days, your login will fail. (Since XP is
based on Windows NT-like privilege levels, you can't use your computer until
you log on.)

Microsoft says the scheme should not prevent you from reinstalling your copy
of XP on your PC as many times as you need to, as long as it's the same PC
or close to it, allowing for some hardware changes. It's the "some" that has
most folks worried. In theory, you might have to reactivate your OS if you
upgrade significantly or swap out a lot of components because XP might
think it's running on a new PC. So far, Microsoft isn't saying what system
information the OS uses to determine the "same PC or close to it" status.
That means we don't know to what degree you can upgrade your hardware
before you cross the invisible line. We also don't know how much, if any,
personally identifiable data Microsoft is gathering from your PC.

Microsoft says you can, of course, change at least one and possibly several
hardware components--RAM, video or sound cards, CPUs, motherboards, and
so on--without having to reactivate your OS. But if you try to reinstall your
copy of Windows XP on what Microsoft calls a "different or significantly
upgraded or changed PC" (again, the company declined to specify how
different), the activation will most likely be rejected, requiring you to call
Microsoft to explain and get a new (free) activation code.

Microsoft plans to set up a new call center for U.S.-based customers to

expedite activation issues. Many non-U.S. customers will likely have to go
through the existing, shared Microsoft technical support lines they currently
use. Microsoft says it expects only 2 percent of the total installed base of
Windows XP to have to reactivate the OS. Whether the anti-piracy initiative
will present problems for consumers or result in fewer upgrades to XP
remains to be seen. Remember, the final release is at least a few months off.

Everything You Ever Needed to know about Microsoft Passport

Whether you know it or not, if you've ever signed up for a Hotmail account,
you have a Passport account, too. And that's a good thing, because if you
want to access Microsoft's Web support site these days, you must enter a
Passport ID and a password. So what gives? What is this thing called
Passport?

Microsoft Passport is an online identification system that assigns a unique ID

to individual Web surfers. Once you sign up for Passport, Microsoft provides
access to a variety of its own services, including the new Windows Messenger
chat program in Windows XP. And, thanks to a lot of crafty business
development work from Microsoft, you can also use Passport to sign in to
dozens of non-Microsoft sites, including Starbucks.com and Costco Online.

Microsoft intends to make Passport the undisputed ID system for the

Internet, and its ambitious plan has consumer watchdogs, privacy advocates,
and Microsoft's competitors up in arms. We'll tell you what all the
controversy is about and whether you really need a Passport.

What is Passport?
Passport is Microsoft's online authentication service. Once you have a
Passport account, you can use your e-mail address and password to log in to
and shop a variety of Web sites and services. Many in-house Microsoft sites
(such as tech support) and services (such as Windows Messenger in Windows
XP) require a Passport account or will soon, along with a growing number of
non-Microsoft sites, including OfficeMax.com and Victoria's Secret.

Passport is a part of Microsoft's .Net initiative, an ambitious plan to deliver

software and services to businesses and consumers via the Web. Ultimately,
Microsoft wants to turn Passport into the premiere authentication system for
the Internet, but the company expects plenty of competition in the near
future.

Passport comes in two flavors: sign-in and wallet. You need a sign-in account
to use Microsoft's consumer services, including free e-mailer Hotmail, MSN
Internet Access, and Windows Messenger. If you have a Hotmail or MSN
account, you already have Passport: simply use your Hotmail or MSN address
and password at sites that require a Passport sign-in.
The Passport wallet service lets you buy services and products online without
having to reenter billing and payment information at every participating site;
it's similar to Amazon.com's one-click shopping. Currently, however, only a
limited number of non-Microsoft Web sites use the Passport sign-in and
wallet. To date, Microsoft hasn't announced any plans to increase the number
of sites.

How do I get Passport, and what am I in for?

When you create a Passport account, you're allowing Microsoft to maintain
your online identity. Although that sounds vaguely Orwellian, it's really not as
intrusive as you might think--especially if you skip the wallet option. To sign
on at the official Passport site, for example, simply enter an e-mail address
and a password. You don't have to provide your name, address, or any other
personal information.

If you want both a Passport and an e-mail account, sign up for Hotmail,
Microsoft's free e-mail service. You'll need to surrender a few extra personal
details, here, including a sign-in name, password, zip code, e-mail address,
country of residence, region or city, and a secret question and answer (in
case you forget your password and need to recover it). Once your Hotmail
account is active, your e-mail address and password will get you into
Passport-enabled sites.

A Passport wallet account requires the most information, including

purchasing information (for example, credit card numbers and billing
addresses). Often referred to as e-wallets, online ID services such as the
Passport wallet offer online shoppers many conveniences. For instance, you
won't have to reenter billing and payment information every time you make
a purchase online. Microsoft isn't the only player in the fledgling online ID
market. Both VeriSign and Liberty Alliance, the latter is an industry
consortium led by Sun Microsystems, are developing competing
authentication systems.

Can I use Passport on my site?

As you may have heard, Microsoft has also made Passport available to Web
developers, so if any Webmaster wants his or her site to have a built-in ID
system, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. To put Passport on your site,
you must install Passport Manager software on your Web server. For more
information on how to Passport-enable your site, check out this Business
Services page. One of the benefits of online authentication systems such as
Passport is that they save Net businesses from the expense and hassle of
creating their own ID schemes. Currently, Microsoft is waiving licensing fees
for businesses, though it plans to charge a "nominal" annual fee in the
future.

What is .Net, and how is Passport related to it?

Microsoft .Net is Microsoft's platform for delivering Web services to a variety
of Internet-connected devices (such as handhelds and phones), regardless of
programming language or operating system, including Mac, Linux, and
Windows. In theory, .Net will allow different applications on different
platforms to communicate and share data over the Internet. It's the
foundation of Microsoft's software-as-services business model. (The
Redmond company ultimately plans to charge subscription fees for the use of
its applications.) Windows XP features the first batch of .Net services,
including Windows Messenger, Web Publishing Wizard, and the Online Print
Ordering Wizard (for purchasing paper prints of digital photos). Passport is
the authentication system for .Net, so you'll need a Passport account to use
future and current .Net services.

Will Passport help Microsoft monopolize the Internet?

Microsoft already dominates the PC software market, from operating systems
to browsers to office suites. But it's too early to say who will control the
online authentication market. Passport isn't the only player in the online ID
game. Liberty Alliance, a consortium led by Sun Microsystems, General
Motors, Fidelity Investments, and other industry titans, plans to launch a
competing service. However, it's unclear when this service will be ready or
even what its name will be. So far, Passport is the best-developed online
authentication scheme. In any event, once the competing Net ID systems are
available, Microsoft claims that Passport will be interoperable with them,
similar to the way banks and their respective ATMs share financial
information.

What's all the hoopla about Passport and security?

In the wake of two recent, well-publicized security breaches involving
Hotmail and Microsoft's Internet Information Server, some analysts and
privacy advocates question Microsoft's ability to ensure customer security.
Microsoft is also a popular target among unscrupulous hackers, who are
constantly trying to find holes in various Microsoft programs.

To be fair, Microsoft does as much as any other company to protect your

data from hackers and thieves. According to the company, your information
is stored on secure servers in a controlled environment, safe from hackers
and physical intruders. When you log in to or buy something from a
Passport-enabled site, the server sends your billing and contact information
in encrypted form (using the Triple DES encryption). Still, potential Passport
customers should consider these security issues before signing up--or
deciding not to.

Will anyone sell my Passport information?

Security aside, privacy groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information
Center are apprehensive about Microsoft's and other Passport participants'
plans for your data. For example, once you start using your Passport
account, will vendors track your Net activities and purchases? Will they sell
your personal data to marketers? Microsoft says they won't. Passport's
privacy policy lets you, the consumer, choose (during account setup)
whether to grant Microsoft the right to share your data with third parties.
And Passport's architecture doesn't allow Microsoft to see what you're buying
online, according to Directions on Microsoft analyst Matt Rosoff. Microsoft
possesses only the information you surrendered at sign-up (e-mail address,
password, and so on). While Microsoft can share this information with its
Passport partners--such as when you sign on to a participating site--it can't
share it with other companies without your consent.

But what about Passport partner sites? Unfortunately, things get a little
murky here. While Microsoft insists that its partners must have privacy
policies, it does not dictate the terms of these policies. Microsoft "strongly
encourages" Passport users to read its partners' privacy policies before they
log in to or share information with a partner site.

What's a Kids Passport?

Microsoft offers a Passport service for pups, but it's designed to keep your
children safe while they surf (rather than to get them shopping). Many Web
sites customarily collect personal information from visitors, regardless of age.
But according to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
(COPPA), commercial sites must obtain parental consent before collecting,
using, or disclosing personal information on anyone under 13. Microsoft's
Kids Passport service is designed to help enforce that rule.

The Kids Passport lets parents control what information their children share
with Passport sites. When your child tries to sign on to or share information
with a Passport site, he or she is denied access until approval is received
from a parent. If you're in the same room as your child, you can walk over to
the PC and enter your Passport ID and password to allow her access to, say,
MSN.com. If you're at work, your child can e-mail you a request for
permission to enter the site. Kids Passport is free, but you will need to
provide a credit card number to set up an account. (Microsoft says it uses
this information to verify your identity.)

Passport options

Can I use Passport if I don't have Windows?

Despite the Microsoft label, Passport isn't just for Windows. Whether you
have a Mac, a Linux machine, or a Unix box, you can sign up for Passport as
long as you have a Web browser.

Can I pass on Passport and still buy stuff on the Web?

If you'd rather not shop the Microsoft way, don't panic. You don't need
Passport to shop online--well, not yet, anyway. Major retail Web sites such as
Amazon.com and Kmart's BlueLight.com have their own proprietary
authentication systems. For instance, once you've made a purchase at
Amazon, the site stores your name, credit card number, and mailing address
in its own database. As frequent Amazon shoppers know, the next time you
buy the latest Harry Potter epic, your billing and payment information will
appear automatically in the appropriate fields (after you enter your
password, of course). And, like Amazon, Passport offers single-click
shopping.

That said, however, you will need Passport to shop at many participating
sites, such as Starbucks.com. Some vendors, however, including Costco
Online, accept Passport but also allow you to register directly with the site
without going through Passport.

Can I use Windows XP without Passport?

We've all heard rumors that Microsoft forces XP users to sign up for Passport.
Well, we're happy to report that it's not true. Neither XP's product activation
nor its product registration will automatically register you for the Passport
service.

That doesn't mean XP is Passport-free. Some elements of the OS do require

a Passport account, including Windows Messenger, the built-in upgrade to
Microsoft's MSN Messenger chat program. (Of course, MSN Messenger also
requires Passport, so it's not a major change.)

Do I really need Passport?

If you regularly access Microsoft content sites, such as MSN or bCentral, or if
you want to use Hotmail, Windows Messenger, or even MSN Messenger, you
will need a Passport account. You'll also need one if you use Microsoft
software and want access to online technical support. But plenty of sites on
the Web are still Passport-free.

The Windows XP File Systems

When installing Windows XP from scratch, it prompts you to select from two
different file systems: FAT32 and NTFS. As expected, it gives no real reason
why you should select one or the other, and defaults to NTFS.

FAT32
If you're installing on a dual-boot system where you would have a FAT32
partition (default type for Windows 98 and SE for partitions over 2GB), you
may run into problems depending on your situation. The FAT32 file system
was created when the size of hard drives exceeded 2GB. The previous file
system for DOS and Windows 95 was FAT16, which offered at most 2GB of
allocation on your hard drive. This of course is useless for today's hard drives
when you can't find anything under 10GB anymore. Where FAT16 allowed a
2GB maximum, FAT32 only allows a 32GB maximum. If your hard drive is
over 32GB, you'll have to split it into separate partitions, or use NTFS.

NTFS
NTFS was introduced with Windows NT. Among the reasons why it was
introduced, it allowed partitions greater than what's even offered today, and
boasts better performance and security. Focusing on security, it's possible
that while an NTFS hard drive is secure when running Windows XP, there's no
easy way to get back into the hard drive if you boot from an emergency
floppy that only sees a FAT16 or FAT32 partition, such as what you'd get
from a 98 or ME emergency floppy. The security in NTFS actually prevents
you from circumventing its own file system from a boot floppy. This means
that if for some reason your hard drive becomes unusable and you need to
move data off of it, the task won't be as easy as it was when using Windows
95, 98, and ME. The solution that the user has in this situation is to boot
from the Windows XP CD and run a repair on the hard drive. This should fix
any problems the user had with the system and bring it back to a bootable
state. The other issue is in dual-boot situations. Running under NTFS, you
can see FAT16 and FAT32 partitions, but if you boot back into Windows ME,
you can't see the NTFS partition. This is a problem if you downloaded
something to your XP partition and you want to move it to your ME partition
while running under ME. Also, if you upgraded ME to XP and you convert your
file system from FAT32 to NTFS, you cannot go back to Windows ME since ME
can't run under NTFS. However, only NTFS allows you to set permissions on
individual folders so that you can control who sees what.

Converting from FAT32 to NTFS at a later time

If you want, under Windows XP you can convert your FAT32 partition to NTFS
using the following command from your Command Prompt:

convert c: /fs:ntfs

Conclusion
With all this information, find what suits your needs and go with it. If you're
the kind of person that backs up regularly, go with NTFS. Same if you want
to use a partition over 32GB without partitioning. If you want to play it safe,
or if you want the ability to transfer files from one partition to another under
a dual-boot situation, stick with FAT32. If you want to read more about these
file systems, Microsoft has an excellent article on their web site.

Add sound to almost every event in Windows

XP comes with a new set of sounds that will surely add pizzazz to the way
you work in Windows. But there's one problem -- you need to actually turn
on the Windows default sound scheme before you'll be able to hear them.

To turn on the Windows XP default sound scheme, follow these directions:

Single-click the Start menu.

Single-click the Control Panel.
Single-click the Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices icon.
Single-click the Sounds and Audio Devices icon or the text labeled "Change
the sound scheme."
Make sure you're on the Sound tab and locate the pull-down menu under
Sound scheme.
Select the Windows Default option and press Apply. Windows will ask you if
you want to save the previous sound scheme. Since there wasn't a sound
scheme already loaded, just choose No.

If you look under the text labeled "Program events," you'll be able to sample
your new sounds or customize them with your own. Read Customize Events
Sounds if you'd like to learn how to do this yourself.

Classic Look Make XP look just like older versions of Windows

If you're like me, you probably have grown way too close to the familiar
Windows interface. That's OK. I don't adjust well to change either.

After installing XP you may notice the revamped interface looks nothing like
the old one. I was completely thrown back when I tried using it for the first
time, but I suspect that over time the new interface will begin to grow on you
as it has with me.

Therefore, to ease your transition to the new OS, make a simple adjustment
to XP to give it that classic look.

Here's how to do it:

Right-click your Desktop and select Properties.

On the Desktop Display properties, click the Appearance tab.
Under the Windows and buttons pull-down menu, select Windows Classic.
Click Apply to see your new look.
Click OK to close the Desktop Display properties.

Volume Icon in Taskbar

It's really handy to have access to the Volume Control panel in the event you
quickly need to move the volume slider up or down. In its default state, XP
ships with almost a clean slate for both the desktop and taskbar. So, if you'd
like to place the volume control icon in the taskbar, you're going to need to
make a little adjustment.

To place the volume control icon in the taskbar, follow these steps:
Single-click the Start menu.
Single-click Control Panel.
Single-click Sound, Speech, and Audio Devices.
Single-click Sounds and Audio Devices to launch the Sound and Audio
Devices properties.
On the Volume tab, locate the text labeled "Device Volume" and place a
check mark next to the text labeled "Place volume icon in the taskbar."
Single-click Apply.

You should now have the volume icon in the taskbar. Now all you need to do
is double-click this icon to bring up your Volume Control panel.

Make XP display a custom screen saver using your very own pictures

It used to be darn near impossible to create a personal screen saver using

your own photo collection. To do this, you had to track down a third-party
application and sloppily piece together your pictures to create a screen saver.

Well, the engineers at Microsoft must have realized they hated third-party
applications and decided enough was enough. XP can take any pictures
stored in your "My Pictures" folder and display them in random order as a
screen saver.

To make a personal screen saver in XP, follow these directions:

Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and choose Properties.

Click the Screen Saver tab inside the Display Properties dialog box.
In the Screen Saver pull-down menu, choose "My Pictures Slideshow."
Underneath the Screen Saver pull-down menu, adjust the time of inactivity
before Windows will initiate your screen saver.
Click Settings to make additional adjustments. You'll be able to adjust
transition effects between pictures, how frequently they change, what size
the pictures should be, and more.
Click OK when you're done tweaking the settings adjustments.
Press the Preview button to see what your screen saver looks like.
If everything is to your liking, click Apply.

Custom User Icons

If you plan on getting a copy of XP, one of the first things you're going to do
is set up a user account. Why not give your user account its very own
picture? It's OK if you don't want to use a picture of your own because
Windows comes with at least 20 beautiful pictures to choose from.

Here's how you can customize your user account icon.

Single-click the start menu and choose Control Panel.

Single-click the User Accounts icon.
Find the user account you'd like to change the icon for and click on it.
Click the text that says "Change My Picture."
You'll have the option to either pick one of the predefined icons or choose
your own.
If you like one of the predefined icons, just highlight the one you like and
click the button labeled "Change Picture."
If you'd like to use your own picture, just click the magnifying glass or the
text labeled "Browse for more pictures." This will launch a dialog box
directing you to navigate to where your new picture is stored. After you find
it, just click Open to save your new changes.

Password Recovery Disk

Take preventive measures against losing user-level passwords.

It doesn't matter if you never again remember a Windows user password.

Thanks to XP's Forgotten Password Wizard, your conscience will be free and
clear -- should your mind happen to accidentally misplace your user
password.

I highly suggest you create a password recovery disk the minute you create
your user account. Why? In order to create a password recovery disk you're
going to need your password. Write it down the minute you create your user
account and then proceed to creating your very own password recovery disk.

Here's how to launch the Forgotten Password Wizard:

Single-click Start menu, Control Panel, and User Accounts.

Click your user account name.
Under Related Tasks on the left, click "Prevent forgotten password" to launch
the wizard.

Now that you've launched the wizard, let it walk you through creating the
recovery disk. Make sure the disk you use is formatted and in the drive. After
it's finished creating the disk, label it and stash it away for an emergency.

If you happen to forget your password, all you need to do is click your user
icon at the logon screen. Even though you don't have your password, go
ahead and click the green arrow just like you would to finish logging on to
your computer. This will launch a little yellow dialog box directing you to use
your password recovery disk.

Windows XP and Symmetric Multiprocessing

Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) is a technology that allows a computer to

use more than one processor. The most common configuration of an SMP
computer is one that uses two processors. The two processors are used to
complete your computing tasks faster than a single processor. (Two
processors aren't necessarily twice as fast as a single processor, though.)

In order for a computer to take advantage of a multiprocessor setup, the

software must be written for use with an SMP system. If a program isn't
written for SMP, it won't take advantage of SMP. Not every program is
written for SMP; SMP applications, such as image-editing programs, video-
editing suites, and databases, tend to be processor intensive.

SMP in Windows XP

Operating systems also need to be written for SMP in order to use multiple
processors. In the Windows XP family, only XP Professional supports SMP; XP
Home does not. If you're a consumer with a dual-processor PC at home, you
have to buy XP Professional. Windows XP Advanced Server also supports
SMP.

In Microsoft's grand scheme, XP Professional is meant to replace Windows

2000, which supports SMP. In fact, XP Professional uses the same kernel as
Windows 2000. XP Home is designed to replace Windows Me as the
consumer OS, and Windows Me does not support SMP.

The difference between XP Professional and XP Home is more than just $100
and SMP support. XP Professional has plenty of other features not found in
XP Home; some you'll use, others you won't care about. Get more
information on the differences by reading this article.

XP Game Compatibility

You want to know if all your favorite games are still going to run under
Windows XP. Remember what happened when we tried to run games on our
Windows 2000 machines? Sometimes we were a little disappointed. Windows
2000 was made more for corporate applications than "Quake," but true
techno-geeks know they don't have to sacrifice death matches for a robust
business environment -- at least not anymore.
Windows XP has shown an impressive track record of game compatibility. We
ran a number of standard games, such as "Tiger Woods Golf," "NHL 2001,"
"Max Payne," and "Unreal" on our Windows XP Professional machine. Some
of these games were specifically slated for Windows 95 and 98, and were
shown not to work in Windows 2000. The installation in XP was as smooth as
silk. The games ran quickly and beautifully -- not a problem in sight (except
for my bad chip shot -- Tiger was hanging his head in shame).

Some less-sophisticated programs may not run as smoothly, and we found

that some older applications, such as the Atari 2600 Classic Game Collection,
did not appreciate the Windows XP environment. In this case you can use the
Application Compatibility Wizard, found in the accessories menu. XP includes
integrated compatibility layers to mimic older versions of Windows, so if your
program does not work in Windows XP, the compatibility wizard will walk you
through the process of getting even your favorite DOS games up and
running. In this case, we ran the Atari Classic Game Collection in the
Windows 95 environment, at 256 colors and 640x480 screen resolution. Then
we set XP to always run our Atari application in this environment, and
everything was smooth sailing after that.

One final tip about compatibility: Don't run the compatibility wizard if your
program appears to be running well in the normal environment, as the
wizard will give you an error message. In general, XP has great program
compatibility, so you can upgrade your operating system without giving up
all your old favorites.

Windows XP Step-by-Step Installation Instructions

These steps are for a clean install of XP. Read this article for steps on
upgrading your current system to XP.

First, you're going to need to change your BIOS boot order to boot from CD-
ROM. Once you do this you'll then be able to boot your computer from the
Installation CD.

After changing the boot order in BIOS, save the changes, and then reboot
your computer. Make sure your Installation CD is in your CD-ROM. If it is
you'll be prompted to press your space bar to directly boot from CD-ROM
emulation. Press your space bar as soon as you see this message.

Wait a few minutes while the installation begins to copy the preliminary setup
files to your computer. After this completes you'll be ready to start directing
the install process.
You will be asked if you want to perform a new installation, repair an existing
installation, or quit. In this case, you will be performing a new install. Press
the correct key to perform a new installation.

Read the terms of the end user license agreement, and press F8 to agree.

The next phase of the installation is real similar to that of Windows 2000. So,
if you're familiar with the Windows 2000 installation process this should be a
cinch.
Basically, you need to decide which partition of your hard drive you will
install Windows XP on. You will have the opportunity to create and/or delete
partitions or just allocate the available disk space to one partition. However,
try to keep your partitions within reasonable size.

We recommend using multiple partitions of 4-8GB, preferably on more than

one hard drive. This will help you back up your data and optimize system
performance later on down the road. Once you have figured out which
partition XP will be installed on it's time to format it.

Choose to format the partition to either FAT32 or NTFS (recommended for

single OS install). You'll also see two additional choices to perform a quick
format of each option. Stick with doing a full format of either option instead.
After you've determined which option is right for you, press the correct key
to format the partition.

This would be a good time to take a break and come back in a few minutes.
The setup program will automatically start copying files after the partition is
formatted.
From this point on, you're going to see each and every file name that's being
copied over to your hard drive appear in the lower left corner. As the file
names go from A to Z, the installation completion percentage will increase.

Choose the region and language.

Type in your name and organization.

Enter your product license key.

Name the computer, and enter an Admin password. Don't forget to write
down your Administrator password. After the installation is complete it would
be extremely wise to create a password restore disk in the event you forget
your Administrator password someday.

Enter the correct date and time.

Choose your network settings. Leave on automatic if you use a dhcp server
to assign IP addresses. If you have static IP address for broadband access,
enter the settings that your ISP has provided you.

Choose workgroup or domain name.

Register this copy of Windows XP if you've installed all the current hardware
on your machine. Otherwise, wait until you've finished installing any
additional hardware so you don't have to activate your copy of XP again.

Add users that will sign on to this computer.

Log in, and update drivers.

Driver install

XP found drivers for all of the hardware in our test machines, with the
exception of a wireless network adapter that was added. Update all drivers
that had updates available for download.

It takes about 30 minutes to perform this installation. After that, you will be
a few personalized settings away from getting started on your XP-experience.
With a little use, the GUI even starts to grow on you.

Install Windows XP Professional - New Installation

There are three reasons why you may need to install a

new copy of Windows XP:

• Your current operating system doesn’t support an

upgrade to Windows XP Professional.

• Your current operating system supports an

upgrade to Windows XP Professional, but you don’t
want to keep your existing files and personalized
settings.

• Your computer does not have an operating system.

The setup process is similar for new installations and

upgrades with a few notable exceptions. For example,
during a new installation, you are able to configure
Special Options, convert your file system, and create a
new partition for the Windows XP installation.
 IMPORTANT
A new installation deletes all programs or system files
from a previous installation.

Special Options

Under Special Options, you have the choice to change

Language, Advanced, and Accessibility settings during the
setup process.

Note: If you are in a country that has recently adopted

the euro as its currency, you may have to modify the
currency settings to display monetary amounts correctly.

For more information, go to Help and Support Center and

type “euro” in the Search box.

Select If you want to...

Language • Choose the primary language and

regions for Windows XP, which affects
the default settings for date, time,
currency, numbers, character sets, and
keyboard layout.
• Choose additional language groups and
character sets to use with the programs
you are running on Windows XP.

Advanced • Change the default location of the

Options Setup files.
• Store system files in a folder other
than the default (Windows) folder
• Copy the installation files from the CD
to the hard disk.

Accessibility • Use Narrator or Magnifier during Setup.

IMPORTANT
Unless you're an advanced user, it's recommended that
you use the default settings.

Choosing a File System

 to choose which file system your computer should use.
Windows XP Professional supports:

• FAT32: An enhanced version of the file allocation

table (FAT) system that is standard on all Windows
operating systems starting with later (32-bit)
versions of Windows 95. The FAT32 system can be
used on large hard disks, from 512 megabytes
(MB) to 32 gigabytes (GB).
• NTFS: The NT file system (NTFS) is used with the
Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP
operating systems. NTFS provides enhanced
reliability, stability, and security, and supports
large hard disks of up to 2 terabytes (TB).

IMPORTANT
You can convert your file system any time, even after you
install Windows XP, without losing any of your data.

The conversion to NTFS is one–way only; if you convert

your FAT or FAT32 file system to NTFS you can’t convert
your hard disk back to FAT later.

If you’re not sure which file system to use, keep the one
your computer defaults to during Setup. If you want to
change your file system, here are a few
recommendations:

• Use FAT32 if your hard disk is smaller than 32 GB.

• Use FAT32 if you want to install more than one
operating system on your computer.
• Use NTFS if your hard drive is larger than 32 GB
and you are running only one operating system on
your computer.
• Use NTFS if you want enhanced file security.
• Use NTFS if you need better disk compression.

Disk Partitions

You can create partitions to organize information—for

example, to back up data—or to install more than one
operating system on your computer. A hard disk can
contain up to four partitions.

If you’re performing a new installation, the appropriate

disk partition is selected automatically during Windows XP
Setup unless you click Advanced Options and specify your
 own requirements

For more information about configuring, sizing,

reformatting, or converting disk partitions, see your
current online Help before you install or upgrade to
Windows XP Professional.

XP File Sharing and Permissions

File sharing and permissions in Windows XP seem complicated.

Microsoft provides a Knowledge Base article, but reading it is like walking

through molasses: It describes in infinite detail a file security system based
on a 1-to-5 scale. However, if you look for this 1-to-5 scale anywhere in your
security-settings interface, you may come away a little confused. These
numbers are nowhere to be found.

Microsoft's 1-to-5 scale means nothing to the individual user and relates in
no way to the actual practice of setting your security protocols. Enter the
Screen Savers. We are here to explain it to you.

The security settings the user actually sets relate to read access, write
access, shared folders, and password protection. These features are available
in both Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional, however the
features only work if the operating system is installed with NTFS. FAT32 does
not support the file permissions described here.

You can choose to install Windows XP Home using NTFS, but you should use
a FAT32 file system if you are dual booting and want to see the contents of
your Windows 95, 98, or Me partition from your XP partition. Your file system
is not set in stone when you install Windows XP. You always can change your
file system from FAT32 to NTFS without losing any of your data; however,
the transition is one-way only.

There is no going back to FAT32 from NTFS unless you grab a copy of
Partition Magic. Microsoft recommends you install Windows XP Home with
FAT32 if you intend to install more than one OS on your computer or if your
hard drive is less than 32GB.
If you have Windows XP Home or Professional running NTFS, you can hide
files and entire folders from prying eyes. When you set up multiple user
accounts on one machine, any user with administrator access can view the
documents in another's My Documents folders. To protect a folder, right-click
it, choose Properties, the Share tab, and select "make this folder private." No
one, not even a fellow system administrator, can access these most secret
files.

Every file or folder contained within whichever folder you choose to make
private will take on the settings of the parent folder. If the administrator
does not have a password to the account, Windows XP will prompt the user
to make a password or risk subjecting his or her private work to public
scrutiny. No Windows password means no protected files.

A person who logs in as a guest or as a user without administrator privileges

cannot see the contents of any other user's My Documents folder, even if the
folder has not been explicitly made private. The user with limited privileges
can, however, set a password and protect his or her documents from the
prying eyes of the administrators. Windows XP is all about privacy.

It is a nice feeling to keep your personal tax documents secure from the
passing lookey-loo. It's about time Microsoft made snooping your computer
more difficult than snooping your medicine cabinet.

Compatibility Mode Make older programs run in Windows XP

If you're having trouble running older programs originally developed for

previous versions of Windows, you're not out of luck. Luckily for consumers,
Microsoft built Compatibility Mode into XP. Compatibility Mode allows you to
run a program using the shell of the original program it was developed for.

Here's how to access a program's Compatibility Mode in XP:

Find the executable or program shortcut icon you'd like to run.

Right-click the icon and select Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab and place a checkmark next to the text labeled
"Run this program in compatibility mode."
Select the operating system that the program was originally intended to run
on.
You may need to fine-tune the three fields under "Display Settings" if an
older program requires 640x480 resolution or 256 colors.
Click Apply.

Try starting the program after making these changes. If it still gives you
trouble, try a different operating system. If the program was written for
Win95 and worked fine in Win98, there's nothing that says it still won't work
fine with Win98.

With Regards

Pranith Nambiar