List of Figures

Chapter 1: Mastering Control Panel, Policies, and PowerToys

Figure 1-1: Switch Control Panel to the Classic View to see all the icons in one window.

Figure 1-2: : When you select a category in the left pane, the category’s policies appear in the right pane.

Figure 1-3: Simple policies are Enabled, Disabled, or Not Configured.

Figure 1-4: More complex policies also require extra information such as, in this case, a list of programs to run at logon.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Chapter 2: Getting the Most Out of the Registry

Figure 2-1: : Running the REGEDIT command launches the Registry Editor, a front end that enables you to work with the registry’s data.

Figure 2-2: Open the registry’s keys and subkeys to find the settings you want to work with.

Figure 2-3: The registered file type subkeys specify various settings associated with each file type, including its defined actions.

Figure 2-4: : You see the Edit String dialog box if you’re modifying a string value.

Figure 2-5: You see the Edit DWORD Value dialog box if you’re modifying a string value.

Figure 2-6: You see the Edit Binary Value dialog box if you’re modifying a binary value.

Figure 2-7: The settings in the Test key shown in the Registry Editor correspond to the data shown in Test.reg file shown in Notepad.

Chapter 3: Programming Windows XP with Scripts

Figure 3-1: This is a simple message dialog box produced by the Popup method.

Figure 3-2: This is the dialog box that’s displayed when you run the script.

Chapter 4: Starting Up and Shutting Down

Figure 4-1: Use the System Configuration Utility to create different startup configurations.

Figure 4-2: The System Shutdown dialog box appears when you run the SHUTDOWN command.

Chapter 5: Managing Logons and Users

Figure 5-1: You see the Windows XP Welcome screen if your workgroup or standalone computer is set up with multiple users.

Figure 5-2: You see the Log On To Windows dialog box if your computer is part of a network domain.

Figure 5-3: The User Accounts dialog box enables you to assign users to any Windows XP security group.

Figure 5-4: The Users branch lists all the system’s users and enables you to add, modify, and delete users.

Chapter 6: Installing and Running Programs

Figure 6-1: Most items that can be uninstalled via Add Or Remove Programs have corresponding registry entries.

Figure 6-2: Use the Open With dialog box to choose the application you want to use to open the document.

Figure 6-3: You may see a dialog box such as this if you try to install a program that isn’t compatible with Windows XP.

Figure 6-4: In the property sheet for an executable file, use the Compatibility tab to set the compatibility layer for the program.

Figure 6-5: QFixApp allows you to interactively determine parameters for application compatibility.

Chapter 7: Getting the Most Out of Files and Folders

Figure 7-1: Use the Choose Details dialog box to add or remove columns in Windows Explorer’s Details view.

Figure 7-2: Use the Windows Explorer policies to customize Windows Explorer for the current user.

Figure 7-3: The File Types tab displays a list of Windows XP’s registered file types.

Figure 7-4: : Select the Enable Offline Files check box to establish support for offline files.

Chapter 8: Playing, Copying, and Storing Digital Media

Figure 8-1: Use the Player tab to configure Media Player’s playback options.

Figure 8-2: : Use the Copy Music tab to specify the options you want to use when copying tracks from an audio CD.

Figure 8-3: : Use the File Name Options dialog box to specify the details you want in the file name assigned to each copied audio CD track.

Figure 8-4: In the property sheet for a CD-R or CD-RW drive, use the Recording tab to enable and configure CD recording.

Figure 8-5: : Use the Choose Details dialog box to specify the columns you want to see in Details view.

Chapter 9: Installing and Troubleshooting Devices

Figure 9-1: : This dialog box appears if you elected to install the device driver from a list or a specific location.

Figure 9-2: : Windows XP displays a dialog box similar to this one when it comes across a device driver that does not have a digital signature.

Figure 9-3: Use the Driver Signing Options dialog box to specify how Windows XP should handle unsigned device drivers.

Figure 9-4: Device Manager organizes your computer’s hardware in a treelike hierarchy organized by hardware type.

Figure 9-5: : The Device Manager uses icons to warn you if there’s a problem with a device.

Figure 9-6: The Device Status area tells you if the device isn’t working properly.

Chapter 10: Customizing the Interface

Figure 10-1: The Start menu consists of several discrete sections, each intended to improve your efficiency.

Figure 10-2: Use the Customize Start Menu dialog box to set the maximum number of shortcut icons that appear in the Start menu’s list of frequent programs.

Figure 10-3: The new toolbar appears on the left edge of the screen and is visible even when other windows are maximized.

Figure 10-4: Use the Taskbar tab to set up the taskbar for improved productivity.

Figure 10-5: When the taskbar gets filled with buttons, Windows XP groups similar windows into a single button.

Figure 10-6: : Use the Settings tab to set the screen resolution and color quality.

Chapter 11: Optimizing Performance

Figure 11-1: : The Processes tab lists your system’s running programs and services.

Figure 11-2: The Performance tab lists various numbers related to your system’s memory and CPU components.

Figure 11-3: Use System Monitor to keep an eye on various system settings and components.

Figure 11-4: You see this dialog box when you select the Trace, Next Boot command.

Figure 11-5: The charts give you a visual display of the resources used during the boot process.

Figure 11-6: Figure Use the Advanced tab to optimize Windows XP for programs.

Figure 11-7: : Use the Virtual Memory dialog box to select a different hard disk to store the page file.

Figure 11-8: Clear most of the check boxes in the Effects dialog box to improve performance.

Figure 11-9: Clear the check boxes on the Visual Effects tab to improve performance.

Chapter 12: Maintaining Your System in 10 Easy Steps

Figure 12-1: Use Check Disk to scan a hard disk partition for errors

Figure 12-2: : Display My Computer in Details view to see the total size and free space on your system’s disks.

Figure 12-3: The script displays the status and free space for each drive on your system.

Figure 12-4: : Disk Cleanup can automatically and safely remove certain types of files from a disk drive.

Figure 12-5: Use Disk Defragmenter to eliminate file fragmentation and improve hard disk performance.

Figure 12-6: : Use the Automatic Updates tab to configure Windows XP’s automatic updating.

Figure 12-7: Use the Event Viewer to monitor events generated by applications and Windows XP

Chapter 13: Troubleshooting and Recovering from Problems

Figure 13-1: Use the Event Viewer to monitor events generated by applications and Windows XP

Figure 13-2: Use the Select A Restore Point window to choose the restore point you want to revert to.

Chapter 14: Implementing Internet Security and Privacy

Figure 14-1: : Outlook Express warns you if a program or script uses Simple MAPI to attempt to send a message.

Figure 14-2: : If Outlook Express detects an unsafe file attachment, it displays a notice at the top of the message to let you know that you do not have access to the file.

Figure 14-3: : Use the New Mail Rule dialog box to set up a mail rule for filtering incoming messages.

Figure 14-4: : You see this dialog box when you open a message for which the sender has requested a read receipt.

Figure 14-5: For a secure message, the preview pane describes the type of security used.

Figure 14-6: Use the Security tab to set up security zones and customize the security options for each zone.

Figure 14-7: Use the Security Settings dialog box to set up customized security levels for the selected zone.

Figure 14-8: : Use the Privacy tab to configure how Internet Explorer handles cookies.

Chapter 15: Getting the Most Out of Internet Explorer

Figure 15-1: Use the Search bar to quickly enter search arguments.

Figure 15-2: An example search prefix for the Google search engine.

Figure 15-3: In the Internet Options dialog box, the Advanced tab contains a long list of Internet Explorer customization settings.

Figure 15-4: : When Internet Explorer completes a file download, it leaves this dialog box on the screen to help you deal with the file.

Figure 15-5: : When you hover the mouse pointer over an image, Internet Explorer can display the Image toolbar in the upper left corner of the image and the Automatic Image Resizing icon in the lower right corner.

Chapter 16: Setting Up and Administering a Small Network

Figure 16-1: This is the Network Connections window for a typical ICS host.

Figure 16-2: This is the Network Connections window for a client computer that uses a shared ICS connection.

Figure 16-3: : My Network Places contains icons for shared network resources.

Figure 16-4: Each computer in the workgroup has its own icon.

Figure 16-5: Open a workgroup computer to see the resources that computer is sharing with the network.

Figure 16-6: Use the Map Network Drive dialog box to assign a drive letter to a network resource.

Figure 16-7: Clicking the Options button expands the dialog box so that you can customize your interaction with the remote desktop.

Figure 16-8: The Sharing tab on a system using simple file sharing.

Figure 16-9: The Sharing tab on a system using classic file sharing.

Figure 16-10: Use the Permissions dialog box to specify file permissions for the shared resource.