When you excitedly buy an XP CD, and after the long file copying, Windows detecting hardware, and system initialization, you finally enter that gorgeous Windows XP interface and start enjoying it, please make sure to apply the five settings suggested in this article. You will find XP much easier to use.
1. Turn off System Restore
Although Windows XP's System Restore is one of its selling points, I still suggest turning it off. System Restore requires huge hard disk space. The default setting creates restore points on every partition, recording software installation and usage status on each partition. If you can't wait and just use the computer with the default settings, in less than a week your hard disk will be stuffed with huge files produced by this restore function, amounting to gigabytes; and System Restore also does a lot of data reading and writing on the hard disk, and CPU usage is quite high as well. At present, most people's machines are still using CPUs below the GHz level, so speed may be affected. So unless your hardware really is top-class, and you also need to frequently install and test new software or change system settings, and really have use for XP's System Restore function, otherwise it is better to turn it off and honestly use the software's own uninstall function.
If you really want to try out this new feature, a compromise is to turn off restore on the other partitions and keep only the partition where XP is installed, so that Windows status can be recorded and selectively restored. Partitions where you install games or store pictures and MP3s have no need at all for System Restore.
2. The “Group similar taskbar buttons” setting on the taskbar
This depends on the applications you use most often. Although the “Group similar taskbar buttons” setting can reduce the number of windows open on your taskbar and keep it tidy, if you often use communication software like QQ to chat online, then if two or more friends are talking with you at the same time, you will immediately feel the inconvenience caused by XP's default setting—every time you want to switch to another chat, you first have to click the group, then choose the friend you want to talk to from the pop-up menu, and every friend in the group shows the same icon. When there are many chat partners, you may have to click them one by one to see who just replied and is waiting for your response, and if you pick the wrong one, you have to start selecting from the group again. Very troublesome. Obviously this is not as good as the old way of having several windows open, where you can just click each small window on the taskbar once to start chatting.
This default XP setting was designed to make web browsing more convenient. So I suggest changing this setting according to your actual usage. If you really browse the web often, then using an IE-kernel browser like MYIE can avoid affecting QQ usage while also not taking up multiple taskbar positions—killing two birds with one stone. The way to change it is: Start - Control Panel - Appearance and Themes - Taskbar and Start Menu, remove the check mark in front of “Group similar taskbar buttons”.
3. A maximization trick for text files and mail
Starting from Windows 2000, when you click an email stored on the hard disk with the EML extension, the default state is never maximized, but always an annoying small window, and it does not have the ability to remember its state. After you maximize this window, the next time you open a mail it is a small window again. Text files have a similar problem. This is probably an oversight in Microsoft's design. In the official help files and settings options, there is no explanation or option for this maximized-state memory problem. I once emailed Microsoft's China feedback mailbox about this issue, and the reply I got was to call the technical support hotline, hehe. Although it does not affect functionality, having to click the maximize button every time is very troublesome in actual use. This little problem still is not fixed in XP, and it probably troubles quite a few people.
While exploring XP these past two days, I finally discovered that you can make Windows remember the maximized state by dragging the window size: after opening an EML mail, do not click the maximize button. Instead, move the pointer to the edge of the small window, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the window in all directions until it fills the screen, then click close. Next time you will find that whenever you open this kind of file, Windows will maximize it automatically. The same is true for TXT text files.
But I should remind everyone that in Windows 98, this trick is not used. In 98, if you want mail to remember the maximized state, you must first maximize an opened mail, then click Reply. The reply interface will be maximized, and Windows will then remember its maximized state that way. In Windows 9X, if you simply drag the window or maximize the mail each time, it is ineffective.
4. Turn off Auto Update, directory sharing, and Remote Assistance support
These are the same as in Windows 2000, all functions specially designed for network applications. For most people in China, Microsoft's Windows Auto Update and Remote Assistance are of little use; if you set up directory sharing, viruses like FUNLOVE that specifically wreak havoc on LANs become very difficult to remove, so unless you have some special need, it is better to turn them off. These functions can be disabled in system options and service management.
If your PC hardware specs are not high, XP's visual effects such as animated windows and fade in/fade out should also be turned off, to avoid affecting speed.
5. Hibernate key setting
After XP is installed, the default setting is that when the user presses the Hibernate key on the keyboard, the computer does nothing. Because XP's hibernation is a suspend-to-hard-disk function, even if you completely cut off the power, XP can still read the previously saved state from the hard disk the next time it starts, quickly restoring it and shortening startup time for the user. This kind of function is different from hibernation in Windows 9X, where power cannot be cut off. Waking up also takes longer than in 9X, but after rebooting, entering Windows is much faster. Considering users' habits and compatibility issues between XP and some older power supplies, XP makes it ineffective by default. You can go into Power Management in Control Panel and enable the Hibernate key again. I suggest setting it to pop up a menu, so you can choose hibernate, shut down, or log off.
Because XP hibernation first needs to read the current system state from memory, it requires hard disk space equal to your physical memory size. By default this is on drive C:, so users should configure it according to their actual hardware capabilities. After setting the Hibernate key, some motherboard power supplies require XP to be restarted before it takes effect. If you press SLEEP to test it right after setting it, there may be no response; but on some systems it can take effect immediately. One more thing: if your motherboard battery is dead, causing the date to be incorrect, and XP has not been activated, then after hibernation XP may detect the date problem and require activation, otherwise it will lock the system.
1. Turn off System Restore
Although Windows XP's System Restore is one of its selling points, I still suggest turning it off. System Restore requires huge hard disk space. The default setting creates restore points on every partition, recording software installation and usage status on each partition. If you can't wait and just use the computer with the default settings, in less than a week your hard disk will be stuffed with huge files produced by this restore function, amounting to gigabytes; and System Restore also does a lot of data reading and writing on the hard disk, and CPU usage is quite high as well. At present, most people's machines are still using CPUs below the GHz level, so speed may be affected. So unless your hardware really is top-class, and you also need to frequently install and test new software or change system settings, and really have use for XP's System Restore function, otherwise it is better to turn it off and honestly use the software's own uninstall function.
If you really want to try out this new feature, a compromise is to turn off restore on the other partitions and keep only the partition where XP is installed, so that Windows status can be recorded and selectively restored. Partitions where you install games or store pictures and MP3s have no need at all for System Restore.
2. The “Group similar taskbar buttons” setting on the taskbar
This depends on the applications you use most often. Although the “Group similar taskbar buttons” setting can reduce the number of windows open on your taskbar and keep it tidy, if you often use communication software like QQ to chat online, then if two or more friends are talking with you at the same time, you will immediately feel the inconvenience caused by XP's default setting—every time you want to switch to another chat, you first have to click the group, then choose the friend you want to talk to from the pop-up menu, and every friend in the group shows the same icon. When there are many chat partners, you may have to click them one by one to see who just replied and is waiting for your response, and if you pick the wrong one, you have to start selecting from the group again. Very troublesome. Obviously this is not as good as the old way of having several windows open, where you can just click each small window on the taskbar once to start chatting.
This default XP setting was designed to make web browsing more convenient. So I suggest changing this setting according to your actual usage. If you really browse the web often, then using an IE-kernel browser like MYIE can avoid affecting QQ usage while also not taking up multiple taskbar positions—killing two birds with one stone. The way to change it is: Start - Control Panel - Appearance and Themes - Taskbar and Start Menu, remove the check mark in front of “Group similar taskbar buttons”.
3. A maximization trick for text files and mail
Starting from Windows 2000, when you click an email stored on the hard disk with the EML extension, the default state is never maximized, but always an annoying small window, and it does not have the ability to remember its state. After you maximize this window, the next time you open a mail it is a small window again. Text files have a similar problem. This is probably an oversight in Microsoft's design. In the official help files and settings options, there is no explanation or option for this maximized-state memory problem. I once emailed Microsoft's China feedback mailbox about this issue, and the reply I got was to call the technical support hotline, hehe. Although it does not affect functionality, having to click the maximize button every time is very troublesome in actual use. This little problem still is not fixed in XP, and it probably troubles quite a few people.
While exploring XP these past two days, I finally discovered that you can make Windows remember the maximized state by dragging the window size: after opening an EML mail, do not click the maximize button. Instead, move the pointer to the edge of the small window, hold down the left mouse button, and drag the window in all directions until it fills the screen, then click close. Next time you will find that whenever you open this kind of file, Windows will maximize it automatically. The same is true for TXT text files.
But I should remind everyone that in Windows 98, this trick is not used. In 98, if you want mail to remember the maximized state, you must first maximize an opened mail, then click Reply. The reply interface will be maximized, and Windows will then remember its maximized state that way. In Windows 9X, if you simply drag the window or maximize the mail each time, it is ineffective.
4. Turn off Auto Update, directory sharing, and Remote Assistance support
These are the same as in Windows 2000, all functions specially designed for network applications. For most people in China, Microsoft's Windows Auto Update and Remote Assistance are of little use; if you set up directory sharing, viruses like FUNLOVE that specifically wreak havoc on LANs become very difficult to remove, so unless you have some special need, it is better to turn them off. These functions can be disabled in system options and service management.
If your PC hardware specs are not high, XP's visual effects such as animated windows and fade in/fade out should also be turned off, to avoid affecting speed.
5. Hibernate key setting
After XP is installed, the default setting is that when the user presses the Hibernate key on the keyboard, the computer does nothing. Because XP's hibernation is a suspend-to-hard-disk function, even if you completely cut off the power, XP can still read the previously saved state from the hard disk the next time it starts, quickly restoring it and shortening startup time for the user. This kind of function is different from hibernation in Windows 9X, where power cannot be cut off. Waking up also takes longer than in 9X, but after rebooting, entering Windows is much faster. Considering users' habits and compatibility issues between XP and some older power supplies, XP makes it ineffective by default. You can go into Power Management in Control Panel and enable the Hibernate key again. I suggest setting it to pop up a menu, so you can choose hibernate, shut down, or log off.
Because XP hibernation first needs to read the current system state from memory, it requires hard disk space equal to your physical memory size. By default this is on drive C:, so users should configure it according to their actual hardware capabilities. After setting the Hibernate key, some motherboard power supplies require XP to be restarted before it takes effect. If you press SLEEP to test it right after setting it, there may be no response; but on some systems it can take effect immediately. One more thing: if your motherboard battery is dead, causing the date to be incorrect, and XP has not been activated, then after hibernation XP may detect the date problem and require activation, otherwise it will lock the system.
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uploadImages/200311161145850422.swf
uploadImages/200311161145850422.swf