Windows XP Tips 3

Windows XP Tips Page 3

Get Rid of Unwanted Balloon Tips

There's a fairly easy way to do it, but you do have to touch your Registry. So if you're not comfortable dealing with the guts of your Windows operating system, you might want to skip this one. Note that this affects only Balloon Tips, not the more ubiquitous tool tips that appear in most Windows XP–compatible applications. Here's what you do:

Select Run from the Start button.
Type in regedit in the Open: field.
Hit Enter or click OK. This opens the Registry Editor.
Select the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER and then follow the folder path \software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\explorer\advanced\.
From the Registry Edit menu, select Edit/New/DWORD Value. A new value will appear in the right-hand pane.
Type EnableBalloonTips and hit Enter.
Close the Registry Editor.
Log off from Windows XP and then log on again to enable the change.

Add the Address Bar to Your Taskbar

You can add an Internet URL address bar to your Windows XP taskbar. Doing so will let you type in URLs and launch Web pages without first launching a browser. It will also let you launch some native Windows XP applications in much the same way as you would via the Run menu (so you could type in calc to launch the calculator or mspaint to launch Microsoft Paint. Here's how you add the address bar:

Right-click on the taskbar, select Toolbars, and then click Address.
The word Address will appear on your taskbar.
Double click it to access it.
If that doesn't work, your taskbar is locked. You can unlock it by right-clicking on the taskbar again and uncheck Lock the Taskbar.
You may also need to grab the vertical dotted lines beside the word Address and drag it to the left to make the Address window appear.

Make Windows XP Hibernate

There are more options than you might think when shutting down Windows XP, and at least one of them, Hibernate is hidden from view. Hibernate is useful because it saves the status of your Windows XP session (all the programs and documents you have open) to the hard drive, so it can automatically restore it the next time you power up. Here's how to access and use it:

Make sure you're logged onto your PC as Administrator or as a user with Administrator rights.
You can check the status of your user account by going to Start | Control Panel and selecting the User Account icon.
Your account should be listed there.
If it says Computer Administrator you have the rights to make this change.
To show the Hibernate option under shutdown, select Start | Control Panel, and select the Performance and Maintenance icon.
Select the Power Options icon under "or pick a Control Panel Icon."
Select the Hibernate tab, and click on the Enable Hibernation box.
If Hibernate still doesn't appear, it may be because your PC is fairly new and supports the Stand By low-power shut-down option.
To make Hibernate appear in the Turn Off Your Computer dialogue, simply hold down the Shift key and Stand By will switch to Hibernate.
You need to hold down the Shift key to see and use the Hibernate shut-down option

Display the Quick Launch Toolbar

It's pretty much a guarantee that the Quick Launch Toolbar appears on your desktop for those running Windows 9.x or 2000. But Microsoft has gone out of its way to hide Internet Explorer from the standard Windows XP desktop, and as a result it has hidden Quick Launch. The toolbar, which also gives you access to the Show Desktop and Windows Media Play icons, isn't far away, though. You can access it and have it reinstated to your desktop:

Right-click the taskbar and selecting Toolbars | Quick Launch.
You can add items to the Quick launch bar by dragging any icon from the desktop, Start menu, or any Windows Explorer box to the Quick Launch area on the taskbar.

The Windows Logo Key

The Windows Logo key located in the lower-left-hand quadrant of most keyboards (if you can't find this, just look for a key that resembles the Windows Logo) is actually a very quick access point for a number of useful and commonly used Windows commands. Here's the short list:

Hit the Logo key once to access the Windows Start menu.
Hold down the Logo key and hit D to minimize or restore all open windows.
Hold down the Logo key and hit E to open the Windows Explorer file management application.
Hold down the Logo key and hit F to launch the File search interface (it will say "Search Results" at the top of the window.
Hold down the Logo key and hit F1 to access the Help and Support Center.
Hold down the Logo key and hit R to access the Run dialogue box.
Hold down the Logo key and hit Break (this key is usually shared with Pause) to access the System Properties box
Hold down the Logo key and hit Tab to step through taskbar buttons. Repeatedly hit Tab to keep stepping through them.
Hold down the Logo and Ctrl keys and hit F to search for another computer on your network.
Hold down the Logo key and hit U to open the Utility Manager.

Doing a Fast User Switch

Windows XP lets you have more than one user logged onto the system at once. Here's how to switch among users without backing out to the user screen:

Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and hit the Delete key to access the Task Manager.
Select the Users tab
Right-click on the user session you want to switch to.
Choose Connect.

Run Things Now

You can add instant access to your Run Dialogue box by adding it to the desktop.

Select Start and then hold down and drag the Run icon onto the desktop.
It will appear as a desktop shortcut with this name &Run…
To edit the name and remove the ampersand, right-click on the icon and select Rename.
You can then access the filename and call it whatever you please.

Go Classic

If you're a little overwhelmed by Windows XP's updated look and feel, you might want to try turning back the clock to a simpler, less beveled time. Seriously, Windows XP allows you to revert to Classic mode in a few simple steps.

Start by right-clicking on an empty space (no icons or maximized applications) on your desktop.
Select Properties from the drop-down menu.
Select the Appearance tab.
In the Windows and buttons: drop down menu, select Windows Classic style.
Hit Apply.
Hit OK.

Screensaver Show

If you regularly save your digital photos to Windows XP's My Pictures folder, you can take advantage of the operating systems' ability to create a personalized screensaver/slide show.

Start by right-clicking on an empty space (not on icons or maximized applications) on your desktop.
Select Properties from the drop-down menu.
Click on the Screen Saver tab.
From the Screensaver drop-down menu, select My Pictures Slideshow.
You can leave the default settings and hit Apply and then OK, or you can customize the show.
Start by previewing the show.
Hit the Preview button and the slide show will start. Hitting any other key will suspend it.
To customize the show, hit the Setting button.
Use the sliders to change the size of the pictures and how often the pictures change.
You can also change where Windows XP pulls the images from.

Customize the Folder Detail View

Like its predecessors, Windows XP gives you multiple ways to view the documents and files in folders.

Set your file folder view to Details. Do so by selecting the View drop-down menu and then Details. The default view shows the Name, Size, Type, and Date Modified fields. You can add others.
Right-click anywhere on the column/fields header (where it says Name, Size, and so on).
A list will appear with all the field options for the folder view.
You can add and remove columns by clicking on any of them (those that are set to appear will have a check next to them).
You can change only one field at a time.
For more control, click on More... at the bottom of the list.
A Choose Details dialogue box will appear.
Select and deselect the fields you want by clicking on the check boxes (or use the Show and Hide buttons on the right side of the box).
You can even use this dialogue box to change the column viewing order.
To do so, click on the name of the column and then click the Move Up or Move Down button.
When you're all finished, click OK.

Windows XP Tips Page 4