Not A Tweak, But A Double XP Surprise!

Neither Win2K nor WinME has the ability to create a simple, basic, DOS- based boot
floppy (a "startup disk") unless you jump through hoops or do things in nonstandard
ways. Because XP is the fusion of Win2K and Win9x/ME, I assumed it would follow
the same "no boot floppy" tack. But instead, I was surprised to poke around in XP
and see that the format option there does indeed offer a "Create MS-DOS Startup Disk."

As an experiment, I created a startup disk, and all went smoothly. I was able to use
the disk to boot my PC without any problems. But when it started up, I got the
second surprise. The DOS boot message showed "Microsoft Windows Millennium." To
confirm this, I typed "Ver" to see what version of DOS was running, and the screen
showed: Windows Millennium [Version 4.90.300]

Although it's very strange to see the WinME startup message on an XP-created
floppy, all this means is that Microsoft cribbed a few essential DOS boot files from
WinME, and made it so XP can drop them onto a freshly- formatted floppy for you.
I'm glad they did: It's a very good thing that Microsoft restored the ability to make a
simple boot disk.

Display the Sharing Tab in Folder Properties

In Windows 2000, getting to the Sharing options for a folder was simple: Just right click,
choose Properties, and you'd see a Sharing tab. In Windows XP, this feature is
missing by default, but you can make the system display the Sharing tab if desired.
Simply open up Folder Options (My Computer, then Tools, Folder Options) and
navigate to the View tab. In the Advanced Settings section, scroll down to the
bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), a Mickey Mouse
feature if there ever was one. Now share your folders on the LAN as you would in
Windows 2000.

Try automatic camera recognition in windows xp

If you have a digital camera, try this trick for downloading pictures to your machine.
Don't load any of the drivers or software that comes with your digital camera.
Instead--if your camera supports USB--connect your camera via a USB port. There's
a good chance that Windows XP will recognize the digicam. After a few moments, the
Scanner And Camera Wizard should start up and walk you through the steps
involved in copying your pictures from the camera to a folder of your choice on your
computer--much faster than doing it manually. You may still need to install your
camera's software if it provides configuration controls you can't access in any other
way, such as those for changing the picture resolution on your camera or the
software's special editing functions.

Disable Automatic Windows Update

Windows XP is configured out of the box to routinely scan for and download updates
to Windows XP automatically. While this can be somewhat convenient for those with
very fast Internet connections and those who would otherwise forget to check for
updates, it can be a nuisance for the rest of us, who are still using 56k or, even
worse 33k modem connections.
To control or disable automatic updating, open the System icon in Control Panel (or
right-click My Computer and select Properties), and choose the Automatic Updating tab.
To check for updates manually, open Internet Explorer and select Windows Update
from the Tools menu.

My Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP

There are a number of users who have been complaining that their PC will no longer
automatically power down/shut off without pressing the power off button on the
computers unlike in Windows Me/95/2000. There could be a number of reasons for
this - but the main one seems to be that ACPI is not enabled on the computer or in
Windows XP. Here is how to enable it:
1. Click - Start - Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance - Power Options Tab
2. Then click APM - Enable Advanced Power Management Support

Automatically defrag drives with a new context menu item

Create a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf in Notepad (be sure to
save with it with the Save as type set to All Files and not Text Documents) and place
the following text inside:
; context_defrag.INF
; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows XP
[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"
[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe
[AddMe]
HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"
Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context menu to XP that allows
you to automatically defrag drives, using the command line version of the built-in
defragmentation utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer, right-click,
and choose Defrag. A command line window will appear, and that drive will be
defragged. When it's complete, the window just disappears.

Missing Administrator account

Once you have created regular user accounts, the default Administrator account
vanishes from the Welcome screen, which you see when the computer starts up.
Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard logon
dialog. You can log on as Administrator from here. To switch among accounts, just
click the Log Off button on the Start menu. You'll then see the Log Off Windows
dialog box. Click the Switch User button, and you'll be taken to the Welcome screen
where you can select and log on to other accounts.