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
    • Looking at My Computer
    • Working in the My Computer Window
    • Accessing the Control Panel
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • 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
  • 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

Accessing the Control Panel

The Control Panel enables you to adjust and manage the way hardware devices are attached to and respond to your computer. Open the Control Panel from the Start menu and you'll see a window like the one in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3 Modify the system settings from within the Control Panel.

Notice the option on the left pane of the Control Panel labeled, Switch to Classic View. When you click this option, Windows XP changes your Control Panel's view to the classic view used in previous Windows versions. The classic view, as opposed to the category view that you saw previously, groups all available icons located in your Control Panel window by function. Figure 4.4 shows the Control Panel classic view.

The Control Panel's toolbar and menus work in a similar manner to those of the My Computer window. When you master windows basics for one kind of window, you can apply that talent to all other windows. From the Control Panel, you can change or modify system and hardware settings.

Figure 4.4 You can see all the Control Panel's icons from the classic view.

Modifying the Mouse Properties

Some operations inside the Control Panel are complex and could violate your system's setup. Many tasks are safe inside the Control Panel, however. Follow the next To Do item to learn how to modify the way your mouse behaves.

To Do: Modifying the Way the Mouse Behaves

1. Open the Control Panel window if you have not yet done so.
2. Select the Mouse icon. The icon indicates that the mouse settings are found here. You see the Mouse Properties dialog box appear, as shown in Figure 4.5.
   

   Figure 4.5 You can change the behavior of the mouse.

3. If you are left-handed but your mouse is set for a right-handed user, you can select the option labeled Switch primary and secondary buttons to change the mouse button orientation. The buttons will change their functionality as described in the text beneath the option. (The change will not take effect until you close the Mouse Properties dialog box or click the Apply button.) You can change the button back to its original state by clicking the option once again.
4. Click the tab marked Pointers at the top of the Mouse Properties dialog box. From the Pointer portion of the dialog box, you can change the default appearance of the mouse. A scrolling list of mouse shapes indicates all the kinds of cursor shapes that appear when certain Windows XP events take place.
5. To change the default mouse pointer (called the Normal Select shape), double-click the row with the Normal Select text. Windows XP displays another screen, shown in Figure 4.6, with different mouse pointers you can use. The mouse pointers are stored in files on your system. Some pointers (those whose filenames end with the .ani filename extension) are animated cursors that move when you select them and use the mouse.
   

   Figure 4.6 Select a mouse cursor shape file.

6. Windows XP can change the theme, or overall look of all your mouse pointers, to make them uniform. Just for grins, click the down arrow next to (None) inside the Scheme area and point to 3D-Bronze in the list. Windows changes all your mouse pointers to three-dimensional bronze shapes.
7. Before leaving the Mouse Properties window, click the Use Default button to return the standard mouse cursor to its default pointer shape unless you want to keep another selection.
8. Click OK to close the Control Panel.

Different Wallpaper

In Hour 1, "Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP," you learned that wallpaper is the name for the background you see on the screen when you start Windows XP and work within its windows. You can change that wallpaper to a different picture or eliminate the wallpaper altogether.

To Do: Modifying Your Wallpaper

1. Open your Control Panel window.
2. Select the Appearance and Themes category. Here, you can change several desktop elements such as the wallpaper background and your desktop themes. Desktop themes are predesigned icons and colors and desktop settings, combined in a single collection, so that you can easily change the overall look of your desktop and other windows elements. Instead of modifying the entire look of Windows XP, you should probably keep most of the default settings as they are until you learn how to navigate the default Windows XP theme. For this To Do item, you will change only your desktop wallpaper's background.
3. Select the option labeled Change the desktop background to display the Display Properties dialog box shown in Figure 4.7.
   

   Figure 4.7 You can change your desktop's appearance.

4. The Background list of choices determines the wallpaper pattern you might want to use for your desktop's background. Scroll through the list of choices looking for an interesting name, such as Azul and click on that selection. Windows models the new wallpaper style in the small screen to give you a preview of it. You can go with that selection or choose another.
5. When you are happy with your selection, click the OK button, and presto, you've hung new wallpaper without messy cutting or gluing!

You can change your wallpaper without first displaying the Control Panel. Simply right-click over a blank spot on your desktop, select Properties, and click the Desktop tab.

Adding Handy Desktop Icons

You already know that the taskbar's Show Desktop icon quickly minimizes all open windows and returns you to the desktop. Some Windows users prefer to place program icons on their desktop so that they can keep common windows and routine programs handy. When you place an icon on your desktop that represents a window such as the My Computer window, you only need to double-click that icon, while at your desktop, to see the window or start the program.

The following To Do item explains how to place programs on your desktop.

To Do: Putting Program Icons on Your Desktop

1. Click the Show Desktop Quick Launch toolbar button to minimize any windows you may have open.
2. Locate the program in your Start menu that you want to represent with a desktop icon. You may have to open a few cascading Start menu folders to locate the program.
3. Click and hold your right mouse button and drag the program's icon from ts Start menu location to your desktop and release the mouse button.
4. Select Copy Here from the pop-up menu that appears and Windows XP places the icon on your desktop. You now only need to double-click this icon from the desktop to start the program.

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