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.
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.
