5 useful Windows XP tricks

You know that feeling you get when your friends or family see you do something on your computer that they've never seen before?

If you haven't had this opportunity, here's where you start.

If you have, then you know that you're feeling like the world's coolest power-user when this happens. Knowledge is power! Here are five Windows XP tips that will get you/keep you schoolin' your friends and family.

Don't just maximize your windows—go full screen

When you need a really big window, don't just maximize it: go full screen! To view a window full screen, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the window's title bar—or when the window is active, press the F11 key at the top of your keyboard—to get the biggest window possible.

Add the Links toolbar to My Computer

You know what would make a great toolbar? One where you could put your favorite applications and documents so that you could open them from any window at any time. Guess what? You can and here's how: click Start, then My Computer. Now right-click the toolbar and then click Links. You now have the Links toolbar on your windows, just like in Internet Explorer. Note: Make sure that Lock the Toolbars is not checked. Click on it to deselect it if it is.

The really cool thing about the Links toolbar is that it's completely customizable. Try this: Navigate to your favorite application and drag and drop its icon to the Links toolbar. You just created a shortcut. Do this again and again for as many applications as you want to appear on the toolbar.

Arrange windows on your desktop

You can display any two windows side by side on the desktop by first clicking a window's button on the Taskbar. Next, press and hold the Ctrl key and right-click the second window that you want to open, then click Tile Vertically. This works great when you want to view two Microsoft Word or Microsoft Internet Explorer windows at the same time.

Organize your files into groups

Organize your files by grouping them. Try this: Open a folder containing several different subfolders and file types. Right-click any empty space on the window's contents pane, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Show in Groups. To arrange the window's contents, right-click again in any empty space on the window's contents pane, point to Arrange Icons By, and click Name, Size, Type, or Modified.

Make your own icons

It's shockingly easy to create your own icons in Windows XP. Let's do it: Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Paint. On the Image menu, click Attributes. Type 32 for both the Width and Height of the document, and make sure that Pixels is selected under Units. Click OK to create a new 32x32-pixel document: the size of an icon.

Now add type, color, or do whatever you'd like to your image. I like to shrink photos (headshots work best) to 32x32 and simply paste them into my Paint document. When you're finished, open the File menu and click Save As. Use the dialog box to choose where you want to save your file, then give it a name followed by ".ico" (without the quotes), and click Save. (The extension ".ico" tells Windows that it's an icon file.) You just created an icon! Now you can change any shortcut or folder to your own icon—just browse to it on your hard drive.

These tips are from the book, Windows XP Killer Tips by Kleber Stephenson, ISBN 073571357X. Published here with the permission of Pearson Education, Inc.

Auto logon for Windows XP

Would you rather not have to log on after your computer starts? If you’re the only person who uses your computer, you can make life a little easier by skipping the Welcome screen completely and having Microsoft Windows XP take you straight to your desktop.

To automatically log on to Windows XP upon startup

1.	Click Start, and then click Run. Note: Remember your user name at the top of the Start menu, because you’ll need it later.
2.	In the Open box, type control userpasswords2 and click OK.
3.	Clear the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer check box. Click OK.
4.	Click the User name box, type the user name that was displayed on the Start menu in step 1. If you normally type a password to log on, type your password in both the Password and Confirm Password boxes. Otherwise, leave these boxes blank. Click OK.

Auto logon now allows anyone to start and use your computer without typing a password.

Disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen

By default, the Microsoft Windows XP logon screen displays a Turn off computer button. This display seems convenient, until one of your kids happens to shut down your computer and close all your programs. To prevent this from happening, you can disable the Turn off computer button.

To disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen

1.	Log on. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.	Click Performance and Maintenance.
3.	Click Administrative Tools.
4.	Double-click Local Security Policy.
5.	Expand Local Policies by clicking the plus sign next to it, and then click Security Options.
6.	In the right pane, double-click the Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on policy.
7.	Click Disabled, and then click OK.

Windows XP removes the Turn off computer button from the Welcome screen—so no more shutting down without logging on!

Add an item to the Send To menu

When you right-click a file name or a thumbnail in Microsoft Windows XP, you see a shortcut menu for that file. One of the items on the menu is Send To, which enables you to quickly e-mail a file, copy it to your desktop, or copy it to a floppy disk.

Sometimes what you really want to do is to save a copy of the file to a specific folder on your computer. If you have a folder where you frequently place files, you can add that folder’s name to the list of locations on the Send To menu. This can save you the time of opening another Windows Explorer window and copying the file from one folder to another.

For example, you could create a My Pictures folder and then use the Send To menu to copy your best pictures to that folder.

To add a folder to the Send To menu

1.	Click Start. Make note of your user name ("Administrator" in the example below) which is displayed at the top of the Start menu. Then, click My Computer.
2.	In the My Computer window, click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.
3.	Click the View tab. Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click OK.
4.	In the My Computer window, double-click Local Disk (C:), double-click Documents and Settings, double-click your user name, and then double-click SendTo.
5.	Click the File menu, click New, and then click Shortcut.
6.	The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. Click the Browse button.
7.	In the Browse For Folder dialog box, click the folder you want to add to your Send To menu, and then click OK.
8.	Click Next.
9.	Click Finish.

Now when you right-click a file and click Send To, the destination you selected will be an option on the Send To menu. You can create shortcuts to local or network programs, files, folders, computers, or Internet addresses.