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Home | MS Windows XP Quick Tips
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MS Windows XP Quick Tips
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Access the Program Compatibility Wizard |
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Friday, 10 November 2006 17:16 |
Click on Start, go to All Programs and in Accessories click on Program Compatibility Wizard.
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Access Windows Movie Maker |
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Thursday, 16 November 2006 17:21 |
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To access Windows Movie Maker, Click on Start, go to All Programs, then Accessories and click on Windows Movie Maker.
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Add/Remove startup programs |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:11 |
Start > All Programs,
double left click on the Startup folder, and copy your shortcuts
into this folder.
This will set an
application to start when you load up Windows XP.
Note: Having too many
items loading at startup will slow your system down considerably
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Adding a special character |
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 14:23 |
Open the Character Map by clicking Start, clicking All Programs, and then clicking Accessories. Click System Tools, and then click Character Map.
Click the © symbol. Notice that the bottom-right corner of the
Character Map shows the keyboard shortcut used to insert the special
character. Write it down for later use.
When you want to insert that
character, here's the trick: Position the cursor where you want to
insert the special character, then with NUM LOCK key on, hold down the
ALT key and use the number pad keys to type the character value.
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Adjust power settings |
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Monday, 06 November 2006 17:17 |
Click on Start, go to Control Panel. Once this is opened, click on Printers and Other Hardware. On the left hand pane, click on Power Options.
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Advanced File Searching |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:15 |
To find
files with a particular file extension (e.g. .pst (Outlook PST files)), click Start > Search, select the location where you wish to search, and in the
search box type *.pst for Office PST
files.
You can also do this for other file types, such as .doc, .jpg etc. Just
put an asterisk (*) before the file
extension you wish to search for.
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Auto Arrange Desktop icons |
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Wednesday, 27 September 2006 16:04 |
To have Windows automatically arrange your Desktop icons so that they are neat and tidy, right click on your Desktop, go to Arrange Icons By, then click Auto Arrange.
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Change Control Panel to classic view |
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Friday, 03 November 2006 16:53 |
To change the Control Panel to classic view click on Start, go to Control Panel. In the top left, click on Switch to Classic View.
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Change settings for Automatic Updates |
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Monday, 02 October 2006 16:28 |
Right click on My Computer on your Desktop and go to Properties. Click the Automatic Updates tab. Here you can change when and how Windows updates are downloaded.
Note: You can still check for Windows updates manually by visiting the Windows update website.
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Change settings for Recycle Bin |
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Wednesday, 08 November 2006 17:16 |
Right click on the Recycle Bin on the Desktop and click on Properties.
From here you can manage the Recycle Bin settings.
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Change the font size |
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Monday, 06 November 2006 17:19 |
To change the font size, right click on your Desktop and click on Properties.
Click on the Appearance tab and then click on the drop down menu underneath Font size and select the appropriate option and click on OK.
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Change the power button |
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 14:20 |
You can make
your computer's power button put your computer into stand by for you by doing the following:
Click Start and open the Control Panel. In Category View, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Power Options. In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab. Under Power Buttons, select Stand by in the When I press the power button on my computer area, and then click OK. Now, when you push your computer's power button, your system will immediately go to stand by.
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Change the size of the icons in the Start menu |
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Friday, 06 October 2006 16:00 |
To change the size of the icons in the Start menu, right click on the Taskbar and go to Properties. Click on the Start Menu tab, then click on Customize next to the Start Menu option. On the General tab, click on Small icons and click OK and then click on OK again.
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Change the start menu to the old start menu |
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Thursday, 28 September 2006 16:18 |
To change your start menu so that it is like it was in previous versions of Windows, right click on your taskbar, go to Properties, click the Start Menu tab, select Classic Start Menu and click OK.
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Change the view of a folder |
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Friday, 03 November 2006 16:57 |
You can change the view of a folder by opening up a folder right click on a blank space in the folder and go to View and then click on an option.
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Change your pointer scheme |
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 14:18 |
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To change your pointer scheme, click Start, and then click Control Panel. In Category View (vs. Classic View) click on Printers and Other Hardware, and then click on Mouse. Click the Pointers tab and browse the available themes. Select the one that suits you best, and then click OK.
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Change your screen resolution |
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Wednesday, 15 November 2006 17:08 |
Right click on your Desktop and click on Properties.
Click on the Settings tab and under the Screen Resolution title, drag the slide bar left to decrease the resolution, or right to increase the resolution.
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Change your screen saver settings |
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Thursday, 19 October 2006 16:22 |
To change your screen saver settings, right click on the Desktop, go to the Screen Saver tab.
Here you can change things like what screen saver you would like to use and the duration of idle time before the screensaver activates.
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Changing your Desktop theme |
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Wednesday, 27 September 2006 16:12 |
To give your Desktop a different feel to it, right click the Desktop, go to Properties. On the Theme tab, click on the drop down menu and select a theme. A preview will then be shown below. Click OK to apply your selected theme, or click Cancel to keep your current theme.
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Check how much memory is installed on your computer |
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Wednesday, 18 October 2006 16:19 |
Right click on My Computer and click on Properties. At the bottom of the window it will display how much RAM (memory) you have installed.
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Check which service pack you have installed |
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Monday, 09 October 2006 16:24 |
To check which service pack you have installed, right click on My Computer and click on Properties. On the General tab under System, it will display which service pack you have installed.
Note: To keep your Windows system up to date and secure, you will need the latest service pack installed.
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Cleanup your Desktop |
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Tuesday, 03 October 2006 16:27 |
To tidy up your Desktop, right click on it and go to Properties. Click the Desktop tab, and click on Customize Desktop. A wizard will then open which will allow you to automatically move rarely used shortcuts into an Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder on your Desktop.
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Compress (zip) file(s) |
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Friday, 27 October 2006 17:15 |
To easily pack a few files into a single zip file, select all the files you wish to zip/compress and then right click on one of them and go to Send To and then click on Compressed (zipped) folder.
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Create a System Restore point |
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Friday, 13 October 2006 16:16 |
Click on Start, go to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click on System Restore. Click on Create a Restore Point and click on Next and you will be taken through the step by step wizard.
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Defragment your hard disk |
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Friday, 13 October 2006 16:12 |
To access Windows XP's disk defragment tool, click on Start, go to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.
If you click on Analyze, Windows XP will check if you need to defragment your hard disk.
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Desktop Customization |
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Thursday, 26 January 2006 19:53 |
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If you right click on your desktop background and click on properties, a window will pop up allowing you to change the look of your desktop. Here you can do anything from change your desktop wallpaper to changing your screen resolution.
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Enable ClearType for smoother text |
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Thursday, 19 October 2006 16:18 |
ClearType will smoothen the display of the text on your screen. It is mainly recommended for TFT/LCD screens but can be enabled on any monitor.
To enable it, right click on your Desktop, go to the Appearance tab and click on the Effects button. Click the drop down menu under Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts and click on ClearType.
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Enable/Disable the XP Firewall |
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Wednesday, 15 November 2006 17:04 |
Click on Start and then Control Panel. Click on Security Center and click on Windows Firewall.
From here you will be able to turn the firewall on or off.
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Finding a file on your computer |
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Friday, 07 April 2006 11:08 |
Pressing the Windows key and F will open up the file and folder search feature and allow you to find anything from documents to video files.
Note: The Windows key is situated between Ctrl and Alt on the bottom left hand corner of your keyboard.
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Group/ungroup Taskbar items |
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Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:22 |
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To enable/disable the grouping of applications in your Taskbar, right click on the Taskbar and click on Properties. Tick the box next to Group similar Taskbar buttons if you would like to enable this feature, or untick it to disable this feature.
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Hide your Desktop icons |
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Thursday, 28 September 2006 16:16 |
To hide your Desktop icons, right click on your Desktop, go to Arrange Icons By, then click on Show Desktop Icons.
Note: Use the same method to unhide your Desktop icons.
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Keyboard shortcut: Cancel the current task |
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Thursday, 18 May 2006 09:06 |
Press Esc to cancel the current task.
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Keyboard shortcut: Cut/Copy/Paste/Undo |
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Thursday, 18 May 2006 09:00 |
Press Ctrl + X to cut selected files or folders.
Press Ctrl + C to copy selected files or folders.
Press Ctrl + V to paste cut/copied files or folders.
Press Ctrl + Z to undo your last action.
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Keyboard shortcut: Display System properties |
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Thursday, 18 May 2006 09:09 |
Press the Windows key + Pause/Break to display your system properties.
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Keyboard shortcut: How to open Windows Explorer |
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Sunday, 05 February 2006 15:14 |
Pressing the Windows key + E will open up Windows Explorer.
Note: The Windows key is situated between the CTRL and ALT keys on the bottom left hand side of the keyboard. The icon used on the key resembles the Windows logo.
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Keyboard shortcut: Rename a file |
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Tuesday, 16 January 2007 10:50 |
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To rename a file, select the file and press the F2 key.
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Keyboard shortcut: Renaming a file |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:13 |
Simply
select the file you wish to rename and press F2.
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Keyboard shortcut: Show the Desktop |
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Thursday, 18 May 2006 09:10 |
Press the Windows key + D to show the Desktop.
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Open a file with a certain application |
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Friday, 27 October 2006 17:17 |
To open a file with a specific application, hold down Shift and right click on the file, then go to Open With. If the application is not in the list that appears, click on Choose Program.
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Open files with one click |
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 14:21 |
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If you want to change your two clicks to one, click Start, click My Computer. Under the Tools menu, click Folder Options. Now click the General tab in the dialog box, click Single-click to open an item (point to select), and then click OK. This makes everything in Windows exactly one click faster.
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Open the Security Center |
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Tuesday, 31 October 2006 17:05 |
Click on Start and click on Control Panel.
Click on Security Center.
This will allow you to check your current Antivirus and Firewall status.
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Organise programs in the Start Menu |
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Tuesday, 10 October 2006 16:03 |
To organise your programs in the start menu, click on Start then go to All Programs. Right click on any program or program folder and click on Sort by Name.
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Place a shortcut on the Desktop |
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Wednesday, 18 October 2006 16:22 |
To easily place a shortcut on the Desktop, right click on the file or program you wish to create a shortcut to and go to Send To and then click on Desktop (Create shortcut).
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Protect a file from being modified by making it Read-only |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:16 |
Read-only
will allow the file to be viewed, but not altered. To do this, right click on a file, go to Properties and at the bottom next to Attributes, check the Read-only box and click OK.
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Put a program on the main Start Menu |
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Tuesday, 10 October 2006 16:06 |
To put a program on the big Start Menu when you click Start. Right click on the program or shortcut you wish to put on the Start Menu, and click on Pin to Start menu.
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Reclaim hard disk space by deleting temporary files |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:12 |
Start > All Programs > Accessories
> System Tools > Disk Cleanup.
If you have more than one
hard disk installed, then you will be asked which drive you would like to clean
up. Once Windows knows which drive it is you would like to clean up, it will
scan your drive and calculate how much space you can recover.
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Remove the clock from the system tray |
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Friday, 06 October 2006 16:02 |
To remove the clock from the system tray, right click on the Tasbar and untick the option Show the Clock.
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Renaming multiple files quickly |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:14 |
If you
have a folder containing multiple images or files and would like to rename them
all to something like Holiday instead of Picture 00 etc.,
simply press Ctrl + A (selecting all the files), right click on the first file and click
Rename. Type in the new name for the
picture (e.g. Holiday), and all the
other files will be named in sequence (Holiday
(1), Holiday (2) etc.).
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Run a file or program as another user |
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Friday, 10 November 2006 17:13 |
To run a file or program as another user (e.g. an Administrator), right click on a file and click on Run As. Click The following user radio button and select the user and enter the password.
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Show inactive system tray icons |
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Tuesday, 16 May 2006 15:14 |
Right click on the taskbar, go to Properties and deselect Hide inactive icons.
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Show volume control icon in system tray |
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Monday, 02 October 2006 16:24 |
Go to Start > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices and tick Place volume icon in the taskbar.
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Stretching the taskbar |
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 14:21 |
First, unlock your taskbar by right-clicking the taskbar, and then clicking Lock the Taskbar
if it is selected (this will un-select it). Scroll your mouse over the
top edge of the taskbar until you see the vertical resize cursor (arrow
pointing up and down). Click, hold and drag the top of the taskbar up.
Once you find a place where you like it, you should
re-select Lock the Taskbar.
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Tab through open applications |
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Friday, 07 April 2006 11:13 |
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Holding down the Alt key and then tapping the Tab key will allow you to cycle through application windows which are open.
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Take a tour of Windows XP |
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Monday, 13 November 2006 17:10 |
If you're new to XP, or would like to find out some information about it, click on Start, go to All Programs, then Accessories and click on Tour Windows XP.
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Taking a screenshot |
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Tuesday, 14 November 2006 13:26 |
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To take a screenshot, press your Print Screen key (to the
left of Scroll Lock sometimes named PrtSc or Prt Scr).
Open up Paint (click on Start, go to All Programs then
Accessories and click on Paint). Click on Edit and then Paste. You can now save
this file to be viewed later or even Email it to someone.
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Tile windows horizontally/vertically |
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Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16:24 |
If you have many windows open and would like to view all of them at the same time, you can tile your windows either horizontally or vertically.
To do this, right click on the Taskbar and select either Tile Windows Horizontally or Tile Windows Vertically.
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View installed Printers and Faxes |
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Tuesday, 03 October 2006 16:29 |
To show all the Printers and Faxes available, click on Start and go to Printers and Faxes.
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View User Accounts |
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Thursday, 16 November 2006 17:20 |
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To view the user accounts on your computer, click on Start, go to Control Panel. Click on User Accounts.
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View your Address Book |
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Wednesday, 08 November 2006 17:19 |
Click on Start, go to All Programs and then Accessories and click on Address Book.
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View your pictures as a slideshow |
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Tuesday, 31 October 2006 17:02 |
Click on Start and then click on My Pictures. A window will appear.
On the left hand pane, there is a list of picture tasks, click on View as a slideshow.
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Windows XP Help and Support |
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Monday, 09 October 2006 16:27 |
To access the Windows XP Help and Support Center, click on Start and then click on Help and Support and the Help and Support Center will open. Then use the search feature to find the problem which you need help with.
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(C) 2006 Systems & Solutions |
Designed & maintained by OLIgarchic |
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