Windows XP For Dummies

The top-selling technology book of all time with over 9.5 million copies in print, Windows For Dummies, is now updated to help users figure out Windows XP-the fun and easy way. * The Windows operating system controls software and user tasks on a PC. Windows XP is the latest release of the OS that dominates the worldwide PC user market. Covers the essentials new and experienced Windows users need to become familiar with the latest release of the Windows operating system and use its basic and brand new features. * Covers the enhanced features of the new release, including making your way around the new interface and the enhanced media and connectivity features. * Series features: Includes the simple instructions and friendly advice that have made the Dummies books the choice of over 100 million readers. About This Book......Page 16 How to Use This Book......Page 17 And What about You?......Page 18 How This Book Is Organized......Page 19 Icons Used in This Book......Page 20 Where to Go from Here......Page 21 Bare-Bones Windows XP Stuff......Page 23 What Are Windows and Windows XP?......Page 25 What Does Windows Do?......Page 26 How Does Windows XP Affect My Older Programs?......Page 29 Should I Bother Using Windows XP?......Page 30 Bracing Yourself (And Your Computer) for Windows XP......Page 31 The Computer......Page 32 The Microprocessor (CPU)......Page 34 Disks and Disk Drives......Page 35 The Mouse and That Double-Click Stuff......Page 40 Video Cards and Monitors......Page 44 Keyboards......Page 46 Modems and the Internet......Page 50 Printers......Page 52 Sound Cards (Making Barfing Noises)......Page 53 Ports......Page 54 Parts Required by Windows XP......Page 56 Activation......Page 60 Backing Up a Disk......Page 62 Clicking......Page 63 Defaults (And the Any Key)......Page 64 Desktop (And Changing Its Background)......Page 65 Dragging and Dropping......Page 66 Drivers......Page 67 Files......Page 68 Graphical User Interfaces......Page 69 Hardware and Software......Page 70 The Internet......Page 71 Kilobytes, Megabytes, and So On......Page 72 Memory......Page 74 The Mouse......Page 75 Networks......Page 76 Plug and Play......Page 77 Quitting or Exiting......Page 78 Save Command......Page 79 Save As Command......Page 80 Shortcuts......Page 81 The Windows......Page 82 The World Wide Web......Page 83 Making Windows XP Do Something......Page 84 Starting Windows XP......Page 86 Logging On to Windows XP......Page 87 Pull-Down Menus......Page 93 Printing Your Work......Page 97 Saving Your Work......Page 98 Logging Off of Windows XP......Page 99 Field Guide to Buttons, Bars, Boxes, Folders, and Files......Page 101 A Typical Window......Page 102 Bars......Page 103 The Button Family......Page 109 Filling Out Bothersome Forms in Dialog Boxes......Page 114 Just Tell Me How to Open a File!......Page 120 Hey! When Do I Click, and When Do I Double-Click?......Page 123 When Do I Use the Left Mouse Button, and When Do I Use the Right One?......Page 124 Moving a Window to the Top of the Pile......Page 126 Moving a Window from Here to There......Page 127 Making a Window Bigger or Smaller......Page 128 Making a Window Fill the Whole Screen......Page 130 Finding Lost Windows on the Desktop......Page 132 Finding Lost Files, Folders, Music, Photos, Videos, People, or Computers......Page 137 That “Cut and Paste” Stuff (Moving Around Words, Pictures, and Sounds)......Page 145 Examining the Cut and Paste Concept (And Copy, Too)......Page 146 Highlighting the Important Stuff......Page 147 Cutting, Copying, or Deleting What You Highlighted......Page 149 Pasting Information into Another Window......Page 152 Leaving Scraps on the Desktop Deliberately......Page 153 Sharing It All on the Network......Page 155 Fiddling with User Accounts......Page 156 Skip the Rest of This Unless You Have or Want a Network......Page 163 How Do I Create My Own Computer Network?......Page 170 Letting the Network Setup Wizard Set Up Your Network......Page 174 Using Windows XP Applications......Page 177 Your Desktop, Start Button, and Taskbar (And......Page 179 Rolling Objects along the Windows XP Desktop......Page 180 The Way-Cool Taskbar......Page 190 Controlling the Printer......Page 197 The Start Button’s Reason to Live......Page 199 The Start Menu’s Free Programs......Page 205 My Version of Windows XP Doesn’t Have the Right Freebie Programs!......Page 215 That Scary My Computer Program......Page 217 Why Is the My Computer Program So Frightening?......Page 218 Getting the Lowdown on Folders......Page 221 Peering into Your Drives and Folders......Page 222 Loading a Program or File......Page 226 Deleting and Undeleting Files, Folders, and Icons......Page 227 Copying or Moving a File, Folder, or Icon......Page 230 Selecting More Than One File or Folder......Page 233 Renaming a File, Folder, or Icon......Page 234 Using Legal Folder Names and Filenames......Page 235 Copying a Complete Floppy Disk......Page 236 Creating a Folder......Page 237 Seeing More Information about Files and Folders......Page 239 What’s That Windows Explorer Thing?......Page 242 How Do I Make the Network Work?......Page 244 Making My Computer and Windows Explorer List Missing Files......Page 246 Formatting a Disk......Page 247 Cruising the Web, Sending E- Mail, and Using Newsgroups......Page 249 What’s the Difference between the Internet, the World Wide Web, and a Web Browser?......Page 250 Who Can Use the Internet and World Wide Web?......Page 251 What’s an ISP, and Do I Need One?......Page 252 What Do I Need to Access the World Wide Web?......Page 254 Setting Up Your Internet Account with the Internet Connection Wizard......Page 255 What is a Web Browser?......Page 259 How Do I Navigate the Web with Internet Explorer?......Page 261 But How Do I Do This?......Page 267 Managing E-mail with Outlook Express......Page 271 Understanding Media Player......Page 285 Using Media Guide to Find Videos, Music, and Movie Trailers on the Internet......Page 288 Finding and Playing Internet Radio Stations......Page 291 Finding Media on Your Computer and Putting It into the Media Library......Page 294 Creating Playlists......Page 295 Playing CDs......Page 296 Playing DVDs......Page 298 Playing MP3s and WMAs......Page 299 Creating WMAs or MP3s......Page 300 Storing Files in Your My Music and Shared Music Folders......Page 303 Playing Videos......Page 305 Moving Music or Video to an MP3 Player or Pocket PC......Page 306 Burning Your Own CDs......Page 309 Adding Skins to Media Player......Page 311 Fixing Media Player Muckups......Page 312 Bizarre Multimedia Words......Page 314 Help!......Page 317 Customizing Windows XP (Fiddling with the Control Panel)......Page 319 Finding the Right Control Panel Option......Page 320 Appearance and Themes......Page 328 Add or Remove Programs......Page 339 Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices......Page 342 Performance and Maintenance......Page 343 Printers and Other Hardware......Page 347 Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options......Page 354 The Case of the Broken Window......Page 356 Restoring Calm with System Restore......Page 357 My Mouse Doesn’t Work Right......Page 358 Making Older Programs Run under Windows XP......Page 359 It Says I Need to Be an Administrator!......Page 360 Keeping Windows Up-to-Date......Page 361 I’m Supposed to Install a New Driver......Page 362 His Version of Windows XP Has More Programs Than Mine!......Page 363 My Computer Is Frozen Up Solid......Page 364 The Printer Isn’t Working Right......Page 365 My Double-Clicks Are Now Single Clicks!......Page 366 Figuring Out Those Annoying Pop-Up Messages......Page 367 AutoComplete......Page 368 Click Here to Activate Now......Page 369 Error Connecting To . . .......Page 370 Found New Hardware......Page 371 Hiding Your Inactive Notification Icons......Page 372 Missing Shortcut......Page 373 New Programs Installed......Page 374 Open With . . .......Page 375 Rename......Page 377 Stay Current with Automatic Updates......Page 378 There Are Unused Icons on Your Desktop......Page 379 When You Send Information to the Internet......Page 380 You Have Files Waiting to Be Written to the CD......Page 381 Get Me Some Help, and Fast!......Page 382 Consulting a Program’s Built-In Computer Guru......Page 387 Using Windows Help and Support Center......Page 390 The Part of Tens......Page 394 Way Cool Folders......Page 396 Remote Assistance......Page 398 Files and Settings Transfer Wizard......Page 399 Increased Stability......Page 400 Built-in Firewall against Internet Hackers......Page 401 Making Windows XP Run Like Your Old Version of Windows......Page 402 How Do I Change the Volume?......Page 404 What Version of Windows Do I Have?......Page 405 My Bar Full of Buttons Just Fell Off!......Page 406 The Taskbar Keeps Disappearing!......Page 407 My Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work......Page 408 It Won’t Let Me Do Something Unless I’m An Administrator!......Page 409 Ten (Or So) Windows XP Icons and What They Do......Page 411 How Do I Remember All the Stuff I Can Do to a File?......Page 415 Should I Upgrade to the Windows XP Home or Professional Version?......Page 417 How Do I Add a Picture of My Face to My User Account?......Page 418 Why Can’t Windows XP Play My DVDs?......Page 419 How Do I Get Rid of the Welcome Screen?......Page 420 How Can I See Previews of My Pictures?......Page 421 What Will I Miss If I Don’t Use the Internet with Windows XP?......Page 422 Glossary......Page 424 About This Book 16 How to Use This Book 17 And What about You? 18 How This Book Is Organized 19 Icons Used in This Book 20 Where to Go from Here 21 Bare-Bones Windows XP Stuff 23 What Is Windows XP? 25 What Are Windows and Windows XP? 25 What Does Windows Do? 26 How Does Windows XP Affect My Older Programs? 29 Should I Bother Using Windows XP? 30 Bracing Yourself (And Your Computer) for Windows XP 31 Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts 32 The Computer 32 The Microprocessor (CPU) 34 Disks and Disk Drives 35 The Mouse and That Double-Click Stuff 40 Video Cards and Monitors 44 Keyboards 46 Modems and the Internet 50 Printers 52 Networks 53 Sound Cards (Making Barfing Noises) 53 Ports 54 Parts Required by Windows XP 56 Windows XP Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know 60 Activation 60 Backing Up a Disk 62 Clicking 63 The Cursor 64 Defaults (And the Any Key) 64 Desktop (And Changing Its Background) 65 Double-Clicking 66 Dragging and Dropping 66 Drivers 67 Files 68 Folders (Directories) 69 Graphical User Interfaces 69 Hardware and Software 70 Icons 71 The Internet 71 Kilobytes, Megabytes, and So On 72 Loading, Running, Executing, and Launching 74 Memory 74 The Mouse 75 Networks 76 Pointers/Arrows 77 Plug and Play 77 Quitting or Exiting 78 Save Command 79 Save As Command 80 ScanDisk 81 Shortcuts 81 Temp Files 82 The Windows 82 The World Wide Web 83 Making Windows XP Do Something 84 Starting Windows XP 86 Logging On to Windows XP 87 Pull-Down Menus 93 Printing Your Work 97 Saving Your Work 98 Logging Off of Windows XP 99 Field Guide to Buttons, Bars, Boxes, Folders, and Files 101 A Typical Window 102 Bars 103 Borders 109 The Button Family 109 The Useless Control-Menu Button 114 Filling Out Bothersome Forms in Dialog Boxes 114 Just Tell Me How to Open a File! 120 Hey! When Do I Click, and When Do I Double-Click? 123 When Do I Use the Left Mouse Button, and When Do I Use the Right One? 124 Moving Windows Around 126 Moving a Window to the Top of the Pile 126 Moving a Window from Here to There 127 Making a Window Bigger or Smaller 128 Making a Window Fill the Whole Screen 130 I Can’t Find It! 132 Finding Lost Windows on the Desktop 132 Finding Lost Files, Folders, Music, Photos, Videos, People, or Computers 137 That “Cut and Paste” Stuff (Moving Around Words, Pictures, and Sounds) 145 Examining the Cut and Paste Concept (And Copy, Too) 146 Highlighting the Important Stuff 147 Cutting, Copying, or Deleting What You Highlighted 149 Pasting Information into Another Window 152 Leaving Scraps on the Desktop Deliberately 153 Sharing It All on the Network 155 Fiddling with User Accounts 156 Skip the Rest of This Unless You Have or Want a Network 163 How Do I Create My Own Computer Network? 170 Letting the Network Setup Wizard Set Up Your Network 174 Using Windows XP Applications 177 Your Desktop, Start Button, and Taskbar (And 179 Rolling Objects along the Windows XP Desktop 180 The Way-Cool Taskbar 190 Controlling the Printer 197 The Start Button’s Reason to Live 199 The Start Menu’s Free Programs 205 My Version of Windows XP Doesn’t Have the Right Freebie Programs! 215 That Scary My Computer Program 217 Why Is the My Computer Program So Frightening? 218 Getting the Lowdown on Folders 221 Peering into Your Drives and Folders 222 Loading a Program or File 226 Deleting and Undeleting Files, Folders, and Icons 227 Copying or Moving a File, Folder, or Icon 230 Selecting More Than One File or Folder 233 Renaming a File, Folder, or Icon 234 Using Legal Folder Names and Filenames 235 Copying a Complete Floppy Disk 236 Creating a Folder 237 Seeing More Information about Files and Folders 239 What’s That Windows Explorer Thing? 242 How Do I Make the Network Work? 244 Making My Computer and Windows Explorer List Missing Files 246 Formatting a Disk 247 Cruising the Web, Sending E- Mail, and Using Newsgroups 249 What’s the Difference between the Internet, the World Wide Web, and a Web Browser? 250 Who Can Use the Internet and World Wide Web? 251 What’s an ISP, and Do I Need One? 252 What Do I Need to Access the World Wide Web? 254 Setting Up Your Internet Account with the Internet Connection Wizard 255 What is a Web Browser? 259 How Do I Navigate the Web with Internet Explorer? 261 But How Do I Do This? 267 Managing E-mail with Outlook Express 271 Sound! Movies! Media Player! 285 Understanding Media Player 285 Using Media Guide to Find Videos, Music, and Movie Trailers on the Internet 288 Finding and Playing Internet Radio Stations 291 Finding Media on Your Computer and Putting It into the Media Library 294 Creating Playlists 295 Playing CDs 296 Playing DVDs 298 Playing MP3s and WMAs 299 Creating WMAs or MP3s 300 Storing Files in Your My Music and Shared Music Folders 303 Playing Videos 305 Moving Music or Video to an MP3 Player or Pocket PC 306 Burning Your Own CDs 309 Adding Skins to Media Player 311 Fixing Media Player Muckups 312 Bizarre Multimedia Words 314 Help! 317 Customizing Windows XP (Fiddling with the Control Panel) 319 Finding the Right Control Panel Option 320 Appearance and Themes 328 Network and Internet Connections 339 Add or Remove Programs 339 Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices 342 Performance and Maintenance 343 Printers and Other Hardware 347 User Accounts 354 Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options 354 The Case of the Broken Window 356 Restoring Calm with System Restore 357 My Mouse Doesn’t Work Right 358 Making Older Programs Run under Windows XP 359 It Says I Need to Be an Administrator! 360 I’m Stuck in Menu Land 361 Keeping Windows Up-to-Date 361 All My Desktop Icons Vanished 362 I’m Supposed to Install a New Driver 362 His Version of Windows XP Has More Programs Than Mine! 363 I Clicked the Wrong Button (But Haven’t Lifted My Finger Yet) 364 My Computer Is Frozen Up Solid 364 The Printer Isn’t Working Right 365 My Double-Clicks Are Now Single Clicks! 366 Figuring Out Those Annoying Pop-Up Messages 367 Access Is Denied 368 AutoComplete 368 Click Here to Activate Now 369 Connect To . . . 370 Error Connecting To . . . 370 File Name Warning 371 Found New Hardware 371 Hiding Your Inactive Notification Icons 372 If You Remove This File, You Will No Longer Be Able to Run This Program 373 Missing Shortcut 373 New Programs Installed 374 New Updates Are Ready to Install 375 Open With . . . 375 Privacy Alert — Saving Cookies 377 Rename 377 Safe to Remove Hardware 378 Stay Current with Automatic Updates 378 There Are Unused Icons on Your Desktop 379 When You Send Information to the Internet 380 You Have Files Waiting to Be Written to the CD 381 Help on the Windows XP Help System 382 Get Me Some Help, and Fast! 382 Consulting a Program’s Built-In Computer Guru 387 Using Windows Help and Support Center 390 The Part of Tens 394 Ten Exciting New Windows XP Features 396 Way Cool Folders 396 Remote Assistance 398 Burning (Writing Information onto) CDs 399 Files and Settings Transfer Wizard 399 User Accounts 400 Increased Stability 400 Built-in Firewall against Internet Hackers 401 Automatically Sets Clock 402 Windows XP Must Be Activated 402 Making Windows XP Run Like Your Old Version of Windows 402 Ten Aggravating Things about Windows XP (And How to Fix Them) 404 How Do I Change the Volume? 404 What Version of Windows Do I Have? 405 I Want to Click Instead of Double- Click (Or Vice Versa)! 406 My Bar Full of Buttons Just Fell Off! 406 Keeping Track of All Those Windows Is Too Hard 407 The Taskbar Keeps Disappearing! 407 My Print Screen Key Doesn’t Work 408 Lining Up Two Windows on the Screen Is Too Hard 409 The Folder Lists the Wrong Stuff on My Floppy Disk 409 It Won’t Let Me Do Something Unless I’m An Administrator! 409 Ten (Or So) Windows XP Icons and What They Do 411 Ten Most Frequently Asked Windows Questions 415 How Do I Remember All the Stuff I Can Do to a File? 415 Should I Upgrade to the Windows XP Home or Professional Version? 417 How Do I Add a Picture of My Face to My User Account? 418 Why Can’t Windows XP Play My DVDs? 419 Why Can’t Windows XP Create MP3 Files? 420 How Do I Get Rid of the Welcome Screen? 420 How Can I See Previews of My Pictures? 421 How Can I Make All My Web Pages Open in a Full-Screen Window? 422 What Will I Miss If I Don’t Use the Internet with Windows XP? 422 Glossary 424 Windows is the world's most popular operating system, and Windows For Dummies is the bestselling computer book ever. When you look at Windows XP For Dummies, 2nd Edition, it's easy to see why. Here's all the stuff you want to know, served up in plain English and seasoned with a few chuckles. But make no mistake, this book means business. Author Andy Rathbone listened to what you wanted to know, and this edition is loaded with additional information about E-mail, faxing, and troubleshooting Maximizing security features Customizing and upgrading Windows XP Multimedia applications--CDs, digital music and photos, video, and more Answers to questions asked by thousands of Windows users If you're just getting started with Windows XP, you'll find Windows XP For Dummies, 2nd Edition is a lot easier than trying to get the fourth-grader next door to explain it to you. (Andy Rathbone is a lot more patient.) There's a whole section devoted to "Windows XP Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know," so you can get the hang of the basics quickly and in the privacy of your own home. And if you've been around a couple of generations of Windows, you'll be especially interested in how to squeeze maximum security from the beefed-up anti-spam and firewall features in Service Pack 2. Windows XP For Dummies, 2nd Edition is sort of like a buffet--you can sample everything, or just stick with the stuff you know you like. You'll find out how to Locate programs and files, organize your information, and fax, scan, or print documents Get online safely, send and receive e-mail, work with Internet Explorer's security toolbar, and steer clear of pop-ups, viruses, and spam Make Windows XP work the way you want it to, share your computer while maintaining your privacy, set up a network, and perform routine maintenance Transfer and organize pictures from your digital camera, edit digital video, and create custom CDs of your favorite tunes Use Windows XP's troubleshooting wizards and become your own computer doctor With its task-oriented table of contents and tear-out cheat sheet, Windows XP For Dummies, 2nd Edition is easy to use. You can quickly find what you want to know, and you just may discover that this book is as important to your computer as the power cord. Windows XP is the most powerful of Microsofts Windows software software thats been updated many times since starting to breathe in January 1985. XP is short for Experience, but Microsoft calls it Windows XP to give it a more modern-day, "at-this-happening-moment" sound. Someday, sometime, something in Windows XP will eventually leave you scratching your head. No other program brings so many buttons, bars, and babble to the screen. Windows XP For Dummies is for everyone who has a clue about what they want to do with their computers. Bypassing the technical hoopla, this friendly reference comes to the rescue when Windows XP stumps you or when you're feeling spunky and want to dig into deeper details of the ever-popular operating system. In either case, you can expect to pick up information on Beginning with the basics, this book explains all the Windows XP stuff that everybody thinks they already know until the program starts tossing them stumbling blocks. Windows XP For Dummies clears the way to Most people meet up with Windows XP by something other than choice. Their new computer probably came with a version already installed; maybe the workplace introduced a Windows XP update; or perhaps the latest version of their favorite program required Windows XP. Any in case, Windows XP For Dummies helps you adjust easily to the new Windows kid in town and even enjoy his company! Covers e-mail, anti-spam tools, faxing, troubleshooting, customization, multimedia, and CDs and DVDs-plus a brief look ahead to the next generation of Windows, codenamed "Longhorn" * Walks first-time Windows XP users through signing on, navigating the interface, using basic applications, finding and working with files, handling Internet functions, setting up peripherals, and fixing basic problems