Flying Start

Posted on 1 Jul 2002 at 12:22

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Gallery

Using Compressed Folders in Windows XP
Right-click the desktop, select New, Compressed (zipped) Folder, to generate a folder icon with a zipper. You can drag and drop files and folders into this new folder, and they'll be automatically compressed. When you copy or open files from the folder, they are automatically expanded. You can use compressed folders to keep backup copies, or to collect items you want to send to other users. If they don't have Windows XP, they'll be able to access the files using the utility WinZip, a trial version of which is available from www.winzip.com.
Display Quick Launch Toolbar
By default, there's no Quick Launch toolbar on the Windows XP taskbar. To display it, right-click an empty area on the taskbar, click Toolbars, and then click Quick Launch. To add items to your Quick Launch toolbar, drag the icon for the program onto the Quick Launch bar and drop it there.
Group Similar Taskbar Items
When you have several windows open at once within the same program - say, a number of Web pages open in Internet Explorer - XP automatically groups the taskbar entries together, replacing them with a single button. Click this, and you'll be given a pop-up list of the windows from which you can select the one you want to display. If you'd prefer XP to display individual entries, right-click Start, select Properties, Taskbar Properties, deselect Group Similar Taskbar Buttons, then click OK.
Have Files Read Aloud
Windows XP will talk back to you if you select Start, Programs, Accessories, Accessibility, Narrator. As the intro screen tells you, Narrator is a text-to-speech utility designed to work with Notepad, WordPad, Control Panel programs, Internet Explorer, the Windows desktop and Windows setup. Sounds just like the control tower, except you can click Exit to turn Narrator off.
Dial-Up Disconnection in ICS
When you quit Internet Explorer on an Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) client, the dial-up connection is retained. If you quit Internet Explorer on the ICS host computer, however, you will be prompted to disconnect. Don't accept this option, unless you are sure that no other users on your network are hoping to access the Internet.
Better still, you can switch off this prompt by clicking the tick box labelled 'Don't Use Autodisconnect'.
Drop files into Hidden Recycle Bin
By default, the Recycle Bin appears on the Windows XP desktop. If you have several windows open, however, it could be obscured. If this is the case, drag files you want to delete to the lower edge of the screen and hover the mouse over a blank area of the taskbar. After a moment, all the open windows will be minimised to reveal the Recycle Bin, enabling you to drop the files in.
Farewell to Information Balloons
Windows XP nags you repeatedly to take a tour of the software or sign up for .Net Passport. Cancelling the request doesn't help. To disable the prompts permanently, click Start, Run, RegEdit, OK. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Select Edit, New, DWORD Value, name it EnableBalloonTips, and press Enter. The value is set to zero, signalling that no more balloons will appear.
Windows XP Startup Disk
Windows 2000 and Windows Me don't allow you to format a floppy as a bootable disk, so you'd expect Windows XP to be similarly constrained. However, select Start, My Computer, right click the '31/2 Floppy (A:)' icon and select Format. You'll be given the option to produce an MS-DOS startup disk. When you boot from this disk, you'll find that it can also be used to run Windows Millennium [Version 4.90.3000]. Strange, but it could be useful.