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·Click the View tab.

·Set the view for this folder the way you want it to be for all folders.

·Click Like Current Folder, then click Yes to confirm, and click OK.

Note: To access Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All Programs, and then click

Windows Explorer.

Customize the Taskbar

With Windows XP, you can customize your taskbar so you can do everything from one

place, including start programs, view documents, and surf the Web. Simply right-click

the background of the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click the toolbar you want to

add: an Address bar, a Links bar, a toolbar containing all items on your desktop, or the

Quick Launch bar.

You can also create your own toolbar from any folder. To create a toolbar from a

folder:

·Right-click the background of the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click New

Toolbar. Navigate to the folder you want. A toolbar containing all items in that folder

will be added to your taskbar.

You can drag the new toolbar to any location on your desktop. You can also easily

remove a toolbar from the taskbar by right-clicking the taskbar and then clicking the

item again to remove the check mark.

Show Hidden Program or System Files

Showing hidden files can come in handy-for example, say you've tried to delete

everything from a floppy disk and the disk properties still indicate 100K of disk space

is being used by hidden files.

·On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options.

·Click the View tab.

·Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.

Note: To access Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All Programs, and then click

Windows Explorer.

Rename a Series of Files

When you download photos from your digital camera, they often have unrecognizable
names. You can rename several similar files at once with the following procedure. This

also works for renaming other types of files.

·Open the My Pictures folder. (Click Start, and then click My Pictures.) Or open

another folder containing files that you want to rename.

·Select the files you want to rename. If the files you want are not adjacent in the

file list, press and hold Ctrl, and then click each item to select it.

·On the File menu, click Rename.

·Type the new name, and then press ENTER.

·All of the files in the series will be named in sequence using the new name you

type. For example, if you type Birthday, the first will be named Birthday and subsequent

files in the series will be named Birthday (1), Birthday (2), and so on.

·To specify the starting number for the series, type the starting number in

parentheses after the new file name. The files in the series will be numbered in

sequence starting with the number you type. For example, if you type Birthday (10), the

other files will be named Birthday (11), Birthday (12), and so on.

Search for Information From the Address Bar in Internet Explorer

You can quickly search for information on the Web using the AutoSearch feature in

Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP:

·In the Address bar, simply type "go" or "find" or "?" followed by a keyword or

phrase, and then press ENTER. Your search results will soon appear.

Note Internet Explorer searches for your word or topic using only one search service.

If you don't find what you need, click the Search button on the toolbar and try using

different search services.

Save Time and Effort in Typing URL Addresses

With Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP, typing Web addresses can be a breeze.

·Type the domain of an address, such as Microsoft, and then press Ctrl+ENTER.

Internet Explorer automatically wraps "http://www....com" around what you typed.

·Not sure if the site uses a .com extension? Just type the domain of the address,

and then press ENTER. Internet Explorer tries to find the site by using the various

extensions.

·If you need to edit an address, you can use Ctrl+LEFT ARROW and Ctrl+RIGHT ARROW to

easily move between different parts of the address separated by periods.

When surfing the Web, sometimes you might want to check out a Web page and at the same

time stay on the page that gave you the link in the first place.

With Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP, that's exactly what you can do:

·Simply press and hold down the SHIFT key while you click the link. The page will

open in a new Internet Explorer window.

Need to look at two Web pages side by side? That's easy too. To view any open

windows side by side:

·Right-click an empty part of the taskbar (the bar at the bottom of your screen), and

click either Tile Windows Horizontally or Tile Windows Vertically.

Stay Up to Date Automatically

Automatic updates in Windows XP ensure that your computer is always current. Windows

XP checks Windows Update for the latest updates whenever you are on the Internet,

determines which updates apply to your computer, and downloads them in the background

while you keep working or playing. If you prefer, you can have the computer continue

notifying you with automatic balloon message reminders about updates. It's up to you!

Here's how.

·Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click

System. On the Automatic Updates tab, click the setting of your choice.

Note: If you choose not to use automatic updating, you can install specific updates

from the Windows Update Web site whenever you like.

Learn How to Spot a 16-Bit Application

Because most Windows 3.x-based programs run properly under Windows XP, it's sometimes

difficult to tell 16-bit and 32-bit applications apart.

·Right-click the program's executable file and then choose Properties. If you see a

Version tab, it's a 32-bit program.

·Or, if the program is running, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Windows Task

Manager. On the Processes tab, look in the Image Name column for the name of the

program's executable file. If any 16-bit programs are running, you'll find an entry for

Ntvdm.exe, the virtual DOS machine. Just above it in the list, you'll see indented

entries for Wowexec.exe (the Windows on Windows subsystem) and the executable name of

each 16-bit program running in that virtual machine.

You don't have to pass through Control Panel to get to the System Properties dialog

box.

·Hold down the Windows key and press Break to open this handy dialog box

immediately.

No Windows key?

·Create a shortcut to Sysdm.cpl (you'll find it in the %systemroot%\System32 folder)

and place it anywhere in the Programs menu. Then open the shortcut's Properties dialog

box and assign it an easy-to-remember keyboard shortcut such as Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S.

·Some laptop keyboards may have separate keys for Break and Pause, and you may find

this dialog box opens if you hold the Windows key and press Pause.

Finding Encrypted Files

Unless you use a command-line utility like Cipher.exe, it's difficult to see at a

glance which files are encrypted and which are not. Right-clicking each file and then

choosing Properties, General, Advanced (followed by Cancel, Cancel) is tedious.

·Open a folder containing the encrypted files.

·On the View menu, choose Details, and then select Attributes. Encrypted files show

a letter E in the Attributes column. You can also set an option so that the names of

encrypted files appear in a different color from other file names.

·On the Tools menu, choose Folder Options, click the View tab, and select Show

Encrypted Or Compressed NTFS Files In Color.

Protect Your Files During a Power Outage

If the power goes out while your computer is on standby, you lose whatever is in

memory. If you have any unsaved documents, for example, they're gone. With an

uninterruptible power supply (UPS), however, you can prevent data loss during blackouts.

Although the blackout might last longer than the battery run time provided by the UPS,

you can prevent loss, even if your computer happens to be on standby and you're away when

the power goes out.

·Enable hibernation. (Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and

Maintenance, and then click Power Options. On the Hibernate tab, select Enable Hibernate

Support.

·Specify a time for the computer to switch to hibernation. This should be less than

the battery run time. (On the Power Schemes tab, set a time for System Hibernate under

Running On Batteries.)
Working with Files

To rename several files at once:

·Select all of them in any folder view, or in the Windows Explorer, rename the FIRST

one in the list, and the rest will follow.

To turn off filenames:

·Hold down the Shift-key when you click to open a folder in Windows Explorer or when

you switch into thumbnail view. This will turn of the file names, giving more space for

the thumbnails. Doing it again turns them back on.

·Try grouping your files. In the top menu bar select View - Arrange icons by… -

Type, and then View - Arrange icons by… - Show in groups.

__Magic_Dr