Take advantage of the Show In Groups view

If you're managing a Windows XP system that stores a significant number of data files, chances are good that you're using Windows Explorer's Details view to help sort through all of the files.

While the Details view is a great way to look at your data files, Windows XP offers another view that, in many circumstances, can make it even easier to manage your collection of data files: the Show In Groups view.

To enable the Show In Groups view, follow these steps:

1. Launch Windows Explorer.

2. Go to View | Arrange Icons By | Show In Groups.

This view setting divides Windows Explorer's displays into sections with headers that correspond to the sort option that you've selected. For example, if you've sorted files by Name, XP will group them alphabetically by letter. If you've sorted files by Date Modified, XP will group them by time, such as Yesterday, Earlier This Week, Last Week, etc. You can easily change the group sort order by clicking a different column header.

Take control of cookies

In Windows XP, cookies are stored in the C:\Documents And Settings\<Username>\Cookies folder, where <Username> is the login name of the user. If you've ever opened the Cookies folder from within Windows Explorer, you know that this folder contains thousands of files.

While some cookies are useful, others could be considered a violation of your privacy. Fortunately, Windows XP comes with a privacy feature that allows you to control the amount and type of cookies that are saved on your computer. Here's how to use the privacy feature:

1. Open Control Panel, and choose Network And Internet Connection.

2. Click Internet Options, and select the Privacy tab.

3. Use the slider to select a privacy setting.

The default privacy setting is Medium. At the top and bottom of the scale are Block All Cookies and Accept All Cookies, respectively. As you move the slider, you'll see an explanation of the level of privacy that the settings provide.

Take Your Files With You

Work files are often stored on an office LAN. Windows makes it easy to take files with you and make sure you are working on the most recent versions.

Click on Start | My Computer | Tools | Folder Options | the Offline Files tab | Enable Offline Files, and choose How and when you synchronize (for example, at log-on, at log-off, or hourly). Choose a folder you want synchronized onto your notebook by right-clicking on it; click on Make Available Offline, then follow the Offline Files wizard.

Task Manager Trauma

In Windows XP Professional, my Task Manager has lost the top of the program window. The Applications, Processes, Performance, and Networking tabs are gone, as is the menu. All I can see is the subwindow for the applications. To close the task manager, I must click on it and press Alt-F4. What is wrong, and how can I fix it?

You are seeing Task Manager's tiny-footprint mode. Available in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, 2000, and XP, this mode is invoked by double-clicking in the border around the tabs, and it's quite easy to trigger accidentally. The window can be especially odd-looking if the Performance tab is the only one visible, as the figure shows. To bring back the full Task Manager display, simply double-click in the border again. Now that you know how to turn it on and off, you may find occasions where tiny-footprint mode is useful.

Temporarily disable XP's splash screen

When troubleshooting a Windows XP startup problem, this is probably a frequent course of action: Press [F8], and choose one of the special troubleshooting startup options, which include three Safe Mode options and the Last Known Good Configuration option.

Of course, these are all great features. But what if you really just want to see what occurs during a normal startup? To monitor what's going on behind the scenes during a normal bootup, you can temporarily disable Windows XP's splash screen.

You can accomplish this by adding a little-used switch to the Boot.ini file. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Start menu, and right-click My Computer.

2. Select Properties from the shortcut menu.

3. In the resulting System Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab.

4. In the Startup And Recovery section, click the Settings button.

5. In the resulting Startup And Recovery dialog box, click the Edit button in the System Startup section.

6. When the Boot.ini file opens in Notepad, add the /SOS switch to the line that ends with the /fastdetect switch.

7. Save the file, close Notepad, click OK twice to close the dialog boxes, and restart the system.

To restore the splash screen, follow the same directions, and remove the /SOS switch.

Ten-Digit Dialing

In many areas across the country you now must dial the area code (but not the 1) for all local calls. Making your PC do this is not as straightforward as you might expect. If you don't use Locations and Dialing Rules, you can just specify the ten-digit number. If you do use rules and locations, follow these steps.

In Windows 98 and Me, go to the Control Panel, then Modems. Click on your modem and choose Dialing Properties | Area Code Rules | Always dial the area code.

In Windows XP and 2000, go to Control Panel | Phone and Modem Options and click on Dialing Rules. If your location exists, click Edit; otherwise, select New. Go to the Area Code Rules tab and select New. Type in your area code, and place a check mark next to Include the area code.

The Desktop Cleanup Wizard

Having too many icons on the desktop is not only distracting but also can take a toll on system performance. The Desktop Cleanup wizard is a convenient feature that moves unused icons to a folder so that you don't have to do it manually.

By default, the system prompts you to run the Desktop Cleanup wizard every 60 days. If you can't wait, just right-click on the desktop and choose Properties. Under the Desktop tab is a Customize Desktop button.

Track down default registry values

As you know, dealing with the Windows registry can be a harrowing experience. Not only is editing the registry potentially dangerous, but it can also be confusing.

For example, have you ever been on a registry editing expedition in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch and forgot the default values for the section you were changing? The next time you have a similar experience, try this: You can find the default values for most of the settings in the HKEY_CURRENT
_USER branch in the HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT branch of the registry. This is the part of the registry that Windows XP uses as a template when you create new user accounts.

For example, suppose you've customized Windows Explorer's Hot Tracking Color by altering the RGB value stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors\HotTrackingColor subkey. But now you want to revert back to the default color.

You can track down the RGB values for the default color by navigating to the HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors\HotTrackingColor value. You can then copy the default value from this subkey and paste it into the key that you've altered. Doing this will return the settings to their original configuration.

Note: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes.

Track down non-operating system services

When you're troubleshooting a problem in Windows XP, it can be useful to know which services are running. While most of the services running on a Windows XP system relate to the operating system, this is not the case for all of them.

You can use the Services tool, which you can launch via Control Panel's Administrative Tools, to view the running services. But if you use this tool, you must be able to recognize which services relate to the operating system and which do not.

However, there's a little-known feature in the System Configuration Utility that can quickly identify non-operating system services for you.

Follow these steps:

1. Press [Windows]R to open the Run dialog box.

2. In the Open text box, type msconfig, and click OK.

3. When the System Configuration Utility launches, select the Services tab.

4. At the bottom of the Services tab, select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box.

The System Configuration Utility will then display only non-Microsoft services that are running. Deselect the check box to return to the full list.

Track down services running under Svchost.exe with TaskList

When you're troubleshooting Windows XP problems, one of the tools you likely use is the Windows Task Manager. By design, Task Manager provides detailed information about the programs and processes that are running on a system.

When you first launch Task Manager (by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] and clicking the Task Manager button), it opens to the Applications tab, which shows you a list of all of the currently running applications. However, switching to the Processes tab shows that there are many more processes running than there are applications.

One of the processes that you'll find in this list is Svchost.exe. In fact, you'll likely see several Svchost.exe processes listed.

Svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services run from dynamic link libraries (DLLs). If you want to quickly uncover which services are running under each of the Svchost.exe processes, you can use a command-line utility called TaskList, along with one of its special parameters.

Follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt.

2. Type tasklist /svc, and press [Enter].

Track down startup programs

As you may know, Windows XP provides several methods for automatically launching programs at startup. Of course, an obvious option is the Startup folder on the Start menu, and there's also the Run key in the registry.

If you're trying to track down exactly what programs XP launches at startup, you might think that you have to check several places. However, that's not the case. Windows XP provides two ways to view all the startup programs in one place.

The first place is the Startup tab of the System Configuration Utility. To access it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing [Windows]R.

2. Enter msconfig in the Open text box, and click OK.

3. Select the Startup tab.

1. Go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Information.

2. Expand the Software Environment branch.

3. Select the Startup Programs section.

Track System Up Time

If you want to know how long your Windows XP Professional system has been running since the last reboot, you can run the command line version of System Information. Unlike its GUI counterpart, the command line version offers System Up Time information.

In a command prompt window, type Systeminfo. Near the top of the report that displays on the screen, you'll find an item titled System Up Time that tells you in days, hours, minutes, and seconds how long the system has been running since the last reboot.

If you'd rather not visually sort through the report to track down the System Up Time, you can pipe the Systeminfo report through the DOS-based Find command to get this information. Open a command prompt window, and type the following command:

Systeminfo | Find "System Up Time:"

Note: The command line version of System Information is only available in Windows XP Professional.

Transfer IE Restricted Zone Settings

The restricted-zone data is not stored in a file; it's in the Registry. Launch REGEDIT and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Internet Settings\ ZoneMap\Domains. Double-click on this key to expand it; each subkey names a site you've identified with a specific zone.

Choose Export from the Registry or File menu and export the Domains key to a REG file. Make sure you save only the selected branch. If you're transferring from Windows NT/2000/XP to Windows 95/98/Me, you must save the file using the REGEDIT4 format. To put the same set of restricted sites on another computer, just copy the REG file to that computer and launch it.

Troubleshoot NTFS disk problems with Chkdsk's parameters

As you probably know, you can run the Chkdsk.exe utility to see how much disk space is available and if any problems exist with the disk.

You can run Chkdsk.exe on a Windows XP system by right-clicking a drive letter in My Computer and selecting Properties. In the Properties dialog box, select the Tools tab, and click the Check Now button in the Error-checking section. This opens a dialog box with options for automatically fixing file system errors and attempting to recover bad sectors.

However, the command-line version of Chkdsk offers four additional parameters that apply only to NTFS-formatted disks. These parameters can be useful in a number of disk troubleshooting operations.

Here's a closer look at these parameters:

• /X--This forces the volume to dismount first. This operation invalidates all open handles to the drive.
• /I--This instructs Chkdsk to perform a less vigorous check of index entries, which reduces the amount of time needed to run Chkdsk.
• /C--This instructs Chkdsk to skip the checking of cycles within the folder structure, which reduces the amount of time needed to run Chkdsk.
• /L[:size]--This allows you to change the size of the log file to the specified size. If you omit the size parameter, /L displays the current size.

Troubleshoot shutdown problems

Quite a few shutdown problems are related to software and hardware incompatibility. If your computer restarts instead of shutting down, it could be the result of a fatal error. By default, Windows XP reboots when these errors occur.

Here's how to prevent automatic rebooting:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon.

2. Select Properties.

3. Click the Advanced tab.

4. In the Startup And Recovery section, select Settings.

5. Clear the Automatically Restart check box.

For more tips on how to troubleshoot XP shutdown problems, check out Microsoft's Web site.

Troubleshoot slow boot times

Improvements in Windows XP make it boot and load faster than any other Microsoft OS. Or, at least it should. If it doesn't, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot this problem.

One of the most common causes of slow boot times in XP is a bad driver within a hardware device. Device drivers impact overall system performance. If your computer is slow or crashes frequently, consider updating the drivers.

Another reason for poor boot performance is slow hardware. For example, hibernation and boot sequence take much longer on a 1-GHz laptop than on an 800-MHz desktop with a fast hard drive. Hard drive performance has a greater impact than CPU speed.

The boot performance problem often is the result of a software/hardware combination, but these scenarios are hard to troubleshoot. Fortunately, Microsoft has a special utility called Bootvis that can help you identify devices that cause delays during the boot process.

Here's how:

1. Download and run the Bootvis utility.

2. On the Trace menu, select Next Boot + Driver Delays.

3. Click OK. The computer will reboot and analyze the boot procedure. After the reboot, you'll be able to see what happened during the boot process, such as which drivers were loaded and which ones took the most time to initialize.

4. Select Optimize System from the Trace menu. This will restart the computer and optimize it for boot performance.

Turn Off IP Messaging Service

Network administrators have used the Messenger service built into both Windows 2000 and XP (not to be confused with Windows or MSN Messenger) to broadcast notices to all network users using net send IP address message in the command prompt. These days, however, they're much more likely to use e-mail. In their place, spammers and users on your network who know your IP address can use Messenger to pester you with alerts.

The service is loaded at start-up by default. If you don't want to receive these messages any more, you need to follow the following steps.

Click on Start and select Run. Type services.msc and press OK. Now double-click on the Messenger service and press Stop. From the Startup type list, select Disabled to prevent Messenger from loading automatically the next time Windows starts up.

If you are running a hardware firewall, messages from outside your network won't get to you anyway; with a software firewall your system will not receive messages even from within your network. But you might as well turn off the service if you are sure you don't need it.

Turn Off the "Low Disk Space" Warning

Windows XP will warn you when one of your hard drives has less than 200MB of free space. It will continue to warn you at predefined intervals, and the balloons will remain open for 30 seconds when you have less than 80MB of space.

If you're well aware that you're low on space and don't want to be repeatedly reminded, click on Start | Run, type Regedit, and click on OK. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT _USER\ Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. If there's no DWORD value there, create a new one called NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.

Once you are in the Explorer folder, select Edit from the menu, select New, and choose DWORD value. Now double-click on the new DWORD and assign it the value 1. Log off and log on once more, and you won't receive the warning again. Note that the warning will be turned off for all your hard drives.