Enhancing your System with the Windows XP PowerToys


Some of the Windows XP developers weren’t satisfied with having worked on just the Windows XP code. In their off-hours (we presume), they cobbled together a number of small program “extras” designed to make your Windows life a bit easier and more fun. The result was Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP. (Don’t be fooled by the “Microsoft” part of the name. These programs are not supported by Microsoft, so if you have any problems with them, you’re on your own!) The following is the link to download these free PowerToys:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

From that site, you can choose to download any or all of the individual PowerToys. In all cases, double-click the downloaded file to install the PowerToy. (If you need to remove any of the PowerToys later on, click Start, Control Panel, Add Or Remove Programs. Each PowerToy has its own entry in the Currently Installed Programs list.) The next few sections present quick summaries of what each PowerToy does.

Tweak UI

Tweak UI (which, more than any other PowerToy, we’ll be mentioning throughout this book) acts as a front end for a large number of user interface customization options. Most of these options are controls for adding and working with registry settings, so they give you an easier and safer way to tweak your system. Once you install the program, select Start, All Programs, Powertoys For Windows XP, TweakUI For Windows XP. As you can see in Figure 1-5, the left side of the Tweak UI window offers a treelike hierarchy of categories. When you select a category, its settings appear in the right side of the window.

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Figure 1- 5: Use Tweak UI to easily and safely customize the Windows XP user interface.

Alt-Tab Replacement

Alt-Tab Replacement is a replacement for the Alt+Tab “cool switch” key combination that you use to switch from one running program to another. In its default incarnation, holding down Alt and tapping the Tab key cycles through a list of the icons for the running programs. When the Alt-Tab Replacement PowerToy is installed, holding down Alt and tapping Tab displays the program icons, but it also shows a preview of the program window, as shown in Figure 1-6. This is better than pressing Alt+Esc to cycle though the open application windows, because while pressing Alt+Tab you can press Esc to cancel the switch. Note that Alt+Tab Replacement runs automatically when you install it and each time you start Windows XP. The latter is controlled by the CoolSwitch setting in the following registry key (see Chapter 4, “Starting Up and Shutting Down,” to learn about launching programs automatically at startup):

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

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Figure 1-6: : Alt-Tab Replacement shows a preview of the selected icon’s program window.

Open Command Window Here

Open Command Window Here adds an Open Command Window Here item to the shortcut menu of all file folder objects. When you right-click a folder and then select Open Command Window Here, Windows XP launches a new command prompt session and changes to the folder. To accomplish this, all the PowerToy does is add a new Open Command Window Here action to the File Folder file type. (See Chapter 7, “Getting the Most Out of Files and Folders,” to learn about file types.) It configures this action to run the following command:

cmd.exe /k “cd %L”

PowerToy Calculator

PowerToy Calculator is a calculator program that goes well beyond the usual addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It has built-in conversion functions for converting between standard and metric values; it supports all trig and log functions; it allows you to create your own functions, and it will even graph those functions for you. Once you install the program, select Start, All Programs, Powertoys For Windows XP, PowerToy Calculator. Figure 1-7 shows the PowerToy Calculator screen. You use the Input box to enter your calculations and functions, or select them using the Functions and Conversions menus.

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Figure 1-7: : With PowerToy Calculator, you can define and graph your own functions.

Image Resizer

Image Resizer makes it easy to create a copy of an image in one of several standard sizes or in a custom size that you specify. After installing this program, select one or more image files, right-click the selection, and then select Resize Pictures to display the Resize Pictures dialog box. Click the Advanced >> button to expand the dialog box to the one shown in Figure 1-8. Select one of the standard sizes—Small, Medium, Large, or Handheld PC—or choose Custom to enter a specific width and height. You also have two options:

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Figure 1-8: : Use the Resize Pictures PowerToy to resize one or more images to the dimensions you specify in this dialog box.

  • Make Pictures Smaller But Not Larger If you select this check box, the program will resize only those images that are larger than the selected size. For example, if you select Medium (800 600), the program will shrink a 1,024 768 image, but it won’t enlarge a 640 480 image.

  • Resize The Original Pictures (Don’t Create Copies) If you select this check box, the program resizes the selected images instead of making resized copies.

CD Slide Show Generator

The CD Slide Show Generator PowerToy adds a program to your burned CDs that enables the user to view images on the CD as a slide show. After you install the CD Slide Show Generator, the CD Writing Wizard gains an extra step that asks whether you want to add the picture viewer to the CD, as shown in Figure 1-9.

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Figure 1-9: With the CD Slide Show Generator installed, the CD Writing Wizard asks whether you want to include the slide show viewer on the burned CD.

If you choose the Yes, Add A Picture Viewer option, Windows XP adds an Autorun.exe file that automatically displays the CD images in a slide show when the user inserts the CD.

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Notes from the Real World

Here’s a simple way to make someone special in your life smile on Christmas, his or her birthday, or some other festive occasion. Every other year for the past few years I have created Christmas CDs for the two grandmothers in our lives: one CD for my mother and one for my mother-in- law. These discs contain images of their grandchildren, taken throughout the year with my digital camera. I also have my daughter draw a nice picture that we scan to print as the cover of the CD. This has worked well, but not everyone knows how to access a CD, much less open pictures on one. This is particularly true of many of the world’s grandmothers and grandfathers, who often are not as comfortable with technology as the younger generations. This year, I am going to ensure that our Christmas CD gift goes off without a hitch by using the CD Slide Show Generator PowerToy. Since it sets up the image slide show to run automatically when the CD is inserted, our grandmothers can view the pictures without any ado. Note, too, that the Autorun.exe program that the CD Slide Show Generator adds to the CD is backwards-compatible with Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Millennium Edition (Me) machines, so it doesn’t matter which version of Windows a special someone may be running.

—Scott Andersen

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Virtual Desktop Manager

The Virtual Desktop Manager allows you to manage up to four different desktops. This enables you to display one set of running program on one desktop, a different set of programs on a second desktop, and so on. After you install this PowerToy, you use it by right-clicking an empty section of the taskbar and then selecting Toolbars, Desktop Manager. This displays the Virtual Desktop Manager toolbar, shown in Figure 1-10.

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Figure 1-10: The Virtual Desktop Manager toolbar enables you to work with up to four different desktops.

To choose a desktop, use either of the following techniques:

  • The “Quick Switch” buttons labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent the virtual desktops. Click a button to view that desktop.

  • Click the green Preview button to see a preview of all four desktops, and then click the desktop you want.

Once you’ve chosen a desktop, you select a program to appear on that desktop by clicking its taskbar button to restore the program to the desktop.

You can also right-click the Desktop Manager toolbar and select from the following commands:

  • Configure Desktop Images Choose this command to easily choose background images for each desktop.

  • Configure Shortcut Keys Choose this command to create keyboard shortcuts for selecting the preview window and the four desktops.

  • MSVDM Help Choose this command to load the Virtual Desktop Manager Help window.

  • Use Animations When this command is selected, Virtual Desktop Manager displays a transition animation when you switch from normal to preview mode. Clear this command to disable the animation.

  • Shared Desktops When this command is selected, Virtual Desktop Manager allows you to switch a running program from one virtual desktop to another, as described in MSVDM Help. If you clear this command, programs can be displayed only on one desktop.

  • Show Quick Switch Buttons If you clear this command, Virtual Desktop Manager hides the four Quick Switch buttons in the toolbar, leaving only the Preview button and the MSVDM title.

Taskbar Magnifier

The Taskbar Magnifier PowerToy is another taskbar toolbar. In this case, the toolbar contains a small window that displays a magnified view of whatever screen area the mouse pointer is positioned over, as shown in Figure 1-11. You display the Taskbar Magnifier by right-clicking an empty section of the taskbar and then selecting Toolbars, Taskbar Magnifier.

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Figure 1-11: The Taskbar Magnifier displays a magnified view of the screen area under the mouse pointer.

HTML Slide Show Wizard

The HTML Slide Show Wizard PowerToy takes you step by step through the creation of a slide show suitable for posting to your Web site. Here’s how it works:

  1. Select Start, All Programs, Powertoys For Windows XP, Slide Show Wizard.

  2. In the initial Slide Show Wizard dialog box, click Next.

  3. To add images to the slide show, you have two choices:

    • For individual images, click Add Image, select the image (or images) in the Open dialog box, and then click Open.

    • For an entire folder of images, click Add Folder, select the folder in the Browse For Folder dialog box, and then click OK.

    (If you make a mistake, or simply want to delete an image, select the image and click Remove, or click Remove All to clear the image list.)

  4. Click Next.

  5. Use the next wizard dialog box to enter a slide show name, select a file location, specify the size of the images, and choose the slide show type. Click Next.

  6. If the location you entered doesn’t exist, the wizard asks if you want to create it. Click Yes. The wizard creates the slide show HTML files.

  7. To load the slide show into the Web browser (see Figure 1-12), click View The Slide Show Now.

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    Figure 1-12: : The HTML Slide Show Wizard PowerToy created this example slide show page.

  8. Click Finish to complete the wizard.

Webcam Timershot

The Timershot PowerToy enables you to take a picture at a specified interval from a Webcam or other desktop camera and save the image to your hard disk. To start the program, select Start, All Programs, Powertoys For Windows XP, Timershot. When the Timershot program loads, click the >> button to expand the window to the one shown in Figure 1-13. Use the window controls to choose the device (if you have more than one), select the interval and resizing options, and specify a name and location for the image. Note, too, that you can click the camera icon to take a picture at any time.

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Figure 1-13: : Use this window to set up the Webcam Timershot PowerToy.

If you want to use your Webcam to monitor an area while you’re away, select Save A New Copy Of This File Every Time A Picture Is Taken, and set the Take A Picture Every values to ensure you capture the events you are monitoring. However, ensure that you have sufficient space on your selected storage device to hold all these pictures! Hint: After gathering this data, use Windows Explorer to select the folder in which these pictures have been saved, and then select View, Filmstrip for a quick review of the monitored area.

To end the Timershot operation, right-click the Timershot icon in the desktop’s notification area and select Exit.




Insider Power Techniques for Microsoft Windows XP
Insider Power Techniques for Microsoft Windows XP (Bpg-Other)
ISBN: 0735618968
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 126

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