Windows XP Hacks: 100 Industrial Strength Tips & Tricks
By Dale Farris, Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
September 2003
General Overview
Windows XP marks the biggest change to the Windows OS since Windows 95. This newest OS from Microsoft combines the stability of the NT/2000 OS with the user-friendliness and hardware support of the older consumer Windows line, the 9.X lineup of Windows.
XP works so well because for the first time Microsoft has combined their 2 former OS lineups, the 9.X family and the NT/2000 family, into one OS, Windows XP. Although there are two versions of Windows XP, Home Edition and Professional Edition, the differences between these are relatively minor and have to do primarily with security and administrator tools. Under the hood, these are the same OS.
XP also marks several other changes. DOS is no longer a part of the underlying OS, although it is still available as a command prompt. Multimedia and graphics have been built into the OS more directly than ever before, and are no longer treated as an afterthought. Cosmetically, XP has also been given a makeover, in both the way it looks and the way it works.
All this means XP is a definite must have. If you are still running an older 9.X version of Windows, AND your hardware scheme will support XP, then by all means you should strongly consider upgrading to Windows XP. You will be glad you did, if for no other reason than to say goodbye to those frustrating blue screens of death that crash your entire system.
Because of the OS's greater stability, those who work under the hood of XP can concentrate on actually getting work done and making the OS more effective, instead of trying to fix its shortcomings. Because of the richer interface and greater support for graphics and multimedia, you can more easily change the way the OS works and looks. Because the OS offers a variety of tools for recovering from errors, you can hack to your heart's content without worrying that you will damage the OS beyond recognition.
Author Gralla has compiled a super collection of 100 super tips and tricks to make your XP experience even better. His tips and tricks are based the collection on the hands-on, real-world experience of those who in many cases have been using PCs well before any version of Windows even existed. These folks have wrestled with each new version of Windows as they were released, and found ways to take advantage of every nook and cranny of the OS. When XP was released, these folks applied that hard-earned knowledge, and came up with ways to take advantage of the myriad new features of the OS.
The result is 100 hacks that are useful, frequently entertaining, and will save you hours at the keyboard. Whether you want to speed up your PC, customize the XP interface, hack your wired and wireless network, get more out of the Web, make better use of email, use the Registry to bend the OS to your will, or use XP for countless other useful tasks, you will find what you are looking for in this book.
Each hack is a starting point, rather than an ending point, so you can apply the knowledge you have gained to create new hacks of your own. The book is not a mere tips-and-tricks compendium that tells you where to click, where to drag, and what commands to type. It takes advantage of XP's flexibility and new features, recognizes that there are specific tasks you want to accomplish with the OS, and offers you bite-sized pieces of functionality that you can put to use in a few minutes. It also shows how you can expand on their usefulness.
Special Features
Windows XP makes the PC more stable and secure, as well as more graphical and pleasant. While this may be good for some folks, power users who want to take command of their operating system, to get under the hood, need more. Windows XP Hacks takes you beneath the pretty interface of the OS, revealing hidden commands and controls, little-known tricks, command line wizardry, and much more.
Some of the topics covered include:
Removing uninstallable XP components
Surfing anonymously
Speeding up file downloads
Tweaking the Registry
Fixing network problems
Taking a bit out of spam, cookies, and pop-ups
Controlling the Control Panel
Fine-tuning firewalls, proxy servers, and much more
Users will find smart, time-saving, and useful hacks for virtually every feature in Windows XP Home and Professional editions. If you are not a power user yet, you will be after you read through this book.
O'Reilly's entire "Hacks" series of titles reclaims the term "hacking" for the good guys, innovators who explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, create useful tools, and come up with fun things to try on your own.
Table of Contents
The twelve (12) chapters include the following:
Startup and Shutdown
The User Interface
Windows Explorer
The Web
Networking
Email
The Registry
Basic Utilities
Applications
Graphics and Multimedia
System Performance
Hardware
Target Readers
The focus in Windows XP Hacks is on improving your experience with Windows XP, Microsoft's newest operating system. While some of the hacks are relatively minor and easily understood, many of the hacks do assume a greater degree of experience with Windows and a broader understanding of the ramifications of the suggested hacks. Any reader who does not fully understand any of these hacks will want to be sure and call for help from professionals or others with more technical experience with Windows XP, before they proceed to carry out some of the more advanced hacks.
Certainly, anyone in a computer technician role, working in tech support, or in computer network administration will want to quickly get their own copy of this valuable addition to the already highly valued lineup of O'Reilly books, especially their very successful series of Hacks titles.
Book Contents
414 pages; acknowledgments; preface; figures; tips; tables; screen shots; index; cover colophon
Author
Preston Gralla
About the Author
Preston Gralla is the author of more than 20 books about computers and the Internet, which have been translated into 15 languages. He has been writing about technology since the dawn of the PC age, and has been an editor and columnist for many national newspapers, magazines, and web sites. He was the founding editor of PC Week; a founding editor, then editor, then editorial director of PC/Computing; and executive editor for ZDNet/CNet.
Preston has written about technology for numerous magazines and newspapers, including PC Magazine, Computerworld, CIO Magazine, Computer Shopper, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the Dallas Morning News (where he was a technology columnist), and many others. He has been a columnist for ZDNet/CNet and is currently a columnist for TechTarget.com.
His commentaries about technology have been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and he has won the award for the Best Feature in a Computer Publication from the Computer Press Association. Under his editorship, PC/Computing was a finalist for General Excellence from the National Magazine Awards.
He lives in Cambridge, MA, with his wife and two children, although his daughter has just fled the nest for college. Between writing books, articles, and columns, he swims, plays tennis, goes to the opera, and contemplates the ram's skull hanging on the wall of his office.
ISBN
August 2003, First Edition
0-596-00511-3
List Price
$24.95
$38.95 CAN
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