10 Things U May Not Know About Windows XP

1. System info

It boasts how long it can stay up. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu

from the All Programs start option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime.

If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional edition ).

2. Permanent Delete

You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first.

Go to the Start menu, select Run… and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration,

Administrative Templates, windows , Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted

files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and

system options, but take care — some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. Lock your XP

You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop

using a right mouse click , and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the

short cut a name like. That's it — just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not

easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. Monitoring performance

For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include

'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance

of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name

followed by /? will give a big list options.

5. ipv6 install'

XP has IP version 6 support — the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has,

so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run…

(it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more.

If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry.

6. Improve Speed

XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines,

you can make XP leave zip files alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change

your mind later, you can change things back by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

7. Shortcuts

Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop;

Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

8. Temporary internet Files

Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser,

select Tools / Internet Options… and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty

Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

9. Menu Show Delay

The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry

entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

10. Rename

You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right

click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to

distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetized groups by View, Arrange Icon By… Show In Groups.