Wiley Windows XP For Power Users Jan 2004 ISBN 0764549987 pdf

  ® Windows

  XP for Power Users: Power Pack Curt Simmons

  ® Windows

  XP for Power Users: Power Pack Curt Simmons

  Windows® XP for Power Users: Power Pack Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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  About the Author

Curt Simmons, A+, MCSA, MCSE, CTT, is a technical trainer and freelance writer.

  The author of more than thirty books on various Microsoft and Internet technolo- gies, Curt most often writes about Microsoft Office products and operating systems. He also teaches several digital photography courses. Curt’s most recent books include Windows XP Networking Inside Out, The A+ Technician’s On-the-Job Guide

  

to Networking, iPhoto 2 For Dummies, and How To Do Everything with Photoshop

Album. Curt lives in Saint Jo, Texas, with his wife and children. Visit Curt on the

  Internet at www.curtsimmons.com .

  Preface

  Welcome to Windows XP for Power Users: Power Pack, the book for the power user like yourself. Since the early days of Windows XP’s release, the operating system has received a lot of praise, as well as a lot of complaints. No doubt, Windows XP is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has produced to date. It does more, works better, and is more versatile than any previous versions of Windows. With its millions of lines of code, however, Windows XP is certainly not perfect. It has its share of problems and aggravations, many of which have to do with hardware and application compatibility.

  Overall, though, I believe Windows XP is a great operating system and it works great if you give it the right resources and hardware and/or software that are devel- oped for this new breed of operating system. As a power user, you want to do more with Windows XP. You want to get more from the operating system features and functions, and you want to be able to control the system and customize it to meet your needs. Look no further; this book is written specifically with you in mind.

  In these pages, you’ll see how to do some helpful tasks as well as many lesser- known tasks that you will find useful as you work with Windows XP. You’ll see how to manage the interface, work with hardware and software, configure operat- ing system services, manage users, create a home network, manage security fea- tures, and much, much more. I don’t cover common, everyday tasks that you already know how to do, but I’ll show you how to use the features you want to learn about, and I’ll show you how to use them to the best of your advantage.

  This book is written on a topic-by-topic basis. Each chapter stands on its own, so you can read the book from cover to cover, or you can skip around and find the information you need. The choice is completely up to you.

  Along the way, you’ll find some sidebars and other icon material. The sidebars are extra items. You don’t have to read them, but they all contain good information you may find helpful, so I encourage you to check them out. Also, the icons you’ll see along the way show you how to do something more easily or how to avoid a common problem.

  I hope you enjoy the book! Feel free to visit me on the Internet or drop me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you. Curt Simmons www.curtsimmons.com curt_simmons@hotmail.com

  v

  vi Preface Icons to Watch For

  The following icons indicate special information throughout each session:

  These icons indicate special information relating to the current section that you may find useful.

  These icons indicate information that tells you the best way to do some- thing or alert you to special considerations you should be aware of when performing a routine task.

  This icon indicates a reference to related information in another session.

  This icon indicates cautionary information, alerting you to potential hazards encountered within the tasks at hand.

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to thank everyone at Wiley for the opportunity to write this book. A special thanks goes to Katie Feltman and Marcia Ellett for working with me on this project. I would also like to thank Felicia Robinson and Maggie Warren for their eagle eye and attention to detail. Finally, thanks to my family for their constant support.

  vii

  

Contents at a Glance

  Chapter 1 Configuring the Windows XP Interface. . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 2 Managing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Chapter 3 Working with Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Chapter 4 Using Digital Media on Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Chapter 5 Startup, Shutdown, and Power Management . . . . . 107 Chapter 6 Managing Hardware on Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . 119 Chapter 7 Managing the Hard Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Chapter 8 Working with Folders and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Chapter 9 Working with the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Chapter 10 Working with the Microsoft Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Chapter 11 Networking on a Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Chapter 12 Networking in Windows Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Chapter 13 Remote Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Chapter 14 Internet Access, ICS, and ICF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Chapter 15 Sharing and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Chapter 16 Auditing and Disk Quotas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Chapter 17 Backing Up and Restoring Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Chapter 18 Monitoring and Managing System Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Chapter 19 System Failure and Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Chapter 20 Customizing with Windows XP PowerToys . . . . . . 403 Chapter 21 Scripting with Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Appendix A: Windows XP Installation Options . . . 439 Appendix B: Using the Command Console . . . . . . 459 Appendix C: Helpful Windows XP Utilities . . . . . . 467 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 viii

  Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Chapter 1 Configuring the Windows XP Interface . . . . . . . . . . .

  5 Classic Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  40 Windows Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  60 ix

  60 Application Compatibility Analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  57 Using Additional Compatibility Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  54 Using Applications Not Written for Windows XP . . . . . . . . . 56 Using the Program Compatibility Mode Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  53 Installing and Removing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Installing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  49 Chapter 3 Working with Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  44 User Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  40 Administrative Templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  29 Creating User Accounts with Computer Management . . . . . . 29 Managing User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Managing Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Using Group Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Group Policy Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Configuring Group Policy Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Computer Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Software Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  7 Configuring the Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Managing the Recycle Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Managing Control Panel Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Managing the Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

  1 Configuring the Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 XP Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  23 Managing Users in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Working with User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 User Accounts in the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  20 Chapter 2 Managing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  18 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  17 Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  14 Screen Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  13 Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  24 Creating a Password Reset Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  x Contents Application Verifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  60 Compatibility Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  60 Managing Application Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Managing Applications and Solving Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Managing Automatic Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Programs and Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

  Windows XP User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  67 Local Group Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  68 Chapter 4 Using Digital Media on Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . .

  71 Windows Media Player 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Now Playing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  71 Media Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  76 Copy from CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  76 Media Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  78 Radio Tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  80 Copy to CD or Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  81 Premium Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  82 Skin Chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  82 Configuration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  83 Movie Maker 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Movie Maker 2 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  86 Opening Windows Movie Maker 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  87 Recording and Importing Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  89 Working with Collections and Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  90 Assembling Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  90 Using Transitions and Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  93 Using Audio in Your Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  94 Manage Digital Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Working with Photos and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  96 Viewing a Slideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Ordering Prints Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Printing Photos on Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 E-mailing Photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Burn Your Photos to a CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Chapter 5 Startup, Shutdown, and Power Management . . . . . 107 Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

  Shutdown, Logoff, and Fast User Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Shutdown Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  111 Log Off Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Working with Fast User Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Power Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

  Power Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  115 Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Hibernate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 APM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

  Contents xi

  Chapter 6 Managing Hardware on Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . 119 Installing and Removing Hardware on Windows XP. . . . . . 119

Using Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Configuring Hardware Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Working with Device Drivers and Driver Signing . . . . . . . . 126 Managing Display Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Installing Video Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Configuring Display Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Using Multiple Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Working with Disk Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Chapter 7 Managing the Hard Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Working with File Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

FAT and FAT32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

NTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Formatting and Converting Drives to NTFS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Managing Hard Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Converting a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Working with Dynamic Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Working with Disk Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Creating Simple Volumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Extending a Simple Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Creating a Spanned Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Creating Striped Volumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Using Hard Disk Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

General Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Tools Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Hardware Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Sharing Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Security and Quotas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Chapter 8 Working with Folders and Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Working with Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Configuring Folder Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Configuring Folder Views and Toolbars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Managing File Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Using File and Folder Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Using File and Folder Compression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Using NTFS Compression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Compressed (Zipped) Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Offline Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Chapter 9 Working with the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Understanding the Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Getting to Know the Registry’s Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Hives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Restoring the Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

  Using the Registry Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Exploring the Subtrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Direct Cable Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Managing Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Viewing Connection Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  222 Configuring a Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Configuring Wireless Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Setting Up an Infrared Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Setting Up an 802.11b Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Configuring Network Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

  Creating a Direct Cable Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  221 Wireless Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Setting Up a Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

  220 HomePNA Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Ethernet Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  215 Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 HomePNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Wireless Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Getting to Know Workgroup Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

  211 TCP/IP Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 APIPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Exploring Types of Workgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

  182 HKEY_CURRENT_USER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Using the Registry Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

  209 Networking 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 A TCP/IP Primer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 TCP/IP Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Chapter 11 Networking on a Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  201 Using Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Creating Taskpad Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

  195 Saving a Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Opening a New Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Configuring Console Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Using the Action Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Using the View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  193 Microsoft Management Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Getting to Know the MMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Loading Snap-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  

Chapter 10 Working with the Microsoft Management

Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  190 Exporting and Importing Registry Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

  Editing the Registry with reg Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  234 xii Contents Troubleshooting Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Ping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  239 Ipconfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Netstat and Nbtstat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Tracert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  241 Pathping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Nslookup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Chapter 12 Networking in Windows Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Getting to Know Windows Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

  Windows Domains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  244 Understanding Windows Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Understanding Organizational Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Joining a Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

  Logging On to a Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Locating Resources on a Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Using the UNC Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  252 Browsing for Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Searching the Active Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Creating a Network Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Mapping a Network Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Disjoining from a Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Chapter 13 Remote Networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  260 Connecting to a VPN Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

  Configuring Windows XP to Accept Incoming VPN Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Dial-Up Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 General Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  259 Understanding Virtual Private Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 How the VPN Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Understanding Remote Desktop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  263 Turning on Remote Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Connecting with Remote Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Setting Up the Remote Desktop Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Creating a Remote Desktop Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Using Automatic Logon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Configuring Remote Desktop Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  270 Using Remote Desktop with Internet Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Using Remote Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

  How Remote Assistance Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  275 Enabling Remote Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Requesting Help from an Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Chapter 14 Internet Access, ICS, and ICF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Exploring Internet Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

  Configuring Internet Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  281 Contents xiii

  261 Managing VPNs and Firewalls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Using Remote Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

  286 Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Security Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Networking Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Advanced Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Common Connection Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Configuring Dialing Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Sharing an Internet Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

  335 Setting Up Objects for Auditing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Using Event Viewer to View the Security Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 Using Disk Quotas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

  359 Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359 Getting to Know Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  354 Restoring Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 Chapter 18 Monitoring and Managing System Performance. . .

  Scheduling a Backup Job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  346 Formulating Your Backup Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Understanding System State Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 Creating a Backup Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

  345 Understanding Backup Options in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . 345 Types of Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Chapter 17 Backing Up and Restoring Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Configuring Auditing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  Understanding ICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  327 Managing Print Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 Chapter 16 Auditing and Disk Quotas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Auditing in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

  Taking Ownership of a File or Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 Managing Shared Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Sharing a Printer and Managing Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  314 Advanced NTFS Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318 Share Level and NTFS Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Managing Caching Settings on Shared Folders. . . . . . . . . . 322

  Working with Shared Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Using Share and NTFS Permissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 File and Folder Permissions with NTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  302 Allowing ICMP Traffic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Using the ICF Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Chapter 15 Sharing and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Understanding Simple File Sharing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

  Setting Up ICF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Enabling Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  294 Working with ICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Configuring Internet Connection Firewall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

  360 xiv Contents Logging Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  364 Creating Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 Using Task Manager’s Performance Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

  Managing Hard Disk Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Error Checking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  369 Disk Defragmenter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  370 Disk Cleanup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 Managing Memory Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

  Scheduling Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 Chapter 19 System Failure and Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  379 Troubleshooting Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Using CTRL+ALT+DEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  380 Accessing Windows Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  381 Using Safe Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 Using System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385 Enabling System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  385 Creating Restore Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 Using System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388 Undoing a Restoration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390 Using the Recovery Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

  Installing and Starting the Recovery Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  392 Recovery Console Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Removing the Recovery Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  401 Chapter 20 Customizing with Windows XP PowerToys . . . . . . 403 Checking Out PowerToys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

  Downloading and Installing PowerToys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404 Tweak UI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406 About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  407 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 My Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Internet Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Logon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Open Command Window Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

  Alt-Tab Replacement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 PowerToy Calculator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 Image Resizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 CD Slide Show Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Virtual Desktop Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 Taskbar Magnifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 HTML Slide Show Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416 Webcam Timershot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

  Contents xv

  xvi Contents

Chapter 21 Scripting with Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Understanding Scripting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 Batch Scripting Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420 JScript Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 VBScript Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422 Batch Scripting Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422 Using Batch Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423 Using Batch Redirection Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 Batch File Logic Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 Other Useful Operational Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 Batch-Compatible System Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 Using Net. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 Using Xcopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432 Using Dir, CD, and Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Using Netsh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Gathering Information with ipconfig and netstat . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Sample Network Backup Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Appendix A: Windows XP Installation Options . . . 439 Appendix B: Using the Command Console . . . . . . . 459 Appendix C: Helpful Windows XP Utilities . . . . . . 467 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

Chapter 1 Configuring the Windows XP Interface IN THIS CHAPTER Configuring the Start menu

  ◆

  Configuring the taskbar

  ◆

  Managing the Recycle Bin

  ◆

  Managing the Control Panel appearance

  ◆

  Managing the Display

  ◆ A , Windows XP interface is radically different than the typical

  T FIRST GLANCE THE

  Windows interface used in the past. In fact, the first boot of Windows XP often leaves new users a bit shocked when they see a virtually empty desktop. The good news is the sleek Windows XP interface is easy to use, and it provides you with plenty of configuration options so that you can make Windows XP look just the way you want. This first chapter takes a look at the Windows XP interface. It shows you how to configure all of the interface items and features so that Windows XP meets your needs.

  Configuring the Start Menu

  The Windows XP Start menu is a bit different than the Start menu found in previ- ous versions of Windows. The Start menu still provides you with access to different programs and portions of Windows XP, and its goal has not changed. The purpose of the Start menu is to . . . well . . . start something. It provides you with access to documents and programs, but also operating system features and easy access to the things you use most of the time.

  The Start menu in Windows XP provides you with a two-column design, shown in Figure 1-1. At the top of the Start menu, you see your username and photo icon configured for use with your username. In the left column, you see access to several programs, and the right column gives you access to files and other portions of the operating system.

  1

2 Windows XP for Power Users

  For more information on configuring the photo icon for use with your user- name, refer to Chapter 2.

  Figure 1-1: The Start menu gives you access to commonly used items.

  The left side of the Start menu lists programs you commonly access. By default, Internet Explorer and your default e-mail client always appear in this list. The rest of the programs appear here according to your actions. For example, if you open Microsoft Word, the application icon is added to the Start menu for easy access. If you do not use Word again for a long period of time, it is dropped from the Start menu due to inactivity. So, the Windows XP Start menu is rather dynamic in that it tries to guess what programs you might need by keeping frequently used programs available on the Start menu for you.

  I mentioned that Internet Explorer and your default e-mail client are always listed on the Start menu. What happens if you don’t use these for a period of time? Nothing. Internet Explorer and your default e-mail client are pinned to the Start menu by default, which means they are permanently placed there unless you decide

Chapter 1: Configuring the Windows XP Interface

  to remove them. You can pin any application or document to the Start menu so that it is always available to you. To pin an item to the Start menu, right-click the item in the left column and click Pin to Start menu. You can also remove a pinned appli- cation or document by right-clicking the icon on the Start menu and clicking Unpin from Start menu, as shown in Figure 1-2.

  Figure 1-2: You can pin or unpin items simply by right-clicking.

  

Notice the small divider bar that appears on the left side of the Start menu,

as shown in Figure 1-1. This bar divides pinned and unpinned Start menu

items so you can easily keep track of what is pinned and what is not. Also,

Internet Explorer and your default e-mail client have some quick access

options when you right-click their icons.You can quickly browse the Internet

or check e-mail this way.

  On the right side of the Start menu, you see common Windows items that you will need to access, including the following:

  3

4 Windows XP for Power Users

  ◆ My Documents, My Pictures, and My Music — The My Documents folder

  is the default storage location for files of all kinds, including pictures, music, and movies. My Documents contains the following default subfolders:

  ■

  My Music

  ■

  My Pictures

  ■

  My Videos

  ■

  Remote Desktops

  ◆ My Computer — My Computer is the default folder that stores information

  about drives connected to your computer. You can quickly access System properties by right-clicking My Computer on the Start menu and clicking Properties.

  ◆ My Network Places — My Network Places contains information about

  other computers and shared folders on your network. You can learn more about My Network Places in Chapter 8.

  ◆ Control Panel — Control Panel is the default location for managing all

  kinds of programs and services on your XP computer. Control Panel con- figuration is explored later in this chapter.

  ◆ Network Connections/Connect To — Network Connections is a folder that

  contains your dial-up and/or broadband connections, as well as local area network (LAN) connections. If you have configured connections, you’ll see a Connect To option where you can quickly access and start a connection.

  ◆ Help and Support — Windows XP includes a help and support feature that can answer your questions and even locate answers on the Internet. ◆ Search — The Search feature enables you to find items on your computer or items on the Internet. ◆ Run — You can use the Run dialog box to quickly start programs or con- nect to network shares. ◆ Log Off/Turn Off Computer — These standard icons enable you to log off, shut down, or restart the computer.