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
    • Introducing the Windows Explorer
    • The Explorer Options
    • Managing Documents with a Right Mouse Click
    • Right-Click to Copy and Move Documents
    • Using the Explorer's Task Pane
    • Where Do the Deleted Files Go?
    • Making Windows XP Easier to Use
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • 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

Q&A

1. Why does it seem as though many Explorer functions are available elsewhere, such as in the My Computer window and in Open dialog boxes?

   You can find many of Explorer's capabilities elsewhere. Windows is known for giving you the tools you need where you need them. You don't have to hunt for the tools you need.

2. I'm confused; are there three kinds of shortcuts?

   There are three versions of shortcuts in Windows XP. You can add a single-key shortcut to any program. When you press Ctrl+Alt and that key at the same time, Windows starts the program. You can be working in Explorer, at the desktop, or in virtually any other program, but when you press the shortcut keystroke, Windows starts the program you've assigned to that shortcut key.

   When you right-click a document or folder and select the Create Shortcut command, Windows creates a shortcut to the item, which is really an alias name that knows the location of the original document or folder, but which acts like a copy of the item.

   When you add items to the Start menu (or any menu cascading out from the Start menu), you must create a shortcut to that item because you don't want a copy of the same program all over your disk drive. Therefore, the menu command will be a shortcut to the program that, after you select that menu item, finds the program on the disk drive and starts the program.

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