Windows XP in a Nutshell David Karp Tim O'Reilly Troy Mott Publisher: O'Reilly First Edition April 2002 ISBN: 0-596-00249-1, 634 pages Full Description This compact and comprehensive book systematically unveils what resolute users of the new Windows XP operating system will find interesting and useful, with little-known details, utility programs, and configuration settings all captured in a consistent reference format. A hands-on guide, Windows XP in a Nutshell cuts through the hype and gives practical details you can use every day. It’s written by David A. Karp, the best-selling author whose no-nonsense “Annoyances” books and web site (Annoyances.org) have helped thousands of users solve problems and improve their experience with Windows®. The co-author is none other than Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly & Associates, whose books have revolutionized computer book publishing with their commonsense approach and depth of detail. At the heart of the book is a 200-plus-page reference section titled "Windows XP Applications and Tools," containing: • Detailed information on most of the commands and utilities available with Windows XP, including Start Menu accessories, command prompt tools, hidden system administration utilities such as the Registry Editor, Microsoft Management Console, and TweakUI. • A comprehensive "Where to Find It?" section designed to give Windows 9x/Me and Windows NT/2000 users a guide to the XP counterparts to previously familiar features, plus information on installing and upgrading. • The Task and Setting Index, which provides users with quick access to locations of the hundreds of settings in Windows XP, organized alphabetically. • A complete reference to the command prompt not only covering the basics of the command line and the different ways to use it, but also the advanced commands and scripting features at Windows XP's disposal. 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The Lay of the Land 1.1 The Big Picture 1.2 What's New in Windows XP 1.3 Windows XP Home and Professional Editions 1.4 Windows Update 2. Using Windows XP 2.1 The Desktop 2.2 Point and Click Operations 2.3 Starting Up Applications 2.4 Styles and Consequences of Styles 2.5 Windows and Menus 2.6 Keyboard Accelerators 2.7 Common Controls 2.8 Files, Folders, and Disks 2.9 The Command Line 2.10 Online Help 2.11 Shutting Down II: Alphabetical Reference 3. The User Interface Address Bar Buttons Checkboxes Clipboard Combo Boxes Context Menus Control Menus Desktop Details Dialog Boxes Drop-Down Listboxes File Open/Save Dialogs Icons Input Fields Labels Listboxes Log Off Menus My Computer My Network Places Notification Area Progress Indicators Properties Radio Buttons Recycle Bin Run Scroll Bars Send To Shortcuts Shut Down Start Menu Status Bar System Tray Tabbed Dialogs Taskbar Text Boxes Title Bars Toolbars Tray Trees Turn Off Computer Windows 4. Windows XP Applications and Tools 4.1 Using the Command Prompt 4.2 Alphabetical Reference to Windows Components Accessibility Options Accessibility Wizard Activate Windows Active Connections Utility Add Hardware Wizard Add or Remove Programs Address Book Administrative Tools At Attrib Backup Boot Configuration Manager Cabinet (CAB) Maker Calculator Character Map Chat Chkdsk Chkntfs Clipbook Viewer Command Prompt Component Services Computer Management Connection Manager Profile Installer Control Panel Create Shared Folder Date and Time Properties DDE Share Device Manager DirectX Management Tool Disk Cleanup Disk Defragmenter DiskPart Display Properties Dr. Watson Driver Verifier Manager DriverQuery Event Viewer Explorer FAT to NTFS Conversion Utility Fax Console Fax Cover Page Editor File Compare (comp) File Compare (fc) File Expansion Utility File and Settings Transfer Wizard Finger Folder Options Font Viewer Fonts Folder ForceDOS Format FreeCell FTP Game Controllers Group Policy Refresh Utility Hearts Help and Support Center HyperTerminal IExpress Internet Backgammon Internet Checkers Internet Explorer Internet Hearts Internet Reversi Internet Options Internet Spades Java Command-Line Loader Keyboard Properties Label Local Security Policy Logoff Microsoft Chat Microsoft Magnifier Microsoft Management Console Microsoft NetMeeting Minesweeper Mouse Properties Msg MSN Explorer MSN Gaming Zone My Computer My Network Places Narrator Net Netstat Network Connections Network Setup Wizard New Connection Wizard Notepad NSLookup NTFS Compression Utility NTFS Encryption Utility Object Packager ODBC Data Source Administrator On-Screen Keyboard OpenFiles Outlook Express Paint Pentium Bug Checker Performance Log Manager Performance Logs and Alerts Phone and Modem Options Phone Dialer Pinball Ping Power Options Printers and Faxes Private Character Editor Product Activation Program Manager Query Process Regional and Language Options Recycle Bin Registry Console Utility Registry Editor Remote Assistance Remote Copy Remote Desktop Connection Route Rundll32 Run As Scanners and Cameras Scheduled Tasks Scheduled Tasks Console Security Template Utility Send a Fax Services Shutdown Signature Verification Tool Solitaire Sound Recorder Sounds and Audio Devices Speech Properties Spider Solitaire SQL Server Client Network Utility Start Menu Subst Synchronization Manager System Properties System Configuration Editor System Configuration Utility System Information System Restore Task Manager Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Taskkill Tasklist Telnet Telnet Administrator Tracert User Accounts Utility Manager Volume Control Windows Explorer Windows File Checker Windows Help System Windows IP Configuration Windows Media Player Windows Messenger Windows Movie Maker Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Windows Script Host Windows Update WordPad 5. Task and Setting Index Accessibility Address Bar Administrative Tools Advanced Power Management (APM) Animation Applications Autocomplete Autodial Automatic Windows Update Background Br-Ca CD Drive Certificates Cl-Co Color Profiles Colors Com-Con Control Panel Cookies Country Cr-Da Desktop Devices Dialing Dig-Dis Display Do-Dr DVD Ef-Em Encrypted NTFS Files En-Ex Favorites Fax Files Firewall Folders Fonts FTP Go-Ha Hard Disk Hardware He-HT Icons Images Indexing Ins-Int Internet Connection Firewall Internet Explorer In-Jo Keyboard Language Li-Me Menus Message Box Modems Mouse My Computer My Documents My Music My Network Places My Pictures NetMeeting Network Network Connections Ne-OD Offline Files Ou-Pa Passwords Pa-Pr Printers Pr-Ru Scheduled Tasks Sc-Si Software Sounds Speech Start Menu Startup St-Sy System Restore Task Taskbar Taskbar Notification Area Tele-Teln Temporary Internet Files Terminal Server Text Cursor The-Thu Time Ti-To Tooltips Tr-Us Users Vid-Vir Voice Vo-We Windows [...]... Windows Me, released at the same time, had that distinction Instead, Windows 2000 was the next installment of the NT line; it was actually known internally as Windows NT 5.0 Windows 2000 was particularly notable for being the first version of Windows NT to support plug-and-play, which was yet another move to combine the two platforms Then came Windows XP, known internally as Windows NT 5.1 [2] Although it's... Chapter 1 The Lay of the Land In many ways, Windows XP is a bit of an anachronism On one hand, it is technically only an incremental upgrade to Windows 2000, released only a year earlier On the other hand, it is the first consumer-level operating system based on a powerful and robust platform previously available only to advanced users and network administrators Windows XP is easily the most technically... hood, Windows XP has some higher system requirements due to the increased overhead of all the extra bells and whistles While Windows 2000 requires at least a 133-Mhz Pentium-class system with 64 Mb of RAM, Windows XP needs at least a 300 Mhz Pentium-II processor and 128 Mb of RAM Given the same hardware, Windows XP should be substantially faster than Windows 2000 Among the areas particularly affected are... distinguish the active window by going to Control Panel Display Appearance Inactive Title Bar Some windows can be configured to be Always on Top This means that they will appear above other windows, even if they don't have the focus Floating toolbars, the Taskbar, and some help screens are common examples If you have two windows that are Always on Top, they behave the same as normal windows, since... 3.x (it was known internally as Windows 4.0), it was a 32-bit operating system with a new interface It was the first step in migrating the enhanced capability of the Windows NT architecture to the more commercially accepted, albeit less capable, DOS-based Windows line Soon thereafter, Windows NT 4.0 was released, which brought the new Windows 95-style interface to the NT line Both of these grand gestures... Associates), also by David A Karp This almost infinite customizability and modularity of Windows XP means that many of our statements about the product — such as saying that the My Computer window has an icon for Control Panel, or that the Desktop corresponds to the \Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop folder, or that Windows XP is faster than Windows Me — may, strictly speaking, be false, or at... technically merely an incremental upgrade to Windows 2000, it has been positioned as the direct replacement to Windows Me, officially marking the end of the DOSbased Windows 9x/Me line Windows XP is indeed the long-anticipated operating system designed to finally unify both lines of Windows, bringing the bullet-proof stability of NT to home and small business users, and the industry support of Windows. .. interface If you're familiar with any modern version of Windows, much of this is probably old hat Part II This part of the book contains alphabetically organized references for each major element of Windows XP Once you're at a given point in the system, what can you do there? Chapter 3 is a thorough examination of the elements that make up the Windows XP graphical user interface In addition to the basics... Occasionally, you may see the icons on your Desktop disappear and then reappear This is caused by Windows Explorer crashing, and Windows relaunching it immediately thereafter See Taskbar in Chapter 3 for more information [1] Figure 2-1 shows the main features of the Windows XP Desktop The callouts in the figure highlight some of the special-purposeicons and buttons that may appear on the Desktop Each... Applications Windows XP has more ways to launch a program than just about any other operating system You can: • • Double-click on a programicon in Explorer, on the Desktop, or in a folder window Double-click on a file associated with an application to launch that application and open the file • Pick the name of a program from the Start menu (See Start Menu in Chapter 3 for details.) • Click on a program's . WordPad 5. Task and Setting Index Accessibility Address Bar Administrative Tools Advanced Power Management (APM) Animation Applications Autocomplete Autodial Automatic Windows Update Background . the Windows XP CD-ROM, only about half is used in any particular user's configuration. What we say about Windows XP may or may not be quite true about Windows XP as it's installed. that Windows XP is faster than Windows Me — may, strictly speaking, be false, or at least serious oversimplifications. Basically, Windows XP is a platform and set of capabilities, not a single