Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
    • Docking Your Laptop
    • Using PC Cards
    • The Windows Briefcase
    • Going Wireless with Infrared
    • A Word About Power
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

A Word About Power

Depending on the support your laptop manufacture provides, you might have some or a lot of control over how much power your laptop consumes over time. Power consumption is an important issue for laptop users due to the limited storage of laptop batteries.

When you open your Control Panel and select Power Options, you'll see a window similar to the Power Options Properties window in Figure 17.6. From this window, you can select the power scheme that best suits the way you work. If you change the option to Always On, your laptop battery will be utilized to its fullest because Windows XP will always keep your monitor on and your hard disks spinning. By selecting other options, you can control how long your keyboard sits idle because Windows XP stops your hard disk and blanks out your monitor to save battery life. When you press any key, after one of these power-saving features starts, you will notice a pause while Windows XP brings the disk back to its full speed or powers the monitor once again.

Figure 17.6 Windows XP supports various power- management options.

Other options that appear in your Power Options Properties window are determined by your laptop's abilities. For example, most laptops can go into a hibernate mode whereby your work session including all open windows and programs and loaded data are stored to your laptop's disk drive before the power goes off. You then can quickly return to the place you last were. The hibernate feature is useful when you need to stop using your laptop but then return to finish what you were doing before. By entering a hibernate mode instead of closing all your windows and then turning off your laptop, your laptop will power on back to the power where you turned it off; you won't have to restart any programs to return to your work.

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