Disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen
By default, the Microsoft Windows XP logon screen displays a Turn off computer button. This display seems convenient, until one of your kids happens to shut down your computer and close all your programs. To prevent this from happening, you can disable the Turn off computer button. You can still shut down your computer; you just have to log on with a computer administrator account first.
To disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen
1.
Log on to your computer as an administrator. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.
Click Performance and Maintenance.
3.
Click Administrative Tools.
4.
Double-click Local Security Policy.
5.
Expand Local Policies by clicking the plus sign next to it, and then click Security Options.
6.
In the right pane, double-click the Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on policy.
7.
Click Disabled, and then click OK.
Windows XP removes the Turn off computer button from the Welcome screen—so no more shutting down without logging on!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Help save energy and the environment by putting your monitor to sleep
Help save energy and the environment by putting your monitor to sleep
You can save electricity and reduce your impact on the environment by activating your monitor’s sleep feature in Microsoft Windows XP. Activating sleep settings on just one computer may prevent considerable CO2 emissions each year. Letting your monitor sleep allows it to go into a low-power mode when you’re not using it. To wake your monitor, you simply touch your mouse or keyboard.
To set Windows XP to automatically turn your monitor off when your computer isn’t being used
1.
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.
2.
In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab. Then, click the Power button.
3.
In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Turn off monitor list, and select a time to automatically turn off your monitor. Five minutes is a realistic setting. If you have a portable computer, set the time for both Plugged in and Running on batteries.
4.
Click OK twice.
Windows XP will let your monitor sleep after your computer has been idle for the specified number of minutes. To reactivate your monitor, move your mouse, or press a key. You’ll save almost as much power as if you had manually turned your monitor off, but you won’t have to press your monitor’s power button.
You can save electricity and reduce your impact on the environment by activating your monitor’s sleep feature in Microsoft Windows XP. Activating sleep settings on just one computer may prevent considerable CO2 emissions each year. Letting your monitor sleep allows it to go into a low-power mode when you’re not using it. To wake your monitor, you simply touch your mouse or keyboard.
To set Windows XP to automatically turn your monitor off when your computer isn’t being used
1.
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.
2.
In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab. Then, click the Power button.
3.
In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Turn off monitor list, and select a time to automatically turn off your monitor. Five minutes is a realistic setting. If you have a portable computer, set the time for both Plugged in and Running on batteries.
4.
Click OK twice.
Windows XP will let your monitor sleep after your computer has been idle for the specified number of minutes. To reactivate your monitor, move your mouse, or press a key. You’ll save almost as much power as if you had manually turned your monitor off, but you won’t have to press your monitor’s power button.
Un lock ur tool bar
Unlock toolbars to work with them
A toolbar is a collection of buttons or icons—usually displayed across the top of the screen—that represents the different tasks you can do within a program. For example, in Microsoft Internet Explorer, there is a toolbar for the standard Internet Explorer command buttons, one for entering an Internet address, and one for quick links you can set up.
When you open a toolbar, it will appear in a particular spot on the screen. If you want to change the location of the toolbar you can move it by dragging it to the new location. You can also resize the toolbar by dragging its edge. If you find a toolbar that cannot be moved or resized, the toolbar may be locked.
To unlock a toolbar
1.
Make sure you have only one window open for the program. (You can look at the taskbar at the bottom of your screen to verify this.) Then, right-click the toolbar.
2.
If Lock the Toolbars appears on the shortcut menu and is selected (a check mark appears to the left of it), click Lock the Toolbars to unlock the toolbar. If you see Lock the Toolbars, but no check mark appears to the left of it, the toolbar is already unlocked.
Note: If Lock the Toolbars does not appear on the shortcut menu, you may not be able to move or resize the toolbar.
If you are able move the toolbar, once you’ve moved the toolbar to the location where you want it, select Lock the Toolbars so that it isn’t inadvertently moved. To make sure the change is permanent, lock the toolbar, exit the program, and then reopen it. The toolbar should be locked.
A toolbar is a collection of buttons or icons—usually displayed across the top of the screen—that represents the different tasks you can do within a program. For example, in Microsoft Internet Explorer, there is a toolbar for the standard Internet Explorer command buttons, one for entering an Internet address, and one for quick links you can set up.
When you open a toolbar, it will appear in a particular spot on the screen. If you want to change the location of the toolbar you can move it by dragging it to the new location. You can also resize the toolbar by dragging its edge. If you find a toolbar that cannot be moved or resized, the toolbar may be locked.
To unlock a toolbar
1.
Make sure you have only one window open for the program. (You can look at the taskbar at the bottom of your screen to verify this.) Then, right-click the toolbar.
2.
If Lock the Toolbars appears on the shortcut menu and is selected (a check mark appears to the left of it), click Lock the Toolbars to unlock the toolbar. If you see Lock the Toolbars, but no check mark appears to the left of it, the toolbar is already unlocked.
Note: If Lock the Toolbars does not appear on the shortcut menu, you may not be able to move or resize the toolbar.
If you are able move the toolbar, once you’ve moved the toolbar to the location where you want it, select Lock the Toolbars so that it isn’t inadvertently moved. To make sure the change is permanent, lock the toolbar, exit the program, and then reopen it. The toolbar should be locked.
§peed up menu di§play
Speed up menu display
Published: September 7, 2006
Microsoft Windows XP uses many visual effects to provide a rich, friendly interface. One of these settings allows menus to fade into view when you open them. This visual effect is so smooth that you may never have noticed it; however, the effect does cause menus to take a little longer to appear.
On a fast computer, this shouldn't be an issue. But on a computer that isn’t responding as quickly as you'd like, you can make menus display faster.
To speed up menu display
1.
Click Start. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.
Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance area, click Settings.
3.
On the Visual Effects tab in the Performance Options dialog box, clear the Fade or slide menus into view check box.
4.
Click OK.
5.
In the System Properties dialog box, click OK.
Now when you click a menu, it will appear almost instantly
Published: September 7, 2006
Microsoft Windows XP uses many visual effects to provide a rich, friendly interface. One of these settings allows menus to fade into view when you open them. This visual effect is so smooth that you may never have noticed it; however, the effect does cause menus to take a little longer to appear.
On a fast computer, this shouldn't be an issue. But on a computer that isn’t responding as quickly as you'd like, you can make menus display faster.
To speed up menu display
1.
Click Start. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.
Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance area, click Settings.
3.
On the Visual Effects tab in the Performance Options dialog box, clear the Fade or slide menus into view check box.
4.
Click OK.
5.
In the System Properties dialog box, click OK.
Now when you click a menu, it will appear almost instantly
Defrag the hard drives
Defrag your hard drive
Defragmentation of a hard drive is the act of re-ordering the data on the drive so that each file can be read continuously from the disk. By default, Windows XP will attempt to store any files it needs to write to the hard drive in consecutive clusters (a cluster is the smallest unit of storage space available on a hard drive) on the drive, so that the file can then be read continuously.
A hard drive which has been frequently used over a long period of time will have developed many fragmented files, files which are scattered over different clusters on the surface of the disk. This can occur because of many factors, for example uninstall programs that leave files behind, system crashes while in the act of writing to the hard drive, regular deletion of files, etc.
A file becomes fragmented when the portion of consecutive clusters on the disk that Windows begins to write into is not large enough to hold the whole file. The remainder of the file then needs to be written to a different physical area of the disk. This does not have any effect on the operating system's ability to access the files themselves, but it does slow down disk access times (and by extension, any application that depends on disk access) due to the extra time needed to reposition the read heads of the hard drive to access the rest of the fragmented file.
Windows XP includes a disk defragmentation utility which you can use to re-arrange the files on the drive and eliminate fragmentation. This can have a significant affect on the speed of your computer. To access this utility, go to 'start\programs\accessories\system tools\disk defragmenter.'
To begin with, you need to analyze your hard disk(s) to see if defragmentation is needed. Select a drive and hit the 'analyze' button. This could take a little while depending on the amount of data on the drive. Whille the system is analyzing, it is best to leave your computer alone or the process may need to restart.
Once the analysis is finished, you will have a graphical representation of your disk's level of fragmentation. See the pic below for an example of a highly fragmented drive.
Windows will also inform you if it recommends defragmenting the drive. You must have 15% of the drive free in order to fully defragment it. Anything less will result in only a partial re-ordering of the files. You may need to delete a few things to obtain this free space.
To defragment the drive, select it and hit the 'defragment' button. Note that depending on the size of the drive and the level of fragmentation, this can take a long time. It's a good thing to leave overnight, since you should not run anything else while doing the defrag either.
Defragmentation of a hard drive is the act of re-ordering the data on the drive so that each file can be read continuously from the disk. By default, Windows XP will attempt to store any files it needs to write to the hard drive in consecutive clusters (a cluster is the smallest unit of storage space available on a hard drive) on the drive, so that the file can then be read continuously.
A hard drive which has been frequently used over a long period of time will have developed many fragmented files, files which are scattered over different clusters on the surface of the disk. This can occur because of many factors, for example uninstall programs that leave files behind, system crashes while in the act of writing to the hard drive, regular deletion of files, etc.
A file becomes fragmented when the portion of consecutive clusters on the disk that Windows begins to write into is not large enough to hold the whole file. The remainder of the file then needs to be written to a different physical area of the disk. This does not have any effect on the operating system's ability to access the files themselves, but it does slow down disk access times (and by extension, any application that depends on disk access) due to the extra time needed to reposition the read heads of the hard drive to access the rest of the fragmented file.
Windows XP includes a disk defragmentation utility which you can use to re-arrange the files on the drive and eliminate fragmentation. This can have a significant affect on the speed of your computer. To access this utility, go to 'start\programs\accessories\system tools\disk defragmenter.'
To begin with, you need to analyze your hard disk(s) to see if defragmentation is needed. Select a drive and hit the 'analyze' button. This could take a little while depending on the amount of data on the drive. Whille the system is analyzing, it is best to leave your computer alone or the process may need to restart.
Once the analysis is finished, you will have a graphical representation of your disk's level of fragmentation. See the pic below for an example of a highly fragmented drive.
Windows will also inform you if it recommends defragmenting the drive. You must have 15% of the drive free in order to fully defragment it. Anything less will result in only a partial re-ordering of the files. You may need to delete a few things to obtain this free space.
To defragment the drive, select it and hit the 'defragment' button. Note that depending on the size of the drive and the level of fragmentation, this can take a long time. It's a good thing to leave overnight, since you should not run anything else while doing the defrag either.
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