Essential Guide:
Features and Functionality
This Windows XP Professional Features and Functionality PDF
is provided by Tech Toolshed, a new resource dedicated to creating
first-rate, affordable tools for today’s technology professionals.
Click here to purchase the full chapter.
More Windows XP Professional resources:
z Essential Guide: Windows XP Professional Administration
z Quick Guide: Windows XP Professional Migration and Upgrades
z Quick Guide: Windows XP Professional Networking
z Quick Guide: Windows XP Professional Security
To buy the book in print, click here.
Essential Guide:
Features and Functionality
XP Home vs. XP Pro networking: What’s the difference? ..............................3
Here are the five business benefits of Windows XP Pro ................................7
The Windows XP Product Activation guide ....................................................9
Windows XP kernel enhancements for the network administrator ..............11
Windows XP shell features for an improved computing Xperience..............15
Customize the Windows XP Start menu and taskbar ..................................20
Making your laptop more productive with Windows XP ..............................25
©1995-2004 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Executive Editor
Erik Eckel
Senior Editor
Jim Wells
Contributors
Jim Boyce, Jason Hiner,
Steven Pittsley, Deb Shinder,
Dr. Thomas Shinder
Copy Editor
Linda Watkins
Graphic Artist
Natalie S. Eckerle
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
XP Home vs. XP Pro networking:
What’s the difference?
March 27, 2002
By Jim Boyce
W
hether you’re getting ready to roll
out Windows XP for your users or
you just want to get up to speed
with it on your own computer, which Windows XP flavor is right for you in terms of
networking features? Do you go with the
vanilla Home Edition version or spring for the
chocolate, nuts, and marshmallow chunks in
Professional? The answer isn’t just about
money, although with a $100 difference
between the two, those extra munchies don’t
come cheap. I’ll explain the main differences in
networking features between the two versions
of Microsoft’s newest operating system, as
shown in Table A, to help you decide which one
fits your appetite.
No domains at Home
Regarding networking, one of the biggest differences between Windows XP Professional
and Windows XP Home Edition is the lack of
domain membership support in Home Edition.
Table A: Quick comparison table
Feature
Domain Membership
Windows XP Professional
Full domain membership and capabilities
Group Policy (enables change
control, RIS, app. deployment,
folder redirection, etc.)
Authentication
Full support for group and local policies
IP Security
Remote Control
Kerberos as default authentication method
provides single-sign-on capability
Fully supports IPSec for computer-tocomputer IP encryption
Can act as Remote Desktop host and
client; Terminal Server client
Windows XP Home Edition
Can’t be domain members, but can
access resources on domain members
with valid domain account
No support for group or local policies
Does not provide single-sign-on
Does not support IPSec
Client only to other Remote Desktop
computer or Terminal Server, no host
capability
No offline files
No EFS
Offline Files
Encryption
Supports offline files
Includes Encrypting File System
File Sharing
Simple File Sharing enabled by default,
but can be disabled to configure NTFS
permissions
IIS provides Web and FTP hosting for
one site, SMTP virtual server; max. of
10 concurrent connections
Supported
Supported
SFS can’t be disabled; must boot to Safe
Mode to configure NTFS permissions
Supported
Supported
Web Services
Bridging Network Interfaces
Alternate TCP/IP
Configuration
Wireless Networks and Wi-Fi
Security
No IIS; use third-party applications for
Web services
Supported
Supported
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
3
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
A Windows XP Professional computer can join
a domain and function as a domain member.
Domain membership extends the benefits of
distributed security to the Windows XP desktop, enabling users to easily access domain
resources. It also lets the user share resources
with other users and authenticate those users
against the domain rather than require individual accounts on the local computer.
By contrast, computers running Home
Edition cannot be domain members, although
they can access resources on a domain member in the same way workgroup members running other Windows platforms can access
domain resources. They can connect to and
use network file and printer shares, provided
they have a valid account in the domain.
One of the biggest drawbacks to the lack of
domain support in Home Edition is the corresponding lack of support for group policies.
You can configure local policies on a Home
Edition computer, but the computer naturally
can’t obtain group policies during domain
logon because it can’t be a domain member.
This means you can’t deploy the operating system with RIS, deploy applications with IntelliMirror, apply change control or restrictions,
perform folder redirection, or accomplish any
of the other feats of magic made possible by
group policies.
Another advantage to using Windows XP
Professional is that it defaults to using Kerberos
for authentication. Kerberos offers the ability to
reuse authentication credentials, providing single-sign-on capability. Although Home Edition
provides password caching just like other Windows platforms (although it’s more secure), it
doesn’t offer the same level of single-sign-on
support provided by Windows XP Professional.
IPSec
With an increased emphasis on network security, many companies are looking for ways to
secure network traffic across the LAN as well
as across the WAN. IP Security, or IPSec, provides that means. IPSec lets Windows XP Professional authenticate and encrypt all IP traffic
to and from the computer.
IPSec functions at the endpoints of the
connection—only the two computers engaged
4
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
in the secure connection need to support
IPSec. Intermediary routers or computers that
route the traffic need not support IPSec. For
that reason, IPSec is easy to implement in a
variety of scenarios, whether the computers
are connected across a LAN, WAN, or remote
access connection.
IPSec encrypts the IP traffic before it leaves
the local computer, securely encapsulating the
data to make it secure from sniffing or other
compromise. The receiving computer decrypts
the data. The result is a completely secure connection over the most public of networks, the
Internet. Although IPSec might seem more
suited to encrypting traffic between routers, it
is also an important security mechanism to
secure traffic between individual computers.
If you need to provide secure connections
between client systems or between client and
server, and a router-to-router solution isn’t feasible, IPSec could be a major consideration for
choosing Professional over Home Edition.
Remote Desktop
Those of us who have been in the IT community for very long are familiar with remote control applications like pcAnywhere and VNC.
In fact, I use VNC and pcAnywhere on a daily
basis for remote systems management. I also
use them as an alternative to KVM switches
for managing systems right in my own office.
I like the response speed of pcAnywhere and
the price of VNC (free) and its support for
UNIX and Macintosh platforms.
Remote Desktop lets you connect to and
use a remote computer running Windows XP
Professional. Remote Desktop is a bit like a
lightweight Terminal Services server, although
as with most remote control applications, you
can make only one connection at a time to the
remote computer. However, one connection to
a client computer is generally all you really
need. Remote Desktop works like other
remote control applications: It’s similar to sitting in front of the computer, except the performance is slower. The actual speed depends
on the available bandwidth between the client
and server.
You can use almost any Windows platform
as a client to connect to and use a remote
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Windows XP Professional computer. Windows XP Home Edition includes a Remote
Desktop Connection client but not the server
component. In addition, the Windows XP
Professional CD includes Remote Desktop
client software you can use on any platform.
You might not always have access to a client
computer with the Remote Desktop Connection client installed, but that isn’t a problem if
you’ve planned ahead. The version of IIS
included with Windows XP Professional
includes a Remote Desktop Web Connection
component—a combination of ActiveX controls and other components that lets remote
users initiate a Remote Desktop connection to
the computer from a Web browser. The session appears in the browser window rather
than in a dedicated Remote Desktop Connection client window. The Remote Desktop Web
Connection components don’t have to be
installed on the computer to be remotely managed. Instead, you can install the components
on a Web server on the same network as the
computers to be managed and then connect
through that one Web server to each of the
Windows XP Professional computers on the
network that has Remote Desktop enabled.
This is a great feature that lets users access
their systems from public Internet nodes.
Offline Files
The Offline Files feature in Windows XP originated in Windows 2000 and is carried over to
Professional, but not to the Home Edition.
Offline Files creates a local cache of shared
network files and folders, enabling you to continue to work on them even when the shared
resource is unavailable—such as when the
server is down or the client computer is disconnected from the network.
Offline Files is an excellent way to provide
consistent and seamless access to network
resources. The feature is nearly transparent to
the user, which should mean relatively few
support calls. However, you should also implement the Encrypting File System (EFS) if you
need to ensure the best possible security.
EFS
EFS provides on-the-fly encryption/decryption of NTFS volumes, folders, and files. EFS
is included in Windows XP Professional, but
not in the Home Edition. Encryption is handled by a secondary file system driver and is
completely transparent to the user, who doesn’t
even need to know that a given folder on his or
her computer is encrypted. The driver encrypts
and decrypts the data on the fly, and encrypting a folder and its contents is as simple as setting a single attribute for the folder.
Simple File Sharing
Simple File Sharing (SFS) is one feature that
confuses a lot of people who are new to Windows XP. SFS makes sharing pretty much a
one-click operation and doesn’t require that
the user know anything about permissions.
However, SFS causes all remote access to the
computer to be authenticated against the local
Guest account. While this provides easy sharing for users, it also offers little in the way of
granular control over access to resources. You
can’t grant read-only access to one user or
group and grant change permission to
another because they are all authenticating
against the same account. SFS is enabled by
default for Windows XP Professional computers in a workgroup but is disabled for
domain members.
With SFS enabled, the Security tab of a
folder’s property sheet is hidden, making it
rather difficult to set ACLs on the folder. You
can turn off SFS on a Windows XP Professional computer to make the computer act just
like Windows 2000 in terms of sharing. Windows XP then lets you configure ACLs on the
folder and apply restrictions on a per-user or
per-group basis. However, Home Edition
doesn’t provide a way to turn off SFS. Instead,
you have to boot the computer in Safe Mode
to access a folder’s Security tab. While this
gives advanced users a way to control sharing,
it’s hardly a user-friendly approach to controlling file system access.
IIS
Windows XP Professional includes a strippeddown version of Internet Information Services (IIS), enabling a Windows XP
Professional computer to host one Web and
one FTP site on the computer. Home Edition
doesn’t include IIS.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
5
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
The management interface is the same for
IIS as that on Windows 2000. Like IIS on Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional is limited to 10 concurrent connections.
This makes IIS a good choice for sharing
printers that make use of the Internet Printing
Protocol (IPP) and provides resources to other
computers on the LAN when the traditional
resource-sharing methods aren’t ideal. It also
lets users host and control their own personal
Web sites. Plus, there is nothing to stop a Windows XP Professional computer from acting
as a public Internet server in situations where
the 10-connection limit isn’t a factor. For
example, you might use Windows XP Professional as an inexpensive staging server to test
Web sites prior to publishing to the final target
server.
IIS also includes the SMTP service to allow
the computer to act as an SMTP server. The
SMTP service accepts incoming connections
as well as outgoing connections, but it is
intended more as an SMTP relay service than a
full-blown e-mail server. The service doesn’t
provide mailboxes but does support a drop
folder for incoming messages not forwarded
to another server. While you could write an
application to pull messages from the drop
folder, it isn’t worth the effort considering the
minimal cost of the many third-party e-mail
servers that run on Windows XP. So the
SMTP service is useful mainly as an outgoing
e-mail server for messages generated by forms
or scripts on the local computer. It’s also useful
for users who need to send outgoing messages
for accounts hosted on remote servers that
don’t allow mail relay from the user’s network.
6
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
What they have in common
Both Professional and Home Edition support
features that simplify networking and add
capabilities. For example, both let you bridge
network interfaces, which can be handy in a
home or small office network where you need
to connect two disparate networks, such as a
new wireless segment and an existing wired
segment. Both also let you maintain an alternate TCP/IP configuration for a network
interface. This is great for users who have one
configuration for the notebook at the office
and a different configuration for it at home.
Wireless technologies are supported by
both versions for easy setup and configuration
of wireless devices. Another commonality is
the lack of NetBEUI. Although NetBEUI is
included on the Windows XP CD, Setup no
longer lists it as an available protocol. Instead,
you have to click Have Disk and browse to the
CD to install it.
So which one is right for
my company?
What’s the bottom line? If you need domain
membership and group policy, improved security through IPSec or EFS, or granular protection of shared folders, then Windows XP
Professional is the solution. If not, you can
take advantage of the other features and
streamlined interface provided by Home Edition. At a difference of $100 a seat, you might
save a bundle on your next deployment. ‹
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Here are the five business benefits
of Windows XP Pro
Oct. 31, 2001
By Jason Hiner, MCSE, CCNA
A
lot of IT professionals ask the simple
question, “What’s the real value
proposition for upgrading to Windows XP?”
The answer to that question depends greatly
on the Windows platform that you are currently using. If your organization is still running Windows 95/98, then you are losing
precious hours of productivity every day for
end users and for the IT staff that supports
them. Most of these organizations should seriously consider how to budget for an upgrade.
Windows XP Professional can provide
significant value for organizations that can
benefit from the OS’s enhancements. Thus,
I’m going to give you the details on what I
consider to be the five most significant
enhancements in Windows XP. Here are the
five enhancements that can provide direct
return on investment for businesses.
1. WLAN features
The most valuable enhancement in Windows
XP is the way that it intuitively handles 802.11
wireless LAN connectivity. In the current market, WLANs involve a patchwork of vendors,
equipment, drivers, software, and security
mechanisms. This can often lead to confusion
and difficulty in setting up and administering
WLANs, or even worse, to security lapses that
can compromise networks.
However, Windows XP is very WLAN
savvy, streamlining WLAN configuration and
security and making it much easier for users to
roam between WLANs. Windows XP includes
the Wireless Zero Configuration service, and
Microsoft has partnered with 802.11 NIC vendors so that their NIC drivers are automatically
part of this service.
Thus, upon loading XP, the operating system automatically recognizes most wireless
NICs. Then the system automatically goes out
and looks for available WLAN networks and
lists the networks it finds. Of course, new
wireless configuration tabs in the networking
applet will allow an administrator to set a list
of preferred WLANs, and the NIC will automatically connect to those in the order specified. Obviously, this has excellent implications
for roaming wireless LAN users.
Windows XP also steps up WLAN security
by simplifying WEP configuration and integrating and documenting RADIUS support on
WLANs as a way of keeping wireless attackers
at bay.
All in all, these features represent an outstanding improvement that help propel WLAN
implementations. This is the one area where
Windows XP Professional provides a major
advantage over Windows 2000 Professional.
Nearly everyone using a laptop running Windows to connect to a WLAN in a corporate
environment will want to upgrade their machine
to Windows XP Professional, as long as the laptop has enough processing power and RAM.
2. System Restore and Device
Driver Rollback
The System Restore is another unique Windows
XP feature that will benefit Windows 2000 Pro
desktops. Windows Me first introduced System
Restore, which allows you to take the OS back
to an earlier state. I was a bit skeptical when I
first heard of this feature, but when I actually
used it for the first time in Windows Me (after a
downloaded piece of rogue software brought
down a machine that I was managing), I was
amazed at how well it worked.
Smaller organizations that do not have the
resources to thoroughly test new programs on a
test network sandbox before installing them on
desktop machines will benefit from increased
productivity that can be gained with this feature.
Although the feature is included in Windows
Me, Windows XP Professional is a much more
stable OS. If you want this feature in a business
environment, definitely upgrade to Windows
XP Pro rather than to Windows Me.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
7
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Similar to System Restore, Device Driver
Rollback is a feature that is unique to Windows
XP. It allows you to go back to an earlier version
of a device driver if you are having problems
with a newly installed driver (which, unfortunately, is a common occurrence). This feature is
nicely integrated into the Properties sheet of
each device and, like System Restore, provides a
quick and easy way to compensate for the kinds
of software conflicts that have caused administrators a lot of headaches in the past.
Many large organizations already have
advanced help desk software that can perform
many of these same functions (and more).
However, small and medium-size businesses
that do not yet have this kind of functionality
or are considering implementing it may find it
much easier and less expensive to simply
upgrade their desktop clients to Windows XP
Professional and take advantage of Remote
Assistance than it would be to implement an
elaborate piece of help desk software.
3. Remote Desktop and
Remote Assistance
4. Application Compatibility
Mode
Remote Desktop is a highly touted feature that
allows you to connect to your Windows XP
Professional computer from another Windows
machine. This can be especially useful if you
want to connect to your office computer from
your home computer in order to access the
same applications and systems you access from
work. Of course, you would first have to connect to the corporate LAN using a dial-up or
VPN connection.
Essentially, Remote Desktop is a built-in
version of remote access software such as
pcAnywhere or LapLink, although it does not
contain many of the advanced features of
these programs. Nevertheless, Remote Desktop is fast, efficient, and easy to use. The technology is based on Windows Terminal
Services, and any Windows client running the
Terminal Services client software can access
the Windows XP Pro machine once you set it
up to utilize the Remote Desktop feature and
set up the appropriate access permissions.
Remote Assistance is a related feature that
allows an end user running Windows XP Professional to get advanced technical support. A
user simply goes to Start | Help | Support |
Remote Assistance and can then use e-mail or
Windows Messenger to contact a technician.
They can even browse using Windows Messenger to see a list of technicians who are
online. Once connected with a technician, who
can now see the user’s desktop, the user can
have a chat (or a voice call if both computers
have microphones and speakers), can send a
file, or can release control of the computer so
that the technician can work on it remotely.
8
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
Another major improvement in Windows XP
Pro is in the realm of application compatibility.
While Win2K Pro will run a lot of the software that previously ran on Windows 95/98
and even DOS, there are still many of these
programs that choke when running on Windows NT/2000. With Windows XP, Microsoft
has introduced Application Compatibility
Mode, which allows the operating system to
make an application think that it’s running on
an older version of Windows.
This very useful and effective feature is particularly valuable for organizations that have
had custom applications developed on older
Microsoft operating systems. However, it does
not work in every instance. Some older, DOSbased programs will still choke when run in
Application Compatibility Mode.
5. Client firewall
Windows XP now comes with its own Internet
Connection Firewall built in to the networking
functionality of all network interfaces. It is
accessed from the Properties applet of any
network interface by simply clicking the
Advanced tab, activating the firewall, and
customizing the settings.
The built-in firewall in Windows XP is easy
to configure while providing some advanced
filtering and logging capabilities. It is more
than adequate for most organizations,
although it does not contain some of the
more robust features of a product such as
ZoneAlarm Pro.
While the desktop firewall alone does not
provide justification for upgrading to Windows
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
XP Pro, organizations that are currently considering a desktop firewall rollout may consider upgrading to Windows XP if they can
also directly benefit from some of the other
features listed above.
End sum
There they are. The top five reasons for
upgrading to Windows XP Pro. Each organization can decide for itself whether it is ready
to drop over $100 per machine on Windows
XP. In a number of cases, upgrading will be
money well spent. If you do decide to go with
Windows XP Pro, make sure you purchase it
using one of Microsoft’s volume-licensing
options rather than buying individual copies.
The volume licensing starts at five licenses, and
it saves you the major annoyance of having to
deal with Product Activation. ‹
The Windows XP Product Activation guide
Feb. 14, 2002
By Jim Wells, MBA
W
indows XP Product Activation
(WPA) is Microsoft’s much-talkedabout foray into end-user piracy
protection for its latest operating system. Love
it or hate it, WPA appears to be here to stay.
Without getting into the political and social
ramifications of the privacy debate that surrounds WPA, I’ll cut to the chase by examining
the process of activating a Windows XP
installed client.
Does everybody have to activate?
If you’re wondering whether this applies to
everyone, the short answer is, not exactly. If
your organization licenses Windows XP
through one of Microsoft’s volume licensing
agreement programs, such as Open License
and Select License, you won’t have to activate
Windows XP. Organizations that use these
programs are required to use a Volume License
Product Key (VLK), a product key tied to a
specific license agreement. Different VLKs
apply to different Microsoft products. The
Windows XP VLK will bypass WPA for individual machines. So, if you have to deploy
multiple machines, you can use Windows XP
deployment tools to automate VLK entry into
your multiple XP clients. How this is accom-
plished depends on how you deploy software
in your organization. The point is that your
end users won’t be asked to activate their individual copy of Windows XP under one of
these volume license agreements.
For those that do have to activate
If you’re supporting an organization that
doesn’t fall under the previously described
licensing agreement categories, fear not—
WPA is not exactly brain surgery. First off,
your users should understand that activating
Windows XP is different from registering it.
While registering the product is optional,
WPA is not. After 30 days from the first boot,
users won’t be allowed to run Windows XP
until they activate it.
During that first 30 days, your users will be
reminded repeatedly about activating XP, as
well as the number of days left before activation must be completed. As the number of
days to activation dwindles, the frequency of
the reminders increases. So, to avoid the
annoying reminders, it’s best to activate as
soon as the operating system is first loaded,
unless, of course, you anticipate that Microsoft will cease the WPA program during your
30-day activation period (not likely).
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
9
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Figure A
If now is not a good time to activate, click the No, Remind Me Every Few Days radio button.
Figure B
During installation of Windows XP, you’ll
be asked to enter the product key associated
with your user’s copy of Windows XP. After
you enter the product key and accept the End
User License Agreement (EULA), you’ll be
prompted to activate Windows XP (Figure A).
The Yes, Activate Windows Over The
Internet Now option available in the Ready To
Activate Windows wizard will check your
Internet connection and send your information. If the connection is good, the product
key you entered during installation
will be transformed into a 50-digit
Installation ID number. This Installation ID number—an encrypted
form of your product number that
includes a checksum for security
Figure C
purposes—is transmitted to Microsoft. For
activation, no personal information is transmitted to Microsoft. Once the Installation ID
is created, the checksum cannot be calculated
back to its original values. After Microsoft
receives the Installation ID number, a Confirmation ID is sent back, which will unlock Windows XP for normal use.
This brings us to the issue of what happens
if you upgrade a machine. According to
Microsoft, if you “overhaul your computer by
replacing a substantial number of hardware
components, it may appear to be a different
PC and you will have to reactivate.” What
Microsoft considers “substantial” is not
specifically spelled out at this time, but I’m
sure that if you replace a motherboard,
processor, or hard drive, Microsoft will
require you to reactivate.
Activating after installation
When the user clicks the icon, the Let’s Activate Windows wizard appears.
10
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
If you support users that decide to activate
after the initial installation, the process is similar to the steps described above. In the righthand corner of the taskbar is a WPA icon that
informs the user how many days are left until
activation must be completed (Figure B). The
user can click on the icon or select Start | All
Programs | Activate Windows to bring up the
Let’s Activate Windows wizard (Figure C).
Here, the user is given three choices: activate over the Internet, activate over the phone,
or activate later. While the activating later
option is clear and activating over the Internet
is no different from the process described
above, activating over the phone brings up a
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
second input screen (Figure D) and requires
about five minutes to complete.
The first step to activate Windows XP by
phone is choosing the location of the PC and
dialing the toll-free number that results from
this selection. Phone activation is an automated process, so the user will need to use a
touch-tone phone. Basically, the user must
manually enter on the phone pad the 50-digit
Installation ID from step three, and then he or
she will be given a 50-digit Confirmation ID to
enter into the computer. Mistakes might be
common, but the fudge factor is minimized
with several chances to correct any errors.
That’s it. The PC can now use Windows XP,
free from annoying reminders. Connecting
over the Internet is the easiest option because
it’s done with little user intervention, but the
phone option is available for users who aren’t
connected. ‹
Figure D
The user must go through a four-step process to complete phone activation.
Windows XP kernel enhancements for the
network administrator
March 11, 2002
By Dr. Thomas Shinder, MCSE
K
ernel enhancements are often seen as
being of interest only to developers.
Administrators may wonder, what’s
in it for me? In this article, I’ll explain some of
the more significant improvements Microsoft
has made to the XP/.NET kernel and, more
importantly, what these changes mean to
you—even if you’re not a programmer. The
kernel features I’ll discuss can be broken down
into four categories:
X Registry improvements
X Beefed-up I/O subsystem
X Memory management features
X Faster boot-up
Registry improvements
The Registry serves an important function in
all Microsoft operating systems from Windows
95 forward. In each new operating system
How the Registry works
The Registry replaced much of the function of .ini
files in earlier versions of Windows, allowing configuration information to be stored in one central
hierarchical database that is relatively easy to
search and navigate. The database is divided into
five hives, or keys. Keys are represented as folders, and each has a number of subkeys, which
appear as folders under the hive key. A subkey can
have multiple entries. An entry represents a configuration item, and each entry is assigned a value.
For example, in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key,
in the SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsCurrentVersion\Run subkey, you’ll find an entry for each
program scheduled by the Registry to run at
startup. The value assigned to each entry consists
of the path to that program’s executable file.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
11
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
TIPS
The paged pool consists of the memory for
objects that can be paged to disk (virtual
memory). The size of the paged pool is set
by the operating system, based on how
much physical RAM is installed in the
machine, and taking into consideration the
size of the nonpaged pool (memory for
objects that cannot be paged to disk).
A page fault occurs when the data that the
software is attempting to access is not
found in memory and has to be retrieved
from the disk.
version, Microsoft has refined the functionality
of the Registry, adding new subkeys and
entries to give administrators even more control over the behavior of the operating system.
The XP/.NET Registry code provides a
couple of practical benefits to users and
administrators: The Registry can be larger than
in previous versions of Windows, and Registry
queries are faster.
Support for larger Registry size
In previous versions of Windows, the size of
the Registry was limited to about 80 percent of
the paged pool size. This generally meant a
Registry size limit of about 376 MB.
Windows XP/.NET has removed this limitation. The Registry has been moved out of
the paged pool; XP uses the Memory Cache
Manager to map the Registry, in chunks of 256
Kb, into the system cache. Now the total Registry size is limited only by the amount of disk
space available. The System hive, however, still
has a maximum size, but it has been increased
from 12 MB to 200 MB.
Support for faster queries
Queries to the Registry are processed faster
in XP, due to the caching performed by the
Memory Cache Manager and the way Registry
information is stored. With earlier Windows
versions, when a new Registry subkey was created, it was stored in the first available space
located. XP uses a more organized approach,
placing all related subkeys into the same physical group, located contiguous to one another.
12
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
This reduces the number of page faults that
occur when accessing Registry information.
Windows XP further speeds up query time
by caching Registry keys so that they can be
accessed faster. XP is able to monitor the
usage of Registry keys by applications, so that
the keys that are needed are already in memory.
Beefed-up I/O subsystem
The operating system kernel is divided into
several parts, called subsystems. The I/O subsystem gives applications access to the computer hardware, gives driver software access to
system resources, and manages communications with I/O devices. It acts as the intermediary between the operating system and hardware
devices (through their device drivers).
Improvements to the Windows XP I/O
subsystem make the operating system more
stable than in previous versions of Windows
and provide for faster performance.
Increased stability
Performance is only one factor in selecting an
operating system, and in most cases, it’s not the
most important one. For a production machine,
whether it’s a desktop client or server, stability
and reliability are the top priorities. A fast
machine is of little use if it crashes frequently.
Microsoft has made some changes to the
kernel to increase stability and reduce the
chance of system crashes:
X I/O throttling: When the system runs
out of memory that can be allocated, it
processes I/O information in sequence, one
page at a time. This reduces performance
but keeps the system from crashing when
there is no memory left.
X Drivers are no longer allowed to make
“must succeed” requests of the operating system: In earlier Windows versions,
the operating system was required to allocate memory to the driver even if memory
was low, which could cause a system crash.
Even if the driver software does make a
“must succeed” request in XP, that request
may not be granted.
Defragger on steroids
The APIs for system defragmentation have
been rewritten to change the way data is
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
defragmented and improve the defrag process.
In Windows 2000, the defragmenter was limited in functionality; for example, encrypted
files couldn’t be defragged, nor could the Master File Table (MFT). Because the system
cache is no longer used by the defragmentation
APIs (which required read access), files that
are encrypted can now be defragmented. The
MFT can be defragged as well.
Another drawback of the W2K defragger was
its inability to defrag drives that had large cluster sizes (over 4 Kb). This limitation has been
removed in Windows XP. It is also possible to
mark NTFS files so that they won’t be defragged.
NTFS improvements
A number of improvements have been made to
NTFS that further enhance security, performance, and reliability. The default access control
list (ACL) on NTFS volumes is stronger now,
for improved security. It’s now possible to use
EFS to encrypt the client-side caching database.
Also, the Windows XP Explorer uses the Readonly directory flag to increase performance
when the directory contains metadata.
Improved fault tolerance
Several of Windows XP’s new kernel features
support increased fault tolerance. Along with
reliability, fault tolerance is an essential component for any mission-critical computer. New or
improved fault tolerance features include:
X System Restore
X Improved Driver Rollback
X Shadow copy
System Restore
The System Restore feature (available in Windows XP but not in .NET Server) lets you create
checkpoints and then restore the system to the
state it was in when the checkpoint was created.
This doesn’t affect your data files—common
data file extensions like .doc aren’t restored,
and nothing in the My Documents folder is
restored, which prevents overwriting your data.
System Restore uses a file system filter
driver named Sr.sys. Restore points are created
automatically at set intervals for all drives (you
can modify this by changing restore settings)
and when specific events take place, such as
the installation of a program. You can also create a checkpoint manually at any time.
Improved Driver Rollback
Driver Rollback support in XP makes it easy to
revert to a previous version of a device driver if
you install a new driver and find that it ends up
causing problems. XP saves a copy of the old
driver in a special folder, from which the old
driver can be restored to replace the new one.
You can use the Device Manager (accessed
via Start | Control Panel | System | Hardware) to roll back a driver. Just locate the
device in Device Manager, right-click on it,
select Properties, click the Driver tab, and click
the Roll Back Driver button.
If the system won’t boot into the operating
system after you install the new driver, you obviously can’t access the Device Manager. In that
case, press [F8] during startup to bring up a
menu from which you can select the Last Known
Good option. This will start the computer with
the drivers as they were the last time the system
booted successfully (i.e., with the old driver).
TIP
You can only use Driver Rollback if you’ve
upgraded the driver at least once. Be aware
that multiple levels of rollback are not supported; that is, you can roll back only to the
previous driver. Also note that driver rollback is not available for printer drivers.
Shadow copy
Another new feature in XP is the capability to
create a shadow copy as part of the backup
process. This is like a snapshot or replica of all
files on a volume, even those that are open. This
means that a backup can be made while users or
programs are accessing the files, and the open
files will not be left out of the backup as they
were with previous versions of Windows.
Fastest boot-up
One of the most noticeable improvements in
Windows XP is the much faster boot process.
If you’re used to waiting… and waiting… and
waiting for Windows 2000 to apply personal
settings, apply security settings, load services,
and so on, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
13
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
that Windows XP boots into the operating system in a fraction of the time.
Microsoft has made a number of improvements that combine to make XP the “fastest
boot in the west.” These include:
X Quick logon
X Quick hibernate and resume
X Prefetcher
Quick logon
You can log on more quickly with XP because
the Winlogon service no longer sits around
and waits for the workstation service to start
(which in turn must wait for networking services to start) before it starts up and provides
the user logon screen.
Another change that speeds up the boot-up
and logon process is that the drivers for network cards and serial devices can load simultaneously, instead of one at a time, as is the case
with Windows 2000.
TIP
Note that some circumstances may slow
down the normally fast logon process in
XP. For example, if you’re logging on to a
domain, and modifications have been
made to domain policies that pertain to
logon, this can slow the process. Using a
roaming profile also slows the logon
process, because the profile must be
located and downloaded from the server.
Quick hibernate/resume
Another component of faster startups is the
ability to resume operation quickly from hibernate or standby modes. When you place the
computer in hibernate mode, everything that is
in physical RAM is saved to the hard disk in the
hyperfil.sys file. (By default, this file is placed in
the root of the system partition.) If pages that
aren’t used are in memory, they’re freed to
decrease the size of the file, and the rest of the
pages are compressed to further save space on
the disk. Then the monitor and computer are
turned off. When you restart, the saved pages
are decompressed and read back into memory,
one at a time. The desktop is restored to the
same state it was in when you shut down.
14
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
Standby mode doesn’t turn off the system
completely but puts it into a lower powerusage state. Energy hogs such as the monitor
and hard disk are turned off, and the computer
uses only enough power to maintain its idle
state. You can resume from standby mode
more quickly than from hibernate mode
because the system is never completely turned
off. However, the data in RAM is not saved to
the disk in standby mode; if the power goes
off (for example, if the laptop battery dies) or
someone shuts down the system, the state of
your desktop will not be restored when you
restart, and unsaved data will be lost.
The prefetcher
One of the more exciting components of XP’s
fast startup process is the prefetcher, which
allows the operating system to actually “fetch”
data from the disk and put it in memory before
it’s needed. This works in several ways to speed
up performance:
X Loading of drivers is prioritized and performed in parallel (several at a time), rather
than serially (one after the other).
X Boot codes are defragmented so that all of
the code is placed together in memory,
resulting in faster seek and execution time.
X Drivers, startup applications, Registry
entries, and shell code are monitored by the
operating system during boot-up. This
information is then saved. On subsequent
boot-ups, these files are preloaded into
memory in parallel, saving time on subsequent boot-ups. (Information from the
previous eight boot-ups is stored.)
X Application code can be loaded more quickly
because the system monitors frequently used
files and then loads the code in bulk. The
code that is used most frequently is moved
into contiguous space. Each time the application is loaded, the process is fine-tuned.
The prefetch information is stored in the
Windows directory, in the Prefetch subdirectory, in binary format.
How does the system know which data
should be prefetched? The Cache Manager component takes care of monitoring page faults,
which tell it which data has to be retrieved from
disk in the paging (or swapping) process. Cache
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Manager monitors the boot process and the first
10 seconds of the startup process for each application. This produces information called a trace,
which is passed to a Task Scheduler component
that processes the trace data and writes it to a file
in the Prefetch directory. You can identify the
application the trace pertains to because the
filename starts with the application name. The
filename also contains a hash, in hexadecimal
notation, of the path to the file, and it has a .pf
extension. (The trace file for the boot process
is called NTOSBOOT-B00FAAD.PF.)
The next time the system boots or the
application is started, the Cache Manager
looks in the Prefetch directory. If there’s a file
there for the boot process or application, the
data and code referenced in the trace file will
be put into memory, if they’re not already
there. This prefetching decreases the amount
of time that was lost under previous operating
systems in seeking the data and reading it into
memory from different, disparate locations on
the disk.
Task Scheduler also defragments the
prefetch information on a regular basis to
make subsequent prefetches even quicker,
because the data will be located on the disk in
the order in which it is to be used.
Conclusion
The Windows XP kernel has numerous
improvements not addressed here, many of
which are of interest only to developers, and
others that pertain only to installation on specific hardware (such as support for 64-bit Itanium processors). I’ve provided an overview
of some of the XP kernel changes that make a
difference to users and administrators in terms
of stability and reliability, recoverability, and
performance. The XP kernel provides the
foundation for Microsoft’s fastest and most
stable desktop operating system yet. ‹
Windows XP shell features for an improved
computing Xperience
March 4, 2002
By Deb Shinder
T
he Windows XP interface provides an
easier way to use themes to customize
the GUI’s appearance. Folder views
can be easily changed, as can folder icons, and
sophisticated users and administrators will find
more shell-related Registry settings for finetuning the look and behavior of shell elements.
This article covers many of these improvements Microsoft has made to the client operating system shell in Windows XP.
Figure A
The look for the desktop
The default interface for Windows XP strives
for a modern, “cleaner” desktop appearance.
When XP is installed there is, by default, only
one icon on the desktop: the Recycle Bin.
Figure A shows the default desktop.
If you want the customary icons, such as
My Computer, My Network Places, My Docu-
The new default interface provides a “cleaner” desktop.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
15
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
ments, and Internet Explorer (IE), to appear
on the desktop, all you have to do is right-click
the desktop, select Properties, click the Desktop tab, click the Customize Desktop button,
and check the check boxes for those icons you
wish to appear, as shown in Figure B.
Improved taskbar
The XP taskbar contains the usual components: Start button, open programs area, Quick
Launch bar (if selected), system clock, and
notification area (formerly called the system
tray). The taskbar also supports grouping to
conserve space on the bar.
For example, if you have three different
instances of IE open, they can be grouped
together and represented by a single icon with
Figure B
an arrow symbol indicating the multiple Web
pages. When you click the arrow, the page
names will be displayed, as shown in Figure C.
You can configure the behavior of taskbar
elements by right-clicking the taskbar and
selecting Properties. On the Taskbar tab, you
can choose to lock the taskbar (preventing it
from being moved to another location on the
desktop), autohide, keep the taskbar on top,
group similar buttons, and show (or not show)
the Quick Launch bar. You can also select
whether to display the clock and whether to
hide inactive icons in the notification area.
TIP
When the infrequently used notification
icons are hidden, you can display them
by clicking the small arrow in the
notification area.
The Start menu
The Start menu in XP has a very different
look, as shown in Figure D. Recently used programs are shown on the left side (to view other
installed programs, click All Programs). In the
right column, special folders, My Computer,
Printers And Faxes, and the Control Panel
applet are shown, along with the Help, Search,
and Run functions.
You can customize the Start menu (including
reverting to the classic Windows Start menu) by
selecting the Start Menu tab on the taskbar
Properties sheet. Clicking the Customize button
will allow you to do the following:
X Select the program icon size (large or small)
X Specify the number of program shortcuts
on the Start menu (from 0 to 30)
Select the standard icons you want to appear on the desktop.
Figure C
Taskbar grouping conserves space on the taskbar.
16
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
X Select whether icons for your Web browser
and e-mail client appear on the Start menu
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Figure D
Figure E
The logged-on user’s name is displayed at the top.
The Advanced tab lets you configure Start
menu settings, such as whether newly installed
programs will be highlighted, whether Control
Panel is displayed as a link or a menu, and
whether recently opened documents will be
displayed. You can also clear the list of recent
documents here.
Themes made easier
If you don’t like XP’s interface, you can easily
switch back to the Classic Windows look using
themes, collections of backgrounds, icons, color
schemes and the “skin” affecting the appearance of the taskbar, dialog boxes, and other
elements. Windows users have been familiar
with desktop themes since Windows 95 (with
the Plus! add-on), but XP makes it easier to
apply themes.
Now you simply select the Themes tab
from the Display Properties box and choose
the theme you want to apply. The Windows
XP theme gives you the default appearance, as
shown in Figure E.
You can browse for additional themes
online or create your own custom look and
save it as a new theme.
TIP
New themes can be downloaded from the
Microsoft Plus for Windows XP page at
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/
Plus/PlusHome.asp.
Shared environment support
Another new feature of the XP shell is Fast
User Switching. If two or more users share the
computer, you can now switch between user
accounts without closing the first user’s programs. To switch users, simply perform the
following steps:
1. Click Start and select Log Off at the bottom of the Start menu.
2. Click the Switch User button, shown in
Figure F.
3. A list of local user accounts will be displayed; select the account to which you
want to switch.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
17
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
TIP
Note that Fast User Switching is not available if the XP Pro computer is a member of
a domain.
Files, folders, and applets
The XP shell has added enhancements to file
and folder organization and customization.
It also gives you more flexibility in viewing
applets such as Control Panel.
Figure F
Special folders for organizing
your data
Users of earlier versions of Windows are
familiar with the special My Documents folder.
In Windows XP, it’s stored in each user’s profile in Documents And Settings\<username>
on the drive to which the operating-system
files are installed (the drive containing the
system root directory, by default named
WINNT).
The My Pictures folder resides inside the My
Documents folder and allows you to organize
graphics files more easily. Windows XP adds
the My Music folder to this group of special
folders. It’s designed to work in conjunction
with Windows Media Player to make downloading and storing audio files easier. The
folder also contains links to music-related tasks.
Customizing folder views
Fast User Switching support can be turned on or off by
administrators in the User Accounts applet in Control Panel.
Figure G
In Windows 2000, you could customize folders
by choosing Customize This Folder from the
View menu to invoke a wizard. In Windows
XP, you customize the appearance of folders
by right-clicking the folder, selecting Properties, and clicking the Customize tab. You’ll
notice the wizard is gone; now you select the
folder type from a drop-down list, as shown in
Figure G.
Changing folder icons
In Windows 2000, power users created a Desktop.ini file in a folder to change its icon. Windows XP lets you change the icon easily by
clicking the Change Icon button and browsing
to the icon file you wish to use.
ClearType screen fonts
Another improvement to the shell is the
capability to use ClearType for screen fonts to
improve font resolution for better readability.
To configure the computer to use ClearType
screen fonts, perform the following steps:
1. Right-click the desktop and select
Properties.
You can choose a graphic to display on the folder when using the
thumbnail view (for example, a picture of a musical note on a
folder containing MP3 files).
18
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
2. Click the Appearance tab.
3. Click the Effects button.
4. Under Use The Following Method To
Smooth Edges Of Screen Fonts, select
ClearType from the drop-down list.
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
TIP
Figure H
ClearType fonts look best on flat-screen
monitors and laptop/notebook computer
displays. The fonts may be blurry on a
non-flat monitor. Your video card should be
set to 24-bit or 32-bit color for the best
appearance.
5. Click OK.
New view for Control Panel
The Control Panel can display its contents in
one of two views:
X Classic View (similar to earlier Windows
operating systems)
X Category View (shown in Figure H)
Category View groups similar items
together, while Classic View displays each individually. For example, in Category View, the
Appearance And Themes selection combines
tasks performed with the classic Display,
Folder Options, and Taskbar and Start Menu
selections.
Customizing the shell through
Registry settings
The Windows Registry controls many of the
shell features, and those who are brave enough
to venture in despite Microsoft’s warnings can
make changes to these settings to precisely
control shell behavior and appearance.
Disabling balloon tips
Don’t like XP’s “friendly” balloon tips that
pop up at the most annoying times? You can
disable them by following this procedure:
1. At the Run box, type Regdt32 or Regedit to
open a registry-editing tool of your choice.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
3. Locate or create a REG_DWORD entry
EnableBalloonTips.
It’s easy to switch back and forth by clicking the desired view in the left pane of the
Control Panel.
can disable them by navigating to the same
subkey as above and setting the value for
ShowInfoTip to 0.
TIP
If you decide later that you miss the balloon tips or infotips, you can enable them
by setting the appropriate value to 1.
Disabling disk space checks
Windows XP automatically checks for low disk
space and alerts you if disk space on a partition is 200 MB or less. You can disable these
checks and alerts by following these steps:
1. In a Registry editor, navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Policies\Explorer.
2. Navigate to or create a REG_DWORD
entry NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
3. Set the value to 1.
4. Set the value to 0 to disable the tips.
Controlling file processing
Disabling Infotips
Windows XP allows you to set the following values on individual file types in the
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key:
Infotips are the pop-ups that occur when you
move the cursor over an icon or object. You
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
19
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
X NoOpen: This provides a warning if users
attempt to open a file of this type.
X NoOpenWith: This excludes a specified
application from being used to open files of
this type.
X AlwaysShowExt: This overrides the settings in folder options and forces display of
the file extensions in Explorer even if Hide
Extensions For Known File Types has been
selected.
Other new Registry settings
You’ll find a few new settings in the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\
Desktop subkey. For example, UserPreferencesMask allows you to set the transition
effect (Fade or Scroll) that is used with menus
and Tooltips. The FontSmoothingType value
in the same path allows you to set ClearType
or Standard smoothing method. These settings
can (and should) also be made through the
graphical interface.
Returning to default Registry settings
As with Windows 2000, the HKEY_USERS\
.DEFAULT subkey contains the template for
new users. If you’ve changed the settings for
HKEY_CURRENT_USER values and want
to return to the default settings but don’t know
what they were, you can find the default value
in the matching subkey of HKEY_USERS\
.DEFAULT.
Conclusion
Windows XP includes a number of enhanced
shell features that benefit users and administrators. Users will find that the GUI offers more
flexibility for customizing the shell to suit their
needs. As an administrator, you’ll find that you
can control the behavior and appearance of
the shell and override user settings by editing
the Registry. Both groups should have no
problems getting around the interface. ‹
Customize the Windows XP Start
menu and taskbar
Jan. 3, 2002
By Steven Pittsley, CNE
W
indows XP introduced us to
some radical changes, but none
were critiqued as much as the new
user interface. In fact, ever since the first
glimpse, people have been talking about the
new look and feel of Microsoft XP’s operating system. This article will introduce you to
some of the customization you can add to the
Start menu and taskbar of the Windows XP
user interface.
First glance
As soon as you click on the Start button, you’ll
begin to discover just how different Windows
20
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
XP really is. The Windows XP Start menu has
been completely revised. (See Figure A.)
Across the top of the menu is the name of
the user currently logged on to the workstation. This could be a helpful feature in the corporate environment as users move from desk
to desk.
On the left side of the Start menu, you’ll
find three sections. The top portion of the
menu contains links to common Internet tasks,
such as using Internet Explorer and e-mail.
When you select a default e-mail application,
it will replace the generic e-mail icon that’s
shown in Figure A.
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Figure A
The middle section on the left side of the
menu displays the last five applications that
you’ve used. This feature makes launching
often-used programs from the Start menu very
simple.
The last section on the left side is the More
Programs menu. As shown in Figure B, the
More Programs menu lets you locate and
launch the applications that are installed on the
workstation. This menu looks just like the
legacy Start menu.
On the right side of the Start menu, the top
section contains links to the specialized folders
My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music.
Users will enjoy having easy access to them
through the Start menu, rather than having to
search their desktops for the shortcuts. This
section also includes selections for My Computer and My Network Places.
Moving down the right side of the Start
menu brings us to the Control Panel icon. This
replaces the Settings menu found on the legacy
Start menu. The Control Panel contains even
more tools for working with your computer,
such as tools for administering user accounts.
The lower right section contains the Help
And Support, Search, and Run options. You
won’t find anything new here other than the
organization of the Start menu.
Finally, the bottom of the Start menu contains the selections that you’ll use to log off or
shut down the computer. The Turn Off Computer option gives users the same functionality
as the Shut Down option in legacy Windows
versions.
Figure B
Figure C
The Start menu now contains two columns and
is more task oriented.
The upper part of the Taskbar configuration dialog box lets
you configure the taskbar’s appearance.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
21
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Configuring the Start menu
You can’t please everybody, so Microsoft has
included options users can choose to configure
the interface for personal preferences. To
access the configuration dialog box, right-click
on the taskbar and select Properties. The
Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog
box has configuration tabs for the taskbar and
Start menu (see Figure C).
When you select Lock The Taskbar, you’re
preventing the taskbar from being moved anywhere else on the screen or preventing someone from accidentally moving it off the screen.
Auto-Hide The Taskbar performs the same
function as in other legacy Windows versions:
when this option is selected, the taskbar will be
hidden from view until you point to the area
where it is supposed to be, making it reappear
for use. The Keep The Taskbar On Top Of
Other Windows option makes the taskbar
visible at all times.
If you consistently open many versions
of the same application, such as 10 Internet
Figure D
Figure E
Figure F
22
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
Explorer windows, you can use the Group
Similar Taskbar Buttons option; instead of
having 10 sessions on the taskbar, you’ll
have one Internet Explorer selection. To
move among the different windows, you can
click on a pop-up menu and select the one
you want.
The lower part of the Taskbar configuration dialog box lets you configure the tray area
of the taskbar. The first selection, Show The
Clock, is self-explanatory. The next option,
Hide Inactive Icons, helps users avoid the clutter that can occur with too many items in the
tray. When this option is selected, the tray will
look similar to the one shown in Figure D. The
clock is displayed but the majority of tray
icons are hidden from view. The double arrows
on the left side of the tray let you expand the
tray area when you need access to all the icons,
as shown in Figure E.
Windows XP also gives you a way to customize the icons in your tray. Clicking on the
Customize button to the right of the Hide
Inactive Icons selection will display the Customize Notifications dialog box, shown in
Figure F.
To change the way the tray icons are displayed, highlight the desired item and then
click on the drop-down arrow, as shown in
Figure G.
In addition to being able to customize the
taskbar, you can also configure the Start menu.
Figure G
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Figure H
Figure I
To do so, click on the Start Menu tab on the
Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box.
This dialog box lets you select whether you
want to use the Windows XP type of Start
menu or the Classic Start menu. You can also
modify it to your preferences by clicking on
the Customize button.
Figure H illustrates the types of changes you
can make to the Windows XP Start menu using
the Customize Start Menu dialog box’s General
tab. You can choose to use large or small icons,
and you can select the number of last-used programs that are displayed on the Start menu.
You can also select whether you want Internet
Explorer and your e-mail client of choice to be
displayed.
The Advanced tab, shown in Figure I, gives
you a wealth of customization options. The
top part of the dialog box gives you the following options: Animate Start Menu As It
Figure J
Figure K
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
23
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Opens, Open Submenus On Hover, and
Highlight Newly Installed Applications.
The middle section, Show These Items On
The Start Menu, offers the most customization
options. For example, you can specify that the
Control Panel open as a menu, rather than a
separate window. This feature helps avoid yet
another window being opened on the desktop.
To make the change, you must select the As
Menu option, as illustrated in Figure J. After
applying the change, you can access the Control Panel options directly from the Start
menu, as shown in Figure K.
The bottom section of the Customize Start
Menu dialog box lets you select whether or not
you want to display the most recently used
documents. This is a personal preference; it’s
24
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
not a default setting in Windows XP. If you
decide to use this option, you can clear the list
of documents from the Start menu by clicking
the Clear List button.
Conclusion
Windows XP provides you with a plethora of
options with which users can customize the
new operating system for ease of use and
personal taste. Here, I’ve covered how to customize the XP interface you’ll use most, the
Start menu and taskbar. In addition to customizing the user interface, all of the configuration changes are stored in a user profile,
ensuring that every user who logs in will be
able to make the Windows XP user interface as
personal as he or she wants it to be. ‹
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Making your laptop more productive
with Windows XP
Aug. 6, 2001
By Steven Pittsley, CNE
T
hose of us who have been using the
XP operating system generally like
what we see, especially some of the
features for laptop systems. In this article,
you’ll see how Windows XP will make your
laptop a productive extension of its deskbound cousin, allowing you to work productively from virtually anyplace.
Figure A
A brief overview of Windows XP
Windows XP sports integrated features like
CD-ROM burning, remote desktop capability,
system restore functionality, and a compatibility mode utility that allows you to run Windows 95/98 programs in Windows XP. In
addition, synchronizing your offline files with
the network has never been easier.
The Windows XP hardware
requirements
Windows XP is a very powerful operating system, but if you’ve purchased computer systems in the last couple of years, they should be
able to run the new software with only minor
upgrades, if any at all. Windows XP requires
that your computer system have a processor
that’s running at 233 MHz or better. While it’s
possible to install and run XP with such a
weak processor, Microsoft recommends that
the CPU be 300 MHz or better. I would look
for one that’s at least 500 MHz, especially with
an older processor like a Celeron or AMD K6.
If you are using a newer system, such as a Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon, your processor needs
should be satisfied.
The amount of RAM that is required to run
new software is always the next concern. To
run Windows XP, you should have at least 128
MB of RAM in the system, although I recommend 256 MB, especially in lower-end systems.
With RAM prices so low these days, upgrading
memory shouldn’t present much of a problem.
Other hardware requirements for Windows
XP include 1.5 GB of free hard drive space, a
video adapter that will display a resolution of
at least 800 x 600, and a CD-ROM drive.
Making your LCD display as
crisp as a fall breeze
One of the downsides to using an LCD,
whether it is on a laptop or a flat-screen monitor, is the fuzziness of the display. Windows
XP will help sharpen the display with a setting
called ClearType. When you use this setting, it
will effectively triple the horizontal display of
your LCD monitor, making your flat screen or
laptop display more defined.
To activate ClearType, select the Display
icon in Control Panel. Then select the Appearance tab and click on the Effects button, as
shown in Figure A.
The Effects dialog box will appear next,
as shown in Figure B. You must select Use
The Following Method To Smooth Edges
Of Screen Fonts, which will activate the
drop-down menu, allowing you to select
ClearType.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
25
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Your laptop is only as good
as its batteries
You might have the latest and greatest laptop
available, but if the battery wears out and a
power outlet isn’t readily available, that sleek
new system is just another paperweight. This
common problem is addressed in all operating
systems, and Windows XP includes the requisite features that will help extend your laptop’s
battery life.
To configure your laptop’s power management features, use Control Panel to select the
Power Options icon. The Power Options
Properties dialog box allows you to manage
the power scheme for your computer system,
as shown in Figure C. Your choices are purely
personal and will vary depending on your
needs. However, I recommend using the
Hibernate mode as opposed to Standby mode.
My reasons for this choice will be explained a
little later in this section.
The Alarms tab allows you to configure
the type of alarm you receive when the battery is low on power or when the power
becomes critically low (see Figure D). To perform this configuration, click on the Alarm
Figure B
Action button, located in the Critical Battery
Alarm box. Then select Hibernate, as shown
in Figure E.
As shown in Figure F, the Power Meter tab
provides you with information about each battery that the laptop uses.
The Advanced tab, shown in Figure G, gives
you the opportunity to have the power management icon displayed in the taskbar tray. You
can also choose to be prompted for a password
when the computer system resumes from
Standby or Hibernate mode. The values shown
in Figure G are the default settings.
Windows XP supports both Hibernate and
Standby modes. On the surface, these two
seem very much alike; however, they are very
different. When you place the computer system in Standby mode, the monitor and hard
disks are turned off to conserve battery life.
When you want to use the computer again, you
will bring it out of Standby mode and your
desktop will appear exactly as you left it.
However, if you lose power before you bring
the system out of Standby mode, you will lose
any information that was not saved or was in
memory.
Figure C
After applying this selection, you should see a much clearer and
more defined display.
The Power Schemes tab allows you to select the power scheme
and configure the length of time the system will remain idle
before turning off the monitor and hard disk.
26
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Placing the system in hibernation appears
no different than Standby mode at first. When
you place the computer into this mode, however, your work will be saved and the information that is stored in RAM will be written to
disk. The monitor, hard disk, and computer
Figure D
will then be turned off to conserve battery life.
When you take the computer out of hibernation, your desktop will be restored to the state
it was in before hibernating. While using
Hibernate mode uses a little extra hard disk
space, I feel it is well worth it.
Figure E
I prefer to place the system in Hibernate mode if the critical
battery alarm is issued.
Configure the type of alarm you receive.
Figure F
Figure G
For additional information about the battery, you can click on the
battery icon.
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
27
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
To place the system in either Standby or
Hibernate mode, click the Start button and
select Turn Off Computer. Among the
choices you will be given are the Standby or
Hibernate options, depending on how your
system has been configured. If you selected
Enable Hibernate Support, as shown in
Figure H, when you turn off your computer,
you will see as your available choice the
Hibernate option.
Figure H
Figure I
If you select Enable Hibernate Support, you can force your
laptop to hibernate as well as to shut down.
This legacy power management system will efficiently manage
the battery use on your laptop and give you information about
the status of your system’s battery.
Figure J
Figure K
You can tell XP to inform you when using offline files.
These are the default settings for offline files.
28
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
Figure L
You can make network
folders available offline.
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Figure M
Figure N
Syncing each time you log on and off is dependent on your needs; I
don’t recommend this if you use your laptop offline a great deal.
You probably won’t want to enable the reminders if you use your laptop
offline often.
The APM, or Advanced Power Management, tab lets you take advantage of the Windows XP APM features. Most laptops support
the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) power management system, which
provides more power management features for
your system.
During the installation of Windows XP, the
operating system will determine whether ACPI
support is maintained by the system’s hardware. If ACPI is supported, the management
software will be installed. If ACPI can’t be
installed on the system, you will still be able to
use the APM features. To enable APM support, you must select it from the APM tab, as
shown in Figure I.
Keeping your laptop and
workstation in sync
Laptops give you the ability to work virtually
anywhere with files and documents that are
stored on your corporate network. To configure your computer’s offline file settings, open
My Computer and select Folder Options from
the Tools menu. The Folder Options dialog
box is displayed, and you must select the
Offline Files tab, as shown in Figure J.
The settings you choose will be determined
by your needs. If you are using the laptop
offline for long periods of time, you will want
to manage file synchronization manually, which
I will discuss later in this section. If this is the
case, you might consider deselecting Synchronize All Offline Files When Logging On and
Synchronize All Offline Files Before Logging
Off, as well as the synchronization reminder.
Depending on the types of files you are
working with, you may decide to encrypt your
offline files for added security. You may also
need to increase the amount of disk space that
you allocate to store your offline files.
To view your offline files, you can click the
View Files button, which takes you to an
Explorer-type window where you can browse
through your files and select the documents to
work with. The Delete Files button lets you
delete files and remove them from the synchronization configuration.
The Advanced button allows you to configure the action that the system takes when a
network connection is lost. As shown in Figure
K, you can either be notified before starting to
work offline or never allow your computer to
go offline.
To configure a network file or folder for
offline usage, you must specify that it is to be
used offline. Highlight the desired file or folder
and select Make Available Offline from the
File menu, as shown in Figure L.
Making this selection will launch the Offline
Files Wizard. After clicking Next at the welcome screen, you will be asked if you want to
automatically synchronize your offline files
when you log on and off the computer, as
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
29
To order the full version of TechToolshed’s Essential Guide: Features and Functionality, click here.
Figure O
Figure P
Use this dialog box to select the files to be synchronized
and to choose to automatically synchronize your offline files
when you log on or off the computer.
While this process is not new to Windows XP, the operating
system makes synchronizing your offline and network files a
breeze.
shown in Figure M. After making your selection,
click Next.
The subsequent screen will give you the
options to enable offline reminders and create
a desktop shortcut to your offline files. Figure N
shows an example of this screen.
After selecting the appropriate options, click
the Finish button. Your offline files will be
synchronized with their network versions and
marked as offline.
Once your files have been configured for
offline use, you can synchronize them before
leaving your office so you will have the most
current versions stored on your laptop while
you are away. When you return to the office,
you will want to synchronize them again so
that the network versions of the files reflect
any changes you made to the documents while
you were offline.
To synchronize your offline files, open My
Computer, highlight the appropriate files or
folders, and then select Synchronize from the
Tools menu. If you need to configure the
items to synchronize, click the Setup button,
which will display the Synchronization Settings
dialog box, shown in Figure O.
When you are finished working with the
Setup dialog box and you are ready to synchronize your files, simply click the Synchronize
button, as shown in Figure P. The files will be
synchronized, and you will be presented with a
dialog box showing the results.
Conclusion
Windows XP offers great improvements over
previous Windows versions. The cool new features I have highlighted in this article are just
the tip of the iceberg. ‹
©1995-2004 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
30
Essential Guide: Features and Functionality
About Us
Tech Toolshed creates first-rate, affordable resources for today’s stretched technology professionals.
We work closely with seasoned, in-the-trenches support technicians, network administrators, and IT
managers to build dependable, convenient, and timesaving tools you can trust. Use them right now to
overcome challenges, eliminate errors, and maintain smooth operations.
For less than the cost of typical overnight shipping fees alone, Tech Toolshed delivers proven, field-tested
solutions today. The Tech Toolshed team understands the plight of tech staff at small and medium-size
businesses. We know that your organization simply cannot wait for service to be restored, systems to be
repaired, or other technology problems to be fixed.
The Tech Toolshed team decided you shouldn’t have to. That’s why our resources are delivered immediately via electronic download. And all Tech Toolshed tools are designed to diagnose, troubleshoot, solve,
and prevent problems as quickly as possible.
We’ve designed tools in the following families to help you keep your organization’s systems running
smoothly:
Checklists
Tech Toolshed Checklists document specific steps for preventing, diagnosing, and solving specific challenges. Careful research and grassroots testing mean that Tech Toolshed Checklists help ensure that you
won’t miss a simple solution or skip a critical step in the heat of a crisis.
Essential Guides
Tech Toolshed Essential Guides are definitive manuals that you can depend on to master a specific technology. Whether you need to deploy a new operating system or office suite, maximize the capabilities of
existing systems, optimize security, or leverage the benefits of a new technology, Tech Toolshed Essential
Guides provide the information you need.
Forms and Policies
Tech Toolshed Forms and Policies are specially designed for IT operations. While easily customized to
meet unique requirements, these forms and policies can be used right off the shelf to help you properly
maintain your technical department.
Hiring Kits
Tech Toolshed Hiring Kits collect all of the critical materials you need to hire the best technical candidate
for your organization. All of our Hiring Kits include detailed job descriptions, prepared interview questions,
candidate evaluation worksheets, ready-to-print classified advertising text, and even sample offer and
rejection letters.
Quick Guides
Tech Toolshed Quick Guides provide the fundamental information you need to get up to speed quickly on
important platforms, trends, and new technologies. Whether you have to take action on a new migration,
grow your expertise with an existing system, or familiarize yourself with an emerging issue, Tech Toolshed
Quick Guides will get you ready in minimum time.
Reference Charts
Tech Toolshed Reference Charts offer powerful tips, techniques, and shortcuts at your fingertips. They’re
smart and intuitive and give you answers FAST.
Check back regularly for the latest tools from the Tech Toolshed team.
Do you have need for a tool not listed? Drop us a line and let us know.
Have a question about an existing tool? Ask our customer service staff.