PC Magazine Windows XP Solutions

482 Pages·2004·13.05 MB·English

by  Neil Randall

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PC Magazine®
Windows® XP Solutions
Neil Randall
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PC Magazine®
Windows® XP Solutions
Neil Randall
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PC Magazine®Windows®XP Solutions
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 0-7645-6773-X
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Credits
EXECUTIVE EDITOR PROJECT COORDINATOR
Chris Webb Erin Smith
DEVELOPMENT EDITOR GRAPHICS AND PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS
James H. Russell Beth Brooks
Sean Decker
PRODUCTION EDITOR Joyce Haughey
Pamela Hanley Jennifer Heleine
LeAndra Hosier
COPY EDITOR Michael Kruzil
Nancy Kruse-Hannigan Lynsey Osborn
Julie Trippetti
EDITORIAL MANAGER
Mary Beth Wakefield QUALITY CONTROL TECHNICIANS
Susan Moritz
VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE Carl William Pierce
GROUP PUBLISHER Dwight Ramsey
Richard Swadley
BOOK DESIGNER
VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Kathie S. Schnorr
Robert Ipsen
PROOFREADING AND INDEXING
VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER Publication Services
Joseph B. Wikert
EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Mary Bednarek
About the Author
Neil Randall has been writing about computers for twenty years, beginning with the Commodore
64 and moving through every type of PC and every operating system available since then. He has
published hundreds of articles, columns, and reviews in numerous magazines during that time, and
he is currently a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine. He has published eight books on computer
topics including the effective use of Internet technologies and resources, publishing Web sites, and
the history of the Internet. He is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada, where he
teaches multimedia applications, interface analysis and design, and digital design.
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For Katherine L. Nickel, who fought and finally won.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks first to Mark Pope at Ziff Davis Media, who started the process, and to Chris Webb and James
Russell at Wiley, who made it happen. Chris and James, your encouragement and patience are
greatly appreciated.
Thanks also to the many people at Microsoft responsible for Windows XP, an operating system
that really has solved many of the ghosts of Windows past. This book relies entirely on what has
become Windows XP’s proven longevity.
Thanks also to my friends and colleagues at the University of Waterloo, for their support and even
occasional interest. Neither was actually expected.
Without question, though, my primary thanks go to my wife Heather, who for three months has
put up with a husband living in the basement, emerging only to make coffee and tea and occasion-
ally to watch West Wing and Buffy reruns in a complete mockery of the concept of quality time. In
every conceivable way, I wrote this book for her.
Neil Randall
December 2003
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Contents at a Glance
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Part I Designing the Interface YouWant
Chapter 1 Giving Windows a Facelift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter 2 Taking Control of Your Taskbar, Start Menu,
and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 3 Changing Your Interface from the Control Panel . . . 57
Chapter 4 Taking Even Greater Control of Your Interface . . . . . 79
Part II Installing and Removing Hardware and Software
Chapter 5 Installing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Chapter 6 Removing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Chapter 7 Installing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Chapter 8 Hardware Configuration, Maintenance, and
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Part III Who Owns What? Working with Users, Permissions, and Policies
Chapter 9 Adding Users and Groups to Your System . . . . . . . 153
Chapter 10 Controlling User Access with Permissions . . . . . . . 169
Chapter 11 Locating and Migrating User Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter 12 Configuring Group Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Part IV Avoiding Disaster
Chapter 13 Backing Up Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Chapter 14 Securing Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Chapter 15 Windows Update: Letting Microsoft Protect
Windows XP for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Chapter 16 Recovering from Windows XP Problems . . . . . . . . . 253
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viii Contents at a Glance
Part V Letting Windows’ Hair Down:
The Creative and Entertaining Side of Windows XP
Chapter 17 Imaging Central: Working with Digital Cameras
and Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Chapter 18 Watching, Capturing, Converting, and Encoding
Video Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Chapter 19 Unleashing Your Inner Spielberg: Making Videos . . . 297
Chapter 20 Playing, Ripping, and Recording Music . . . . . . . . . 317
Part VI Taming the Internet
Chapter 21 Solving Your Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Chapter 22 Putting the Internet to Work for You . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Chapter 23 Tailoring Internet Explorer 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Chapter 24 Controlling Windows from Afar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Part VII Networking Your Home or Business
Chapter 25 Planning Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
Chapter 26 Connecting Your PCs in a Small Workgroup . . . . . . 397
Chapter 27 Using Windows XP as an Internet Server . . . . . . . . 409
Part VIII Appendixes
Appendix A Installing Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
Appendix B Reinstalling Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445