This pocket reference is intended to provide the information Windows XP users need most often in a quick and concise format. This tiny volume is small enough to fit in your pocket or laptop case, yet is packed with hundreds of tips, shortcuts, and other tidbits of information that will make Windows XP easier to use.
Enjoy quick access to keyboard and mouse shortcuts (Chapter 2), summaries of all the programs and games included in Windows XP (Chapter 3), and a 700-entry setting locator (Chapter 4). More experienced users will appreciate the most commonly used Registry tweaks (Chapter 5), documentation on all command prompt commands (Chapter 6), and a security checklist (Chapter 7) to help protect your computer.
For less-experienced Windows XP users, a brief crash course is included at the end of this chapter. If you're a hands-on learner, you should be able to pick up any of the concepts discussed here in no time at all. Anyone wishing to learn more will benefit from the additional background and details provided by full-size books such as Windows XP in a Nutshell, Windows XP Annoyances, and Windows Power Tools, also available from O'Reilly.
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
-
Constant width Used to indicate anything to be typed, as well as command-line computer output, code examples, Registry keys, and keyboard accelerators (discussed below).
-
Constant width italic Used to indicate variables in examples and so-called "replaceable" text. For instance, to open a document in Notepad from the command line, you'd type
notepadfilename, wherefilenameis the full path and name of the document you wish to open.- [Square brackets]
Square brackets around an option (usually a command-line parameter) mean that the parameter is optional. Parameters and keywords not shown in square brackets are typically mandatory. If you see two or more options separated by the | character, it means that they are mutually exclusive; only one or the other can be specified, but not both.
- Italic
Used to introduce new terms and to indicate URLs, variables in text, file and folder/directory names, and UNC pathnames.
Rather than using procedural steps to tell you how to reach a given Windows XP user interface element or application, we use a shorthand path notation. For example:
| Start → Programs → Accessories → Calculator |
means "Open the Start menu (on the Desktop), then choose Programs, then choose Accessories, and then click Calculator." The path is always relative to a well-known location, such as the following:
- Control Panel
Start → Control Panel (in the Windows XP-style Start Menu)
Start → Settings → Control Panel (in the Classic Start Menu)
- My Computer, My Network Places, Recycle Bin
The familiar Desktop icons by these names, any of which may or may not be visible, depending on your settings
- Start
The Start button on the Taskbar
- Windows Explorer/Explorer
The two-pane folder view, commonly referred to as simply "Explorer": Start → Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Windows Explorer
- xxxx menu
Menu xxxx in the application currently being discussed (e.g., File, Edit)
Note that the elements of the Control Panel may or may not be divided into categories, depending on context and a setting on your computer. So, rather than a cumbersome explanation of this unfortunate design every time the Control Panel comes up, the following notation is used:
| Control Panel → [Performance and Maintenance] → Scheduled Tasks |
where the category (in this case, Performance and Maintenance) is shown in square brackets, implying that you may or may not encounter this step.
