With earlier versions of Windows you could navigate your way into the folders of other users and check out their files. Not so with Windows XP. Now what you keep in “My Documents” can only be seen by that user (and the administrator).
If you do want files, documents, music, or pictures to be seen by other users you can put them in the “Shared Documents” folders.
Just double click… Continue reading
Are you tired of the icon associated with your Word docs? Maybe you want all JPEGs to have a unique icon. Well, it can be done. Yes, you can give custom icons to all files of a certain type.
First, if you don’t have any custom icons yet, check out Leo’s IconArchive for over 10,000 free ones to choose from…
http://www.iconarchive.com/
Save them to a folder, maybe… Continue reading
As you probably know, the pictures and pages from every website you visit are saved in a temporary internet file on your computer. This allows frequently visited pages to come up quicker since the browser grabs the cached data. Cookies, both good and bad, are stored there as well.
There are several reasons that I can think of to go into your temp files. One is to delete… Continue reading
Q:
I have Windows XP and Instead of the easy built in unzip program I get this program that wants to open them now. How do I change it back?
A:
Sometimes zip programs come bundled with other software you install and it takes over whenever you want to open a zipped file. Win XP has a built in way to extract zip files that allows… Continue reading
Milford asks:
I am alphabetizing my music and would like to print a list of all the files in my music folder. It would be such a hassle to type each one into a document. Can I quickly print the names of all the files in that folder?
Thanks for the question Milford. This is one we get asked all the… Continue reading
Did you know that your name and other personal information may be included in files that you send to others? That’s right. Word processors especially put in the author’s name and more automatically. If you plan on sending a file to someone else, then you should remove this info.
Right click a file and choose “Properties” (or Alt+double click). If there is
Do you have something that requires a name but you don’t want anything in it? You could just throw nonsense in there, but a blank space would be best. Well, guess what? There is an invisible character! This special character is the equivalent of a space.
Hold down ALT then type 0160 (Alt+0160) on the number keypad at the right side of your keyboard.… Continue reading
Windows is known for offering many ways to do the same thing. Most of you know how to copy and paste files and folders from one location to the other, but here’s another way to duplicate a them.
On the desktop or in a folder hold down your Ctrl key while dragging what you want duplicated to another part of the desktop/window.
When you let go of the mouse… Continue reading
In Windows XP, when I go to my programs it takes up my whole screen. Is there a way to make them into a list or something?
This has always been a pretty annoying feature in XP, but I discovered a remedy.
Right-click the Start Button and choose Properties.
Want an easy way to create subfolders?
When you are in a folder hold down the Alt key and type F, W, F (in XP) or F,N, F (in 98/ME) and a new folder appears.
Want more than one? Just keep the Alt key down and type F, W, F (or F,N,F) over and over again until all your new folders are created.
You can then go back and name… Continue reading
Have you ever gone to save a file in a program like MS Word and wanted it in a different folder than the ones you have? The good news is that most programs allow you to create a folder when you save.
Next to the window where you select the folder you want to save in, find the icon that looks like a folder with a star… Continue reading
I know there’s a few of you out there with Win ME. In most cases the Win 98 tips work for you, but ME was also a testing ground for new features like System Restore and folder compression that became part of XP.
Although it is not installed by default, ME has built in folder compression so you don’t need WinZip or Stuffit to archive/zip or unzip folders.… Continue reading
When doing a search you can use an asterisk (*) in place of letters or numbers. This is called a “wild card” and it really comes in handy.
Let’s say you’re looking for a file that starts with “ran” but aren’t sure what the rest of the name is. Just type in…
ran*
All files of any type that begin with “ran” will be found such as “randy.doc” or “rand-mcnally.exe”.… Continue reading
When you open a folder you’ll see the buttons in the toolbar at the top: Back, Forward, Up, Search, Folders, etc.
We’ve talked about “Back” and “Up” before and “Search” needs no explanation, but what about “Folders”?
Give it a click and find out. You’ll see that it brings all your folders, drives, etc. just like Windows Explorer. This makes for easy folder navigation.
Want to change back?… Continue reading
As you know, the Start Menu is the control center of your PC, accessed by clicking the “Start” button down in the lower left-hand corner or by tapping the Window key. Adding items to it isn’t that difficult.
Since there are two sides to the Start Menu, let’s start with the left…
If the item you want to add is a shortcut… Continue reading
Windows XP gives you even more control over CD autoruns. You can actually specify what happens when different kinds of CDs are put into your drive.
For instance, what if you want music CDs to always open in Windows Media Player? Or your picture CDs to open in Photoshop? Well, today I’m going to show you how to do this and more.
Head over to your CD drive (you may… Continue reading
Q:
I don’t want my CDs to autorun when I put them in. Is there a way to permanently stop this feature?
A:
By default when you put a CD in your drive it will automatically start up (in most cases). But what if you don’t want this to happen? With Windows 98/ME it’s easy.
Right click “My Computer” and select “Properties”. Next you’ll choose the “Device Manager”… Continue reading
We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful Files & Settings Transfer Wizard. This XP feature makes it easier for you to get files off your old computer onto your new one.
You can move personal display properties, folder and taskbar options, and Internet browser and e-mail settings from your old computer and place them on the new one.
The wizard will also move specific files or entire… Continue reading
We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful Files & Settings Transfer Wizard. This XP feature makes it easier for you to get files off your old computer onto your new one. You can move personal display properties, folder and taskbar options, and Internet browser and e-mail settings from your old computer and place them on the new one. The wizard will also move specific files or entire… Continue reading
We’ve talked before about adding info to properties in documents and media files. In case you missed it, head over to the tip on our web site… Want Detailed File Info? Put it in the Properties
Well, did you know that in Windows, you make any of this info available as columns in Detail view? No? Then check this one
Q: Is there a faster way to open a file path? For example, can I copy and paste the line below somewhere and have the folder just open up?
c:\my documents\my folder\2001
I notice that many of your tips will tell us to navigate to a folder on our computer and it seems like it would be easier if we could just copy & paste the path somewhere.
A:
Have you ever gotten a little lost while using My Computer? Before you get buried in another deep directory, tell Windows to show the full path in the title bar. I know, it doesn’t sound all that profound, but it really comes in helpful. Here’s how:
Open My Computer (or any folder) and click the Tools menu, Folder options .
Q:
I’m running out of hard drive space, should I save some of my files to floppy disks then take them off the computer?
A:
That’s probably a really bad idea.
OK, before you send me a nasty e-mail, let me explain. I get five or six e-mails a week from people trying to save hard drive space by keeping his/her stuff on a floppy disk (then deleting… Continue reading
Q:
I was working on a document the other day and made a big mistake. I messed up the entire document and it took forever to get it back to the way it was. Is there a better way?
A:
Yes. First, if you make a mistake, hit Ctrl+Z . In most programs, that will undo whatever it
Floppy Copy
Floppy drives are slowly becoming extinct, so this tip is for us sentimental types who still love our floppies…
Ever need to copy the contents from one floppy disk to another? It’s easy! Here’s how:
1. Put the disk you would like to copy into your floppy drive (usually your “A:” Drive.)
2. Double-click the MyComputer Icon on your desktop.
3. Right click your A: Drive… Continue reading
Drag & Drop Opens
Here’s a quick little one for ya.
Did you know that most programs allow you to open files by dragging & dropping them into their window? Well, they do. Really.
For example, let’s say you have a picture file sitting on your desktop and your imaging software is already running. Just drag & drop the file into the program and it… Continue reading
When most of us go to open a file, we click the File menu, Open (OK, some of us use the little toolbar button), then we scroll along hunting for the file so we can double-click it.
Well, if you have a ton of documents in a folder, this can get time consuming. If you know the exact name of the file, you can simply type it in the little… Continue reading
