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| 10 Of Our Favorite Windows XP Tips |
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PC Operating Instructions January 2002 • Vol.13 Issue 1 Page(s) 25-27 in print issue |
10 Of Our Favorite Windows XP Tips | ||
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The change from Windows 95/98 (Win9x) to Windows XP is similar to the changes users faced five years ago when moving from Win dows 3.1 to Windows 95. WinXP is based on the Windows NT/2000 kernel, which should prove much more stable than the old Win9x kernels. In addition, WinXP will use the same file system used by WinNT/2000, making WinXP the first true multiuser OS (operating system) for the home PC. From interface changes to making a multiuser environment work for you, we'll examine some ways to get the most from Microsoft's latest. Tip 1: Use NTFS (NT file system) To Enhance Security Windows' file system lays the foundation for storing and accessing data on a drive. WinXP supports NTFS in addition to the FAT (file allocation table) file systems supported in earlier versions of Win9x. NTFS includes file and directory access controls that can help make your system more secure. Using NTFS, you can limit access to your system to certain users.
Tip 2: Create A Limited Account There are two types of user accounts in WinXP, administrator accounts and limited accounts. After installing WinXP, you should immediately configure a limited account for daily use if you're using NTFS (see above). To create a limited account, log on to your administrator account (the default account WinXP creates when you install it), click Start, select Control Panel, and then click User Accounts. Click Create A New Account. Type a name for the new account and click Next. Select Limited and then click Create Account to create the new user account. If you have already created other accounts and want to change them to limited accounts, click Change An Account in the User Accounts window. Click the account you would like to change and click Change Account Type. Select Limited and click the Change Account Type button. Tip 3: Use Passwords Passwords are an important way to protect your information and your system. You should protect every account with a password, but if nothing else, we recommend that you protect your administrator accounts. To add a password, open User Accounts from the Control Panel and click Change An Account. Click the account you want to password protect and click Create A Password. Enter the same password twice (passwords are case sensitive). You can enter a password hint, but doing so makes your password less secure, as other users may use it to guess your password. Click the Create Password button. Windows may ask if you want to make your files and folders private. This prevents users with limited accounts from viewing your documents and files. Click the appropriate button. Tip 4: Run Programs With Administrator Permissions WinXP provides a couple of ways to quickly gain administrator permissions without closing applications and logging out of your current user account. The Fast User Switching feature lets you log on as a different user without logging out of limited accounts, and the Run As option lets you run a program using the permissions for a different user. To enable Fast User Switching, open User Accounts from the Control Panel and click Change The Way Users Log On Or Off. Be sure to select Use The Welcome Screen along with Use Fast User Switching.
To run an application with administrator permissions, right-click its icon and select Run As. Select The Following User, choose the name of the administrator account you wish to use, and enter the password (to use this option, the administrator account must have a password). Some items, such as Control Panel items, hide the Run As option unless you press SHIFT as you right-click them. Tip 5: Search Your System WinXP features a revamped Search tool. Click Start and select Search to open the search utility. You can search specifically for Pictures, Music, Or Video in addition to Documents and other items. The All Files And Folders option is closer to the old Windows Find feature. You can search based on file name or search according to a word or phrase contained in a file. To search a specific directory, click the down arrow in the Look In drop-down menu. If the directory you want to search isn't an option, click Browse at the bottom of the list and select the directory from the Browse For Folder dialog box.
The new Start Menu is highly configurable; you can add, remove, or customize just about any of its components. Right-click Start and select Properties to get started. Click the Customize button and the General tab in the Customize Start Menu dialog box. Here you can choose between using large and small icons, decide how many recently used applications to display, and choose whether to include a link to your favorite Web browser and e-mail programs on the Start Menu. Using the dialog box's Advanced tab, you can control which additional items (such as My Documents, My Computer, and Control Panel) you want to appear and how each item should behave. Tip 7: Find Desktop Shortcuts To Familiar Items WinXP gives users greater freedom to delete unwanted items than previous Windows versions. To restore the My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places, or Internet Explorer icons to your Desktop, right-click anywhere on the Desktop and select Properties. Click the Customize Desktop button under the Desktop tab. Place a check mark next to the icons you want to restore. Tip 8: Never Set Your Clock Again If you want to keep your system clock current, you can configure WinXP to synchronize its time with an Internet time server. To configure an Internet time server, double-click the clock on the Taskbar (you'll need to be logged into an administrator account for this) and click the Internet Time tab. Make sure Automatically Synchronize With An Internet Time Server is checked and select a time server from the drop-down menu. You can update the time by clicking the Update Now button.
Some older programs may not run well under WinXP. If you experience problems with older programs, you can try using the Program Compatibility Wizard. Click Start, select All Pro grams, Accessories, and click Program Compatibility Wizard. Follow the directions to configure compatibility settings for an application. You can choose applications from a list of installed programs, from a CD-ROM, or from any directory on your hard drive. When you are finished setting OS and video compatibility options, test the settings. If the program works, be sure you select Yes, Set This Program To Always Use These Compatibility Settings. Otherwise, try a different setting or exit without saving changes. Tip 10: Use Restore Points Like Windows Me, WinXP includes a feature that lets you set restore points you can return to in the event you botch an installation or experience major system conflicts. To create a restore point, open All Programs in the Start menu. Select Accessories, System Tools, and click System Restore. In the System Restore window, click Create A Restore Point and click Next. Enter a descriptive name for the restore point and click Create. To revert to a particular restore point, open the System Restore Wizard as above and select Restore My Computer To An Earlier Time. Click a date to see a list of restore points created on that date. Select the one you want and click Next. Click Next again to restore your system. You will also be able to undo any recent restorations from the System Restore Wizard.  A New Experience WinXP is bit of a departure from older Win9x OSes. As you become more comfortable in this new environment, you can begin exploring it and have some fun working with more advanced options.  by Chad Denton |
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