Windows XP For Dummies Table
of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Bare-Bones Windows XP Stuff
Chapter 1: What Is Windows XP?
- What Are Windows and Windows XP?
- What Does Windows Do?
- How Does Windows XP Affect My Older Programs?
- Should I Bother Using Windows XP?
- Bracing Yourself (And Your Computer) for Windows XP
Chapter 2: Ignore This Chapter on Computer Parts
- The Computer
- The Microprocessor (CPU)
- Disks and Disk Drives
- Floppy disks
- Compact discs (CD-ROM drive stuff)
- DVD discs
- Iomega drives
- Hard disks
- What does write-protected mean?
- The Mouse and That Double-Click Stuff
- Video Cards and Monitors
- Keyboards
- Groups of keys
- More key principles
- Modems and the Internet
- Printers
- Networks
- Sound Cards (Making Barfing Noises)
- Ports
- Parts Required by Windows XP
Chapter 3: Windows XP Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know
- Activation
- Backing Up a Disk
- Clicking
- The Cursor
- Defaults (And the Any Key)
- Desktop (And Changing Its Background)
- Double-Clicking
- Dragging and Dropping
- Drivers
- Files
- Folders (Directories)
- Graphical User Interfaces
- Hardware and Software
- Icons
- The Internet
- Kilobytes, Megabytes, and So On
- Loading, Running, Executing, and Launching
- Memory
- The Mouse
- Networks
- Pointers/Arrows
- Plug and Play
- Quitting or Exiting
- Save Command
- Save As Command
- ScanDisk
- Shortcuts
- Temp Files
- The Windows
- The World Wide Web
- Part II: Making Windows XP Do Something
Chapter 4: Starting Windows XP
- Logging On to Windows XP
- It wants me to enter a password!
- Starting your favorite program with the Start button
- Pull-Down Menus
- Loading a file
- Putting two programs on-screen simultaneously
- Printing Your Work
- Saving Your Work
- Logging Off of Windows XP
Chapter 5: Field Guide to Buttons, Bars, Boxes, Folders, and Files
- A Typical Window
- Bars
- Moving windows with the title bar
- Bossing around windows with the menu bar
- Moving inside your window with the scroll bar
- Switching windows with the taskbar
- Borders
- The Button Family
- Sending commands with command buttons
- Choosing between option buttons
- Changing a window's size with Minimize and Maximize buttons
- The Useless Control-Menu Button
- Filling Out Bothersome Forms in Dialog Boxes
- Typing into text boxes
- Choosing options from list boxes
- Drop-down list boxes
- Check boxes
- Sliding controls
- Just Tell Me How to Open a File!
- Hey! When Do I Click, and When Do I Double-Click?
- When Do I Use the Left Mouse Button, and When Do I Use the Right One?
Chapter 6: Moving Windows Around
- Moving a Window to the Top of the Pile
- Moving a Window from Here to There
- Making a Window Bigger or Smaller
- Making a Window Fill the Whole Screen
Chapter 7: I Can't Find It!
- Finding Lost Windows on the Desktop
- Plucking a lost window from the Task Manager
- Tiling and cascading windows (The "deal all the windows in front of me" approach)
- Finding Lost Files, Folders, Music, Photos, Videos, People, or Computers
- Finding any lost files or folders
- Finding lost pictures, music, or video
- Finding lost documents
- Finding computers or people
- Searching the Internet
Chapter 8: That "Cut and Paste" Stuff (Moving Around Words, Pictures, and Sounds)
- Examining the Cut and Paste Concept (And Copy, Too)
- Highlighting the Important Stuff
- Cutting, Copying, or Deleting What You Highlighted
- Cutting the information
- Copying the information
- Deleting the information
- Finding out more about cutting, copying, and deleting
- Pasting Information into Another Window
- Leaving Scraps on the Desktop Deliberately
Chapter 9: Sharing It All on the Network
- Fiddling with User Accounts
- Changing a user account's picture
- Switching quickly between users
- Creating, deleting, or changing a user account
- Skip the Rest of This Unless You Have or Want a Network
- Can I get in trouble for looking into the wrong computer?
- How do I access other networked computers?
- Sharing your own computer's stuff with the network
- Sharing a printer on the network
- How Do I Create My Own Computer Network?
- Buying a network's parts
- Installing the network's parts
- Letting the Network Setup Wizard Set Up Your Network
Part III: Using Windows XP Applications (And Surfing the Web)
Chapter 10: Your Desktop, Start Button, and Taskbar (And Free Programs)
- Rolling Objects along the Windows XP Desktop
- Arranging icons on the desktop
- Using the Recycle Bin
- Making a shortcut
- Uh, what's the difference between a shortcut and the actual program?
- Shutting down Windows XP
- The Way-Cool Taskbar
- Shrinking windows to the taskbar and retrieving them
- Clicking the taskbar's sensitive areas
- Customizing the taskbar
- Controlling the Printer
- The Start Button's Reason to Live
- Starting a program from the Start button
- Adding a program's icon to the Start menu
- Making Windows start programs automatically
- The Start Menu's Free Programs
- The Start menu's first-tier programs
- The Start menu's All Programs area
- My Version of Windows XP Doesn't Have the Right Freebie Programs!
Chapter 11: That Scary My Computer Program
- Why Is the My Computer Program So Frightening?
- Getting the Lowdown on Folders
- Peering into Your Drives and Folders
- Seeing the files on a disk drive
- Seeing what's inside folders
- Loading a Program or File
- Deleting and Undeleting Files, Folders, and Icons
- Getting rid of a file or folder
- How to undelete a file
- Copying or Moving a File, Folder, or Icon
- Selecting More Than One File or Folder
- Renaming a File, Folder, or Icon
- Using Legal Folder Names and Filenames
- Copying a Complete Floppy Disk
- Creating a Folder
- Seeing More Information about Files and Folders
- What's That Windows Explorer Thing?
- How Do I Make the Network Work?
- Making My Computer and Windows Explorer List Missing Files
- Formatting a Disk
Chapter 12: Cruising the Web, Sending E-Mail, and Using Newsgroups
- What's the Difference between the Internet, the World Wide Web, and a Web Browser?
- Who Can Use the Internet and World Wide Web?
- What's an ISP, and Do I Need One?
- What Do I Need to Access the World Wide Web?
- Setting Up Your Internet Account with the Internet Connection Wizard
- What Is a Web Browser?
- How Do I Navigate the Web with Internet Explorer?
- What's a home page?
- How do I move from Web page to Web page?
- How can I revisit my favorite places?
- What's an index or search engine?
- But How Do I Do This?
- I can't get it to install!
- How do I install the firewall?
- I keep getting busy signals!
- The Web page says it needs [insert name of weird plug-in thing here]!
- How do I copy a picture from the Internet?
- Little boxes keep popping up on the Web pages!
- Managing E-Mail with Outlook Express
- Setting up Outlook Express 6.0 to send and receive e-mail
- Getting ready to send e-mail
- Composing a letter
- Reading a received letter
- What does the News area do?
- Finding and reading a newsgroup
Chapter 13: Sound! Movies! Media Player!
- Understanding Media Player
- Using Media Guide to Find Videos, Music, and Movie Trailers on the Internet
- Finding and Playing Internet Radio Stations
- Finding Media on Your Computer and Putting It into the Media Library
- Creating Playlists
- Playing CDs
- Playing DVDs
- Playing MP3s and WMAs
- Creating WMAs or MP3s
- Storing Files in Your My Music and Shared Music Folders
- Playing Videos
- Moving Music or Video to an MP3 Player or Pocket PC
- Burning Your Own CDs
- Adding Skins to Media Player
- Fixing Media Player Muckups
- It just doesn't work!
- Does it have to be so huge?
- Bizarre Multimedia Words
- Part IV: Help!
Chapter 14: Customizing Windows XP (Fiddling with the Control Panel)
- Finding the Right Control Panel Option
- Appearance and Themes
- Changing the display's background, screen saver, and resolution
- Making Windows display folders differently
- Adjusting your taskbar and Start menu
- Viewing your computer's fonts
- Network and Internet Connections
- Add or Remove Programs
- Removing programs
- Installing a new program
- Adding or removing Windows components
- Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices
- Changing Windows' volume and playing with its sounds
- Letting Windows talk to you
- Performance and Maintenance
- Seeing information about your computer
- Turning on or off visual effects
- Freeing up space on your hard disk
- Rearranging your hard disk to speed it up (defragmenting)
- Other Performance and Maintenance icons
- Printers and Other Hardware
- Adding new hardware
- Fiddling with printers and faxes
- Game controllers
- Scanners and cameras
- Making Windows XP recognize your double-click
- Phone and modem options
- User Accounts
- Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options
- Regional and language options
- Setting the computer's date and time
Chapter 15: The Case of the Broken Window
- Restoring Calm with System Restore
- My Mouse Doesn't Work Right
- Making Older Programs Run under Windows XP
- It Says I Need To Be an Administrator!
- I'm Stuck in Menu Land
- Keeping Windows Up-to-Date
- All My Desktop Icons Vanished
- I'm Supposed to Install a New Driver
- His Version of Windows XP Has More Programs Than Mine!
- I Clicked the Wrong Button (But Haven't Lifted My Finger Yet)
- My Computer Is Frozen Up Solid
- The Printer Isn't Working Right
- My Double-Clicks Are Now Single Clicks!
Chapter 16: Figuring Out Those Annoying Pop-Up Messages
- Access Is Denied
- AutoComplete
- Click Here to Activate Now
- Connect To . . .
- Error Connecting To . . .
- File Name Warning
- Found New Hardware
- Hiding Your Inactive Notification Icons
- If You Remove This File, You Will No Longer Be Able to Run This Program
- Missing Shortcut
- New Programs Installed
- New Updates Are Ready to Install
- Open with . . .
- Privacy Alert -- Saving Cookies
- Rename
- Safe to Remove Hardware
- Stay Current with Automatic Updates
- There Are Unused Icons on Your Desktop
- When You Send Information to the Internet
- You Have Files Waiting to Be Written to the CD
Chapter 17: Help on the Windows XP Help System
- Get Me Some Help, and Fast!
- Press F1
- Click the right mouse button on the confusing part
- Choose Help from the main menu
- Sending in the Troubleshooters
- Search -- letting Windows do the work
- Consulting a Program's Built-In Computer Guru
- Finding Help for your exact problem
- Using Windows Help and Support Center
Part V: The Part of Tens
Chapter 18: Ten Exciting New Windows XP Features
- Way Cool Folders
- Remote Assistance
- Burning (Writing Information onto) CDs
- Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
- User Accounts
- Increased Stability
- Built-in Firewall against Internet Hackers
- Automatically Sets Clock
- Windows XP Must Be Activated
- Making Windows XP Run Like Your Old Version of Windows
Chapter 19: Ten Aggravating Things about Windows XP (And How to Fix Them)
- How Do I Change the Volume?
- What Version of Windows Do I Have?
- I Want to Click Instead of Double-Click (Or Vice Versa)!
- My Bar Full of Buttons Just Fell Off!
- Keeping Track of All Those Windows Is Too Hard
- The Taskbar Keeps Disappearing!
- My Print Screen Key Doesn't Work
- Lining Up Two Windows on the Screen Is Too Hard
- The Folder Lists the Wrong Stuff on My Floppy Disk
- It Won't Let Me Do Something Unless I'm An Administrator!
Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Windows XP Icons and What They Do
Chapter 21: Ten Most Frequently Asked Windows Questions
- How Do I Remember All the Stuff I Can Do to a File?
- Should I Upgrade to the Windows XP Home or Professional Version?
- How Do I Add a Picture of My Face to My User Account?
- Why Can't Windows XP Play My DVDs?
- Why Can't Windows XP Create MP3 Files?
- How Do I Get Rid of the Welcome Screen?
- How Can I See Previews of My Pictures?
- How Can I Make All My Web Pages Open in a Full-Screen Window?
- What Will I Miss If I Don't Use the Internet with Windows XP?