2.Upgrade: Step-by-Step Instructions
And Look at the installation menu.
It offers three main options:
· Install Windows XP
· Perform additional options
· Check system compatibility
Here's a general roadmap for performing
an upgrade to Windows XP:
1. Insert the disk. This should automatically launch the installation
menu.
2. Next, click the green arrow or text next to it labeled "Install
Windows XP." This will launch the first process titled "Collecting
Information" which quickly identifies if you're eligible for an upgrade.
3. Next, you should see a popup window welcoming you to the Windows
setup.
4. Make sure the "Installation Type" pull-down menu reads "Upgrade
(Recommended)."
5. Click the Next button.
6. Click the radio button next to "I accept this agreement."
7. Click the Next button.
8. Enter your 25-character registration code.
9. Click the Next button.
10. You'll be prompted to display an upgrade report after the
installation. Leave the recommended setting alone. Choose one of the
other two options if you need to have more complete or no information at
all.
11. Click the Next button to proceed to "Dynamic Update."
The dynamic update will go online and
download updated installation files that have been released after your
copy of XP was made. Choose to download files from the Internet only if
you have a broadband connection.
Otherwise, just skip this section and choose to update after your
install.
1. Choose the dynamic update option that best suits your needs.
2. Click the Next button to proceed to "Preparing Installation."
After a few minutes you should receive a read-out of how much time is
estimated to complete the installation process. This would be a good
time to take a break if you need to, because you're about to be
bombarded with all the wonderful new features inside XP. You'll soon
witness the installation beginning to copy all its setup files.
When this is completed your computer
will automatically restart itself. You'll then be prompted to choose an
installation of Windows you'd like to start. Don't worry. You don't have
to choose anything; Windows will automatically proceed with the correct
version within a few seconds. You should now see the beautiful XP logo
while your computer is booting up. The installation will finish copying
all setup files and then restart itself. After restarting you'll be into
the next phase,
"Installing Windows."
You will notice a slight difference in
your display properties. The setup will continue copying installation
files and other components over to your hard drive. If you're paying
attention, you'll notice that your screen may flicker a few times during
this process. That's OK and a good indication that the setup is almost
ready for you to name your computer. Next, you'll be asked to come up
with a wonderful new name for your computer if the old name doesn't meet
the new standards. Pick a name and then click the Next button to
continue copying all the Network components.
Finalizing installation
If you've reached this phase you're
done. Congratulations on a successful upgrade to Windows XP. You should
now see the "Tour Windows" screen. Click the Next button at the bottom
to proceed to the activation process.
Windows Product Activation (WPA) is the
last step along the XP upgrade path. I recommend holding off on the
product activation until you've finished installing any other additional
hardware. This will bypass having to activate your product again after
making any changes to your hardware configuration. Click the Finish
button to proceed to setting up your user accounts.
Final step:
The final step is to name your user
accounts. Do this now and then click the Next button to finally see your
new desktop. You're done.
If you frequently have to change your drive mappings or create new ones,
there's a shortcut included in Windows XP that can make this multi-step
process a little easier for you. All you need to do is to add the Map
Drive button to your toolbar.
Open My Computer and right-click on the toolbar. If the Lock The Toolbars
menu command has a check mark next to it, select this menu command to
unlock the toolbars. Next, right-click on the toolbar again and choose
Customize. In the Customize Toolbar dialog box, scroll down and select the
Map Drive button in the Available Toolbar Buttons list box, and then click
Add to add it to the Current Toolbar Buttons list box. Then, click the
Close button. The Map Drive button appears in the toolbar, and you can now
click on it to map drives from any folder window.
I rebuild old computers for people who
cannot afford new ones.
I rebuild old computers for
people who cannot afford new ones. Yes, $500.00 for a new one at
Wal-Mart is still beyond some people's reach. I do this for free.
People donate their old
computers to me and I use either the parts or the whole computer. I
have a special computer set aside with removable trays so I can put in
the old hard drive and do a clean DOD, preventing old information from
being used by someone else. I would think people with old computers
who are techies would consider doing this also for people who need
them.
I often give away the
repaired computers, or charge only what money I need to repair them.
This month I repaired and replaced at least 5 computers . Many are for
elderly people on social security who would like to own one but simply
can't afford it and many are for (Parents
and Grand Parents with Sons/Daughters or Grand Sons/Grand Daughters in
Iraq.) Many of our deployed military
personnel have email capability because I have helped several of them
repair problems with Laptops and Sand. Those two items don't play
nice together!!
1. Click and hold an empty area of the
taskbar.
2. Move it to the bottom of your screen, the other side, or the top of
the screen.
3. Release your mouse button when the taskbar is where you want it.
If you've ever made a major change (intentionally or not) to your Me
operating system and left it in an undesirable state, never fear. With
Me's System Restore feature you can undo any changes you've made to your
system's hardware, software, or settings that have left your computer
clinging to life. Think of the System Restore feature as your computer's
very own time machine.
The System Restore feature, which is unique to Windows Me, monitors
changes you've made to your system at specific intervals, called restore
points or checkpoints, as well as when events such as program
installations occur. There are several types of restore points, or the
point to which you tell Windows Me to return your system's settings.
Windows Me automatically creates some of these for you, and you can also
create your own. Follow these steps to create your own checkpoint.
Click the Start button and choose Programs | Accessories | System Tools |
System Restore. The System Restore dialog box opens and provides you with
options to restore your system to an earlier time by selecting one of the
automatic checkpoints the feature has created for you or to create a
checkpoint of your own. Select the Create A Restore Point option and click
Next. In the Create A Restore Point window, type a name for your
checkpoint in the Restore Point Description text box. Make the name
descriptive so that you'll easily recognize it should you need it later
on. Click Next. In the Confirm New Restore Point window, you'll be
prompted to verify the accuracy of the checkpoint you just created. Your
new checkpoint contains the date and time you created it, as well as the
name you gave it in the previous step. If you need to make any changes to
the checkpoint, click the Back button. If not, click OK to confirm your
new checkpoint. You now have a built-in safety net to use should you ever
find your computer in a disastrous state.
An easy way to speed up the display of the
Start Menu Items is to turn off the menu shadow.
1. Right click on an open area of the Desktop
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Appearance tab
4. Click on the Effects button
5. Uncheck Show shadows under menus
8. Sometimes you can't access a WinXP computer after installing Norton
Anti-Virus.
There might be a variety of errors
at the other computer depending on the operating system.
On the XP computer, in the Event Viewer / System log, there will be the
following error:
The server's configuration parameter "irpstacksize" is too small for the
server to use a local device.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet
\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
3. Edit the IRPStackSize
4. Give it a value of 15
5. Reboot the computer
I use many Norton Products but have never
run into this Problem but I get many Help Requests regarding the
problem.
The Messenger Service in Windows provides a framework that enables users
and processes to send pop-up messages to other computers. Management
applications often use the service to send pop-up notifications to
administrators that an event, such as a virus detection or a backup
completion, has occurred.
Windows includes the Messenger Service, but don't confuse it with Windows
Messenger, the desktop conferencing application also included with
Windows.
Spammers have begun using the Messenger Service to blast advertisements to
unprotected users. However, you can take steps to block these unwanted
messages without spending money for an application.
The best approach is to block the ports used by the Messenger Service,
which prevents all traffic from entering your network. If you have a
network firewall in place, block NetBIOS and RPC traffic (UDP ports 135,
137, and 138 and TCP ports 135, 139, and 445). If you don't have a network
firewall, you can block these same ports with a client-side firewall.
If a firewall solution won't work for you, or if you don't need the
Messenger Service, another approach is to simply disable the Messenger
Service. Open the Services console from the Administrative Tools folder,
and double-click the Messenger service. Click Stop, choose Disabled from
the Startup Type drop-down list, and click OK. If you later need to start
the service, you must change its startup type to either Manual or
Automatic.
10.
You can use the shutdown command in Windows XP
You can use the shutdown command, to use
it click Start-Run and type
Shutdown -s -t X (where X is the time in seconds) it will open a window
that
will count back from the time you specified and shut down your PC on 0
Shutdown can take time parameters as well; all you need to do is use -t
The Shutdown.exe command line command is available in Win XP to
facilitate this.
An easy way to do it would be to write a
one line batch file containing the following command:
Windows XP's Task Manager is a very useful
troubleshooting tool because it provides you with a summary of several
performance metrics and detailed information about all the applications
and processes currently running on your computer. In addition, it allows
you to terminate hung applications.
The most common method of accessing the Task Manager is by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Delete],
which brings up the Windows Security dialog box, and then clicking the
Task Manager option. If you use XP in a stand-alone or workgroup
configuration and log onto the system with the Welcome screen, this
keyboard combination will immediately bring up the Task Manager.
Here are some other methods you can use in XP to quickly access the Task
Manager:
Method one:
Press [Ctrl][Shift][Esc].
Method two:
1. Right-click the taskbar.
2. Select the Task Manager command.
Method three:
1. Right-click the desktop.
2. Select New | Shortcut.
3. Type Taskmgr.exe in the text box.
4. Choose Next, and then select Finish.
5. Double-click the new icon.
Here's how to disable this feature, either
completely or selectively:
1. Open System in the Control Panel (or right-click on the My Computer
icon and select Properties.
2. Choose the Advanced tab, and click Error Reporting.
3. You can disable error reporting entirely here, or enable it
selectively for certain programs. Click Ok when you're done.
14. When
Saving Pictures keep them all in one place.
You should try and save them to one place. When
saving a picture from an email just Right Click on the picture and
select Save Picture As. You can do the same for a picture on the web. If
you have a special project where you want to keep all photo's together
just create a new folder inside of the My Pictures folder.
In Outlook click on the Tools Menu and select Accounts. A box will pop up
with three tabs. Select Email and then make sure the account you are using
is high-lighted. Select properties and in the Window that open select the
Server Tab. Make sure there is a check in the Remember My Password about
half way down the window.
16. change the format for outgoing email messages in
Outlook
The recommended format to use for sending email
messages from Outlook 2000 is Plain Text. Messages sent as plain text
are smaller in size and are more efficient to transmit across the
Internet than the other formats available. Also, plain text messages
will be displayed accurately by all email programs.
The formats available for sending messages within Outlook 2000 are as
follows:
Plain text - this format does not support advanced formatting options
but it can be viewed by all email programs.
HTML - this format offers the most formatting options. It supports text
formatting, numbering, bullets, alignment, horizontal lines, pictures
(including backgrounds), HTML styles, and Web pages. You can also use
stationery and signatures with this format. But not all email programs
are capable of displaying HTML formatted messages and they are much
larger in size.
Rich Text (RTF) - this format allows you to add some text formatting,
bullets, and alignment and you can also use signatures with Outlook Rich
Text. It does not allow all the options of HTML format, but it can be
displayed by more email programs than HTML format.
While it is possible to send messages in these different formats you
should be aware of the following:
Not all email software can read emails in HTML or RTF format and some
recipients will see the raw HTML tags.
A message sent in HTML format is far less efficient because it is much
larger in size than a corresponding plain text message and it will also
take longer for your recipient to download.
To change/check the format used for all of the messages that you send
within Outlook 2000 proceed as follows:
1. Run Outlook 2000
2. Select Options... from the Tool menu
3. Next select the Mail Format tab
4. The "Message format" part of the window displayed shows the formats
available - Plain Text, Rich Text or HTML.
Note: You may change the format for a specific message when you are
creating it. In the New Message window use the options available from
the Format menu.
1. Boot into safe mode by pressing F8 as your computer is starting up.
2. Once Windows 9x boots, right click My Computer and then select
Properties.
3. Select the Device Manager and find the listed duplicate devices.
4. Select and then remove all duplicate devices, then reboot your
computer.
5. Remember NOT to modify anything in the system devices category, this
can create a real headache.
To change from FAT 32 to NTFS for more stability and security, open the
command prompt and type: "Convert C: /FS:NTFS". Make sure there is a space
between the C: and the forward slash (/). Once you press enter it will ask
you for confirmation and press Y. Then press Y and enter once more to
reboot. It will take between one hour and 15 minutes to convert to NTFS.
Now you can set passwords for files and use encryption. This also works
for windows XP Home.
19.
Copy Mail Files to a Backup Folder in Outlook Express
To make a backup copy of your Outlook Express
e-mail message files:
1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Maintenance tab, click Store Folder.
3. Select the folder location, and then press CTRL+C to copy the
location.
4. Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box.
5. Click Start, and then click Run.
6. In the Open box, press CTRL+V, and then click OK.
7. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
8. On the Edit menu, click Copy, and then close the window.
9. Right-click any empty space on your desktop, click New, and then
click Folder.
10. Type mail backup for the folder name, and then press ENTER.
11. Double-click the Mail Backup folder to open it.
12. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
13. Close the Mail Backup window.
1. On the File menu, click Export, and then click
Address Book.
2. Click Text File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Export.
3. Click Browse.
4. Locate the Mail Backup folder that you created.
5. In the File Name box, type address book backup, and then click Save.
6. Click Next.
7. Click to select the check boxes for the fields that you want to
export, and then click Finish.
8. Click OK and then click Close.
To make a backup copy of your Outlook Express mail account:
1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On the Mail tab, click the mail account that you want to export, and
then click Export.
3. In the Save In box, locate the Mail Backup folder on your desktop, and
then click Save.
4. Repeat these steps for each mail account that you want to export.
5. Click Close.
