Turn Off System Recovery

Right click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the System Restore tab
and check the box Turn off System Restore. (This will increase Windows performance
& save disk space)

Turn on your firewall

Microsoft included a firewall in Windows XP to keep you safe from hackers while you
cruise the Internet. How do you know that the Internet Connection Firewall is on? Go
to the Control Panel and double-click the Network Connections icon. In the dial-up,
DSL, or cable connection dialog that appears, check the Status column. If your
firewall is on, it should say Firewalled. You can turn the firewall off with the check
box, but unless you are going to add a third-party firewall for heightened security,
it's best to leave it on.
Now that you know that your firewall is on, how do you know that it's doing its job?
Test it with ShieldsUp, the free testing service sponsored by Gibson Research.
According to our tests, XP's Internet Connection Firewall kept the computer in full
stealth mode. Hackers could not break in and couldn't even see the computer online.
But, given the latest security problems with USB 2.0, etc, you should always go to
Windows Update to make sure you have the latest patches, no matter what
operating system you use.

Watch your cookies

In XP, the Documents And Settings folder holds all user information, including
configuration settings, favorites, and cookies. The Documents And
Settings\Username\Cookies folder is where XP stashes cookies. How do you control
the number of cookies you allow on your system? Click Start > Control Panel >
Network And Internet Connections > Internet Options. Click the Privacy tab, then
use the slider bar to modify your cookie settings. For instance, you can block cookies
from sites that use personal identification without your consent. To increase your
security, try out the other privacy settings in this dialog. The lowest level is Accept
All Cookies while the highest is Block All Cookies, with low, medium, medium-high,
and high settings in between. (An explanation of each appears as you move between
settings.) Keep in mind that rejecting cookies may limit your actions on some Web
sites, and some sites use cookies to track how many times you see a popup, for
example, on this website, if you blocked cookies, you would see a popup on every page.

Group and Ungroup Similar Taskbar Items

Just open three or four Internet Explorer windows and you won't see them all in a
row on your Taskbar, as you did in previous versions of Windows. By default,
Windows XP groups similar items on one button. For example, if you have 3 Internet
Explorer windows open, you'll see an Explorer item with the number 3 on it. Click it
to see a pop-up list of those windows, then select the one you want.
If you would like, Windows XP will display all open windows separately on the
Taskbar. Right click a blank area of the Taskbar and select Properties. Under Taskbar
Properties, deselect Group Similar Taskbar Buttons, then click OK.

Protect your identity

Like many other audio players, Windows Media Player rushes out to the Internet to
find information for you when you play a CD. Some of this information, such as song
titles and album art, is useful, but Media Player also identifies your copy of Media
Player to the site where it's getting data. Why? According to the help file, "The server
uses this unique identifier to monitor your connection. By monitoring your
connection, the server can make adjustments to increase the playback quality and to
alert you about events that occur when receiving streams over the Internet."
If you're disturbed by this exchange of information, here's how to stop it. In
Windows Media Player, click Tools > Options and go to the Player tab. Notice the
option that says "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?" Turn it off.

Know your rights

Windows XP comes bundled with Windows Media Player 8.0. While Media Player
plays just about any digital media file format--it supports 35, including MP3, it
records music only in the Windows Media Audio, or WMA, format. The reason?
Content protection.
When recording, or ripping, music from CDs, Media Player allows you to make
protected recordings so that no one will be able to copy the recording from one
computer to another. You can turn copy protection on or off on the Copy Music tab
by checking or unchecking the box that says Protect Content.

Change Out Your Pointer Scheme

Tired of seeing your pointer as an arrow or an hourglass all the time? Windows XP
offers a number of alternative pointer schemes, such as Dinosaur, Ocean and Sports.
Open the Control Panel, double-click Mouse, and select the Pointers tab. (If you start
in Category view, select Appearance and Themes, then click Mouse Pointers under
"See Also.") Next to Schemes, click the down arrow and select a scheme to preview
its pointers. Click OK to apply the scheme to your desktop. Simple as that.