Ongoing ... XP

  First Recommendation
       from Mr Ed's Forum

A Restore Point is used by System Restore to restore the entire system to the way it was when you created the 
Restore Point. You should have a shortcut for System Restore in your Start\Programs. Click on that and when it 
comes up select Create Restore Point, click Next and follow the instructions. If you don't find the shortcut 
in the Start\Programs list you can also start it by clicking Start\Run, type 

"C:\Windows\Syetem32\Restore\Rstrui.exe" 

without the quotes and click OK. If you have Norton Ghost, use that to create an image of the C drive, but 
if you don't have Ghost then System Restore is the next best thing.

  Rid the pc from Virus, Spam, & Hackers

Home Users' Free AntiVirus
 
It's a scary world out there, full of viruses, spam and hackers. But why drop big bucks on PC protection 
software when you can download it for free? 
 
Anti-virus software is a big business. Grisoft, for one, sells protection to companies, but also offers a free 
version for home users, AVG Free Edition 
 
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
 
AVG will scan your computer and e-mail for bugs, protecting both your PC and your wallet.  You will access 
your email twice, for a code to download link and link for your Serial Number.

 
Police Your Home Computer on a Budget
 
The Federal Trade Commission recently reported that the creation of a national "do not spam" registry would be 
"ineffective," so to stop spam, you can use probability-based filtering software that will learn to recognize 
it by searching for key words and phrases in mail you've previously rejected as spam. K9, available at
 
http://www.keir.net/k9.html
 
uses this learning technology, known as Bayesian filtering; it also checks your e-mail against DNS Blackhole 
Lists, which tracks spammer-only domain names. After a few days of training, K9 flagged about 98% of my spam.


Free Firewall to Stave off Hackers
 
Those worried about hackers using their PC for malicious deeds can try Zone Labs ZoneAlarm at
 
http://www.zonelabs.com
 
ZoneAlarm is a firewall, an application that works as a gatekeeper between your PC and the Internet. It blocks 
outsiders and lets you control unwanted access from the Internet. If ZoneAlarm tells you Internet Explorer 
or AOL wants to connect, you can allow it, but if an unrecognizable program (say, "$$$_cclex-xxx") 
wants to send or receive data, you can just say no. 
 
ZoneAlarm is pretty annoying for the first few days, as it asks you about every single program on your 
PC that uses the Internet, but it's well worth the initial bother. 
 
It turns out that, with the right software, the world isn't such a scary place after all. 
 
-- Charles Herold

  Change the Default Opening Folder

By default, Windows Explorer opens showing the My Documents folder. To change the default setting so that all 
top level drives and folders are shown, follow these steps: 

Click Start, point to Programs, then Accessories, then right-click Windows Explorer, and click Properties.

Under Target field, which reads %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe, add to make the line read 

%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\

Click OK.

Now when you open Windows Explorer you get to choose from all the folders and drives, not just My Documents.

  The Windows Messenger Service

You don't need any other software to get rid of it.

From OE's Help:

On the Tools menu, click your messenger service, and then click Options. 
On the General tab, clear the Always run this program check box. 

Note
If you stop the messenger service program from running and connecting automatically, you can start it yourself 
by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to Communications, and then 
clicking your messenger service name.

The Windows messenger was put in Windows for the purpose of someone like a System Administrator to be able to 
put system wide messages on everyones machines on a large network, i.e., built in pop-ups.

However, the spammers have figured out a way to use the Windows Messaging service to spread spam.

There was a Windows messenger in the 9x series too (including ME), but it was called WinPopup. It was not 
normally installed by default, but was provided so that computers with 9x installed could also be used on a 
network. To see if it is installed on a 9x system go into the Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, 
click the Windows Setup tab, click on "System Tools", click Details and look at the bottom for WinPopup. If 
the box is checked then it is installed and active. To remove it simply uncheck the box, click OK, click 
Apply and then click OK again.

  Add New Programs to Your Menu

Many people find it annoying that new programs and icons add themselves to the end of the start menu. If you 
are like me, you’d like them all to be alphabetized. Also, you may have found that opening the All Programs 
menu as a folder and rearranging the icons changes nothing on the menu. To arrange the items by name follow 
these instructions:

Click Start, click All Programs, and then right-click on any folder or icon. 
Click Sort by Name.

That’s it, works like magic. Enjoy your refreshingly organized Start menu.

  Change the Picture

If your computer is a member of a workgroup or is a stand-alone computer, you can replace the picture on the 
Welcome screen with another picture. First, store a head shot that you’ve scanned or taken with a digital camera 
in the My Pictures folder. The picture will be automatically resized to fit the picture box, so don’t worry too 
much about getting an exact size, and then follow these steps:

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts. 
Click your account name, and then click Change My Picture. 
Click the picture you like, and then click Change Picture.

To find the user’s picture, click Browse for more pictures, click the picture you want to use, and then click 
Open.

Now, when you open the Welcome screen, you will see the new picture.

  Display the Volume Control Icon

You can adjust the volume for your audio devices using a shortcut icon on your taskbar. By placing the volume 
control icon on the taskbar, you don’t have to go into Sounds and Audio Devices in Control Panel each time you 
want to adjust the volume. To add the icon, follow these steps:

Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 
Click Sound, Speech, and Audio Devices. 
Under Pick a task, click Change the speaker settings.

In the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties dialog box, on the Volume tab, select the Place volume icon in the 
taskbar check box, and then click OK.

Now, when you want to adjust the volume, click the icon and move the slider.

  Add Familiar Icons

It’s the case of the missing icons. Many of you may be wondering where all the icons from your Desktop are in 
Windows XP? Well, if 
you're like me, you like to have at least My Computer, My Network Places, and My Documents on the desktop. 

To do this: 

Right-click on the Desktop, and then click Properties. 
Click the Desktop tab and then click on Customize Desktop.

Put a check mark in the box next to My Document, My Computer, My Network Places, or Internet Explorer, to add those 
familiar icons to your Desktop.

  Unlock Toolbars

Windows XP now features locking toolbars, and you can adjust them. You can customize a lot of the Windows XP 
features such as the Taskbar, Start Menu, and even toolbar icons in Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. 
Remember your right-click:

Right-click on a toolbar, and then click Lock the Toolbars to remove the check mark. 
Right-click on the toolbar again, and then click Customize. 

You can add and remove toolbar buttons, change text options and icon options. When you've got the toolbar customized, 
click Close. 

Now right-click on the toolbar and then click Lock the Toolbars to lock them in place.

  Keep Your Favorite Programs

Do you have a favorite program that you frequently use? Elevate its priority on the Start menu by putting it 
at the top of the list. This ensures that the program will remain on the Start menu and cannot be bumped by 
other programs, even if you use the others more frequently.

Right-click the link to your favorite program on the Start menu and select Pin to Start Menu. Your program 
will be moved permanently to the top part of the list, just below your browser and e-mail programs.

  Use the Address Bar

Windows XP Professional enhanced the functionality of the Address bar to make it easier to launch your favorite 
programs. You can add the Address bar to the taskbar on the bottom of your desktop. Then you can launch programs 
simply by entering their names in the Address bar. For example, to launch Calculator, simply enter calc in the 
Address bar. Anything you would normally enter in the Run box on the Start menu can be entered in the Address 
bar. The Address bar also lets you quickly go to any Web page you specify.

To add the Address bar to the taskbar:

Right-click an empty area on the taskbar. 
Point to Toolbars, and then click Address.

Open the Address bar by double-clicking it.

  Customize Folders

When you’re browsing digital photos in the My Pictures folder in Windows XP, you can choose from more than 30 
different ways to sort your images. Using the Details View in the My Pictures folder, you can sort according 
to such things as the dimensions (resolution) of the images, the date taken, the camera model, date created, 
date modified, and attributes such as compression or encryption.

To modify the picture Details displayed in a folder:

Open My Pictures or one of its subfolders.

Click Start, and then click My Pictures.

On the View menu, click Details. (Or, right-click in the folder, click View, and then click Details.)

On the View menu, click Choose Details.

In the Choose Details dialog box, select the details you want to display for the files in the folder. Arrange 
them using the buttons available. Then click OK.

To sort your photos according to a new category, click in the gray bar at the top of the column. For example, 
to sort photos by Name, click the gray bar atop that column; to sort by Date Created, click the gray bar atop 
that column.

For a shortcut to choosing or changing Details, right-click in the gray bar atop any column, and then click the 
category that you want to display or remove.

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2004 - 2008