Top 10 Windows XP Tips Of All Time

Tip 1: Automatically log when and why shutdowns have occurred.

Love it or hate it, Windows XP is undeniably more stable than its predecessors. But it still crashes, and it still has occasional trouble shutting down. This registry hack logs all shutdown errors, telling you when, where, and why strange and annoying things have happened.

Some folks have the luxury of packing their buggy PC off to a help desk. But if you like to get your hands dirty, consider this essential tweakage.

Here's how to set up logging for unexpected system shutdowns:

1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mico****t\Windows\Curr
entVersion\
Reliability

2. Set the ShutDownReasonUI data value to 1. (If this string doesn't exist, create it and set the value to 1.)

3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC.

Tip 2: Recover lost data.

Everyone has accidentally deleted files from their hard drive, and very few feelings are as low as the moment right after you nuke 300 irreplaceable photographs of your kids/dogs/life. Actually, one feeling is worse than that: accidentally quick-formatting your entire drive.

Even if you regularly back up your drives, mistakes happen. That's why this tip is paramount. It's also really simple. There's an excellent downloadable data recovery app for XP called Zero Assumption Recovery that can help. Don't waste another minute — download and install it now.

When you run into trouble, here's what to do:

1. The moment you delete your data, stop using your hard drive. Don't save or install any new applications — they'll be written over your recently departed data.

2. Run Zero Assumption Recovery. You already had it installed, right?

3. Select the hard drive you want to scan. Wait for the scan to finish. (This can take between one and two hours -- part of Zero Assumption Recovery's effectiveness is its thoroughness.)

4. With any luck, you'll see a list of your missing folders and files. The freeware version of Zero Assumption Recovery allows you to recover up to four folders per scan. If you pay $100 for the full version, you get full recovery.

Note: You can also use Zero Assumption Recovery to recover deleted photos from your camera's memory card.

Tip 3: Stay on top of registry changes.

Given the power and flexibility of Windows XP's registry (and the large number of registry hacks in this Top 10), it's no surprise that the number 3 XP tip involves keeping track of any and all changes made to your registry.

But given the prevalence of spyware, rootkits, and other malware these days, knowing what you've done to your registry is a secondary concern to knowing what other applications are doing to it.

For peace of mind — and occasionally, for curiosity's sake — we consider SysInternal's Regmon an essential piece of our OS. It's a freeware application that allows you to browse through all the keys in the registry, filtering in a variety of ways to pinpoint specific registry changes.

For example, you can quickly filter for certain applications. If you're having trouble with Windows Media Player, you click on the Options menu, then Filter. At the menu, type wmplayer into the Include field. When you see the resulting list, you can double-click any entry to open up its registry value.

Because you can search and filter, Regmon is also an excellent method for tracking down hard-to-find registry items.

Tip 4: Set a custom resolution.

Notice a trend in the second half of this story? If you answered, "They're all registry hacks," you are correct. Windows XP's registry loads an amazing amount of flexibility and customization in a fairly low-risk package.

Tip number 4 on our list is another one of our favorite registry hacks. Windows XP allows you to specify a large number of set screen resolutions based on what types of images your display can accept. However, in a few rare instances, you may want to specify a non-standard resolution for a clearer or more accurate picture. This tip allows you to do just that. It's one of those tips that doesn't seem all that handy — until you desperately need it. Plus, it's just plain cool. If you have a wonky projector or TV screen you want to use with a laptop or PC, you might want to give this a try.


Here's how it works:

1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\System\CurrentControlSet\Contr
ol\VIDEO\
{the address of your primary video card...it often begins with "23A77BF7"}\0000\

2. The Default Settings.XResolution data value is the horizontal resolution, and the Default Settings.YResolution data value is the vertical. Double-click the Default Settings.XResolution data entry, select the Decimal radio button, and in the Value Data field, enter your desired horizontal resolution. Then do the same with Default Settings.YResolution to change the vertical resolution.

3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC.

If you're scared of tweaking your registry on this one, a handy app called PowerStrip ($29.95, available for a free try-before-you-buy download), allows you similar resolution-changing functionality.

Tip 5: Automatically optimize your hard drive.

One of the keys to system performance is an optimized hard drive. Typically, you optimize your hard drive using Windows' Defrag utility. But there's a great registry hack that will force Win XP to automatically optimize the location of files when your PC is idle. Here's how it works.

1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mico****t\Windows\Curr
entVersion\
OptimalLayout

2. Find the string called EnableAutoLayout, and change its data value to 1. (If this string doesn't exist, create it and set the value to 1.)

3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC. Done!

Tip 6: Force unresponsive applications to close at shutdown.

When it comes to balky PCs, few things annoy us more than the moment when we try to shut down Windows and it tells us it can't because some crashed application isn't responding, and that we have to do it ourselves by clicking the End Now button.

This registry hack changes that. Here's how it works.

1. Launch RegEdit (select Start > Run, type regedit and click OK) and browse to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

2. Find the string called AutoEndTasks. Right-click it, select Modify from the pop-up menu, and change the data value from 0 to 1. (If you can't find this string, create it by selecting Edit > New > String Value and set the data value to 1.)

3. Close RegEdit and reboot.

Tip 7: Run two displays on the same PC.

This tip is for the worker bee. Adding a second display to your PC won't quite double your productivity, but it will make your computing life easier. Walk around a cube farm these days, and you'll likely see at least a few power users doubling up.

Thankfully, Windows XP makes it extremely easy.

1. Plug the second display into your computer. (Many video cards today have a second Video Out port; if not, you'll have to install a second video card.)

2. Right-click on your desktop and click Properties to bring up the Display Properties window. Click on the Settings tab.

3. See the grayed-out box to the right of the black box? That's your second monitor. Click on it and then click the check box next to "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" to enable it. From here you can adjust the resolution of the secondary display. The goal here is to have a desktop that spans both of your displays, so if your second screen is physically located to the left of your primary one, drag and drop the #2 monitor to the left of the #1 display.

Tip 8: Scrub your hard drive clean.

Windows Support Tools, provided free by Mico****t, are a suite of some 20+ separate applications that are extremely handy for a number of uses. Ordinary PC users probably won't use many of these apps — they're mostly used by IT pros to troubleshoot and analyze Windows XP. But even if you're not an expert, don't be afraid of using the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, which will help you remove all leftover files from a failed uninstall of a Windows Installer application.

Download Windows Support Tools from Mico****t's Download Center. (If you're curious about the other apps in the suite, check out the help file included in the Windows Support Tools Program group.)

To run the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, go to the command prompt (select Start > Run) and type msicuu.exe. You'll see a list of all applications with uninstall data. Select the ones you want to get rid of and click the Remove button. Obviously, you want to use caution here — don't clear the install data for an application unless you're absolutely sure you won't ever need it.

Tip 9: Increase available disk space by scaling back System Restore.

It's not perfect, but Windows System Restore is a useful first step in recovering your PC or drive from a major system error. However, it can consume more than 10 percent of your total hard drive space.

If you find yourself desperate for an extra few gigabytes — particularly on secondary storage drives — there's an easy way to reclaim data space by simply limiting the number of System Restore points Windows XP establishes. This one's a snap and there's no tangible increase of risk, which is why we love it.

1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties > System Restore.

2. If you have just one hard drive, skip to step 3. Otherwise, select the drive on which you want to gain storage space and click the Settings button.

3. Adjust the slider to the left to use less disk space, and Win XP will reduce the number of System Restore points by the appropriate amount.

tips 10:This tip is one of our favorites because it always works. Running in the background of Windows are scores of services, small processes used by Windows and many Windows applications. The thing is, you don't need all these services — especially for applications you never use — and many of them actually slow your PC down.

Win XP power users have long known that you can easily eke a little extra performance out of your PC by disabling services that are completely unnecessary or that don't need to be running all the time. Here's how it works.

1. Click Start > Run, type services.msc and click OK. This will bring up the Services management console. Click on the Extended tab at the bottom of this window; each background service running on your PC is listed here. Windows includes a fairly detailed description of each service; simply drag the Description column wider to read more of each description, or click on a service to see its full description in the left pane.

2. Double-click a service to bring up a window with several options. In the Startup Type area, you can set the service to run automatically in the background at all times so it's ready whenever it's needed, or you can tell it to run manually, which means you'll have to go into this Services management console and re-enable it if an application needs it.

You can also completely disable the service. In general, you want to disable services tied to applications and/or features you don't use or rarely use. You can find a great list of appropriate services to disable at the Elder Geek's Services Guide For Windows XP.

If you're logged onto the computer as the administrator, you can also pause the service (click the Pause button in the Service Status area just below the Startup Type area), then see how the computer behaves. Danger signs include crashes or other erratic behaviors in your applications, such as running slowly or getting stuck on a query prompt. Click Resume to start up the service again.

Computer Maintenance Tips

Ten tips to keep your computer running smoothly:

1. Never, never, turn your computer off with the power switch until Windows has shut down.

The one exception to this rule is when your computer locks up and your hard drive is not running (hard drive light is not blinking). In this situation, you can turn the power off without harmful effects to the hard drive. As cutting the power can also result in lost data or Windows files, you should only do this when you have to.

Following this rule will prevent permanent hard drive defects caused by the hard drive heads contacting the surface of the drive disc, and it will prevent a host of Windows problems.
Whenever possible, recover from crashes by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time. Press them again to reboot your computer.

2. I highly recommend that you purchase an UPS (uninteruptable power supply) for your computer. This will keep your computer from crashing during power outages, and will protect your computer from low and high voltage occurrences.
An UPS is far superior to a surge protector and will save your computer from almost any power type of disaster. (See #1 above for what happens when your computer crashes.)

3. Backup, backup, backup, any data you cannot afford to lose to at least two separate physical drives. So backup data to floppies, Zip disks, CD-RWs etc.
The time to backup is when you create something you can't afford to lose. Don't wait until tomorrow.

4. Run Scandisk and Defragment at least once a month. This will keep your hard drive healthy and prevent crashes. Alternatively, purchase Norton Utilities and use it to keep your hard drive healthy.

5. Never unplug peripherals from the computer when it is powered up. Unplugging with the power on can short out the connector socket or the motherboard.

The only exception to this rule is if you know a peripheral is "hot pluggable". If you do not know what "hot pluggable" means then ignore this exception.

6. Do keep at least 100 MBs of your C: drive free for Windows to use. If you use Windows Me or Windows XP then you should have 200 MBs of free space on your C: drive.
If you do not have enough free space you will choke Windows and it will start dumping data to your hard drive, or it will just get really, really, slow.
Use the ADD/Delete tool in the Windows Control Panel to delete unneeded programs from your drive.
You can also use Cleansweep included in Norton Utilities to clean up your drive. If you do use Cleansweep or another hard drive cleaner, do not delete shared files unless you back them up. The cleaners do a rotten job of knowing if another program uses shared files.

7. Do not let a lot of programs load up when you start your computer. They use valuable memory and Windows Resources (Windows internal workspace).
All programs in your Windows System Tray (in the lower left of your screen) are running on your computer. Close them if you don't need them or run them and configure them not to load when you boot up.
Other programs running in the background can be found by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete at the same time.

8. Do use a virus checker regularly. Everyone should use a virus checker. The best type of protection is continuous monitoring from a dedicated anti-virus program like Norton Antivirus.
The second best thing is to use is the free online virus checker Housecall provided by Trend Micro.

9. If you have a high speed Internet connection you need a firewall program. A firewall program keeps those who want to hijack your computer from gaining access to your system. You really do not want someone else running your computer.
I suggest you purchase and run Norton's Personal Firewall program. Your firewall should boot up with your computer to protect it from invasion. A free personal firewall program is available from Tiny Software.

Case in point: When I run Windows Me for 10 hours or more with my DSL connection, my computer is usually attacked by a hacker at least once.
Do not think you are safe from hackers!! Hackers use search programs to seek out computers at random. Get a firewall program and use it.

10. Keep track of the software disks you receive with your computer and new peripherals. These disks contain valuable software drivers and programs for Windows and are needed when Windows must be reloaded. Keep these disks and your Windows software disks in a safe, dry, place -- you never know when you will need them.

Virus Protection Tips

Computer viruses are increasingly common and destructive, and IT Services makes every effort to keep Iowa State University and supported computers free from infection. To help reduce the risk of infecting your computer and the computers of others please follow these virus protection tips from McAfee and IT Services.

1. Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown, suspicious, or untrustworthy source.
2. Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate themselves and spread through email. Better be safe than sorry and confirm that they really sent it.
3. Do not open any files attached to an email if the subject line is questionable or unexpected. If the need to do so is there always save the file to your hard drive before doing so.
4. Delete chain emails and junk email. Do not forward or reply to any of them. These types of email are considered spam, which is unsolicited, intrusive mail that clogs up the network.
5. Do not download any files from an unknown, suspicious, or untrustworthy source.
6. Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate and reputable one. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you're uncertain, don't download the file at all or download the file to a floppy and test it with your own anti-virus software.
7. Update your virus definitions regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered each month. While your virus protection software is scheduled to update your virus definitions automatically, occasionally you may need or want to update your virus definitions manually.
8. When in doubt, always err on the side of caution and do not open, download, or execute any files or email attachments.

Windows XP Boot Problems & Edits

Windows XP Restarts When You Try to Shut Down Your Computer

When you shut down your Windows XP-based computer, your computer may restart instead of shutting down, and you may see a blue screen for just a moment before the computer restarts.

The behavior can occur if the following conditions exist:
You have "automatically restart" selected. (Press WinKey-Break, or (Start/Run/Sysdm.cpl), Advanced Tab, Start Up and Recovery/Settings/System Failure/Unmark "Automatically Restart"/Ok/Ok.

The Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.0 or Direct CD 5.0 program is installed on your computer.

Resolution:
To resolve this issue, contact Roxio or view the following Roxio Web site to download and install the updated driver for Easy CD Creator 5.0 for Windows XP: http://www.roxio.com. To work around this issue, uninstall Roxio Easy CD Creator or Direct CD.

Easy CD Creator 5.0 Does Not Function In Windows XP
When you attempt to use Easy CD Creator 5.0, you may see an error message that is similar to the following message on a blue screen, or your computer may become unstable:

Stop 0x00000050: PrtSeqRd deferencing null device object
Easy CD Creator 5.02b and earlier has not been tested or approved by Roxio for use on Windows XP.

As of October 22, 2001, the latest version for Easy CD Creator is version 5.02b; this version is known to have problems running on Windows XP. Easy CD driver updates from Roxio are available from the following Roxio Web site:

http://www.roxio.com/en/support/ecdc/ecdcupdates.jhtml
http://www.roxio.com/en/company/roxio_xp.jhtml

More Information:
Windows XP may encounter a problem during startup that results in a STOP error message. Depending on the system configuration, the error message on a blue screen may not be displayed long enough to record the error information. To gather important information about the STOP error message and to verify the cause:

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure, and then click OK. The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.

Instantly Reboot Upon a System Fault
Start/Run/Regedit. Navigate to...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl

In the right pane choose AutoReboot/Right Click/Modify. Change value to 0 to disable and 1 to enable.

Windows Hangs While Saving Your Settings
When you shut down your computer, Microsoft Windows XP may stop responding (hang) while the following message is displayed: Saving your settings. When this occurs, you may be able to move the mouse pointer, but when you press CTRL+ALT+DEL, nothing happens. This issue may occur only occasionally. Supported Fix: "Restarting Windows XP".

Modify Hung App Time
Start/Run/Regedit. Navigate to...
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

In the right pane, choose HungAppTimeout/Right Click/Modify/Change Value/Exit/Reboot.

Force Program Exit

Start/Run/Regedit

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop In the right pane find, "AutoEndTasks" (Create if not present). Set the Value of 0 or delete it. No reboot needed.

Disable Error Reporting
Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Error Reporting/Disable.

Windows Boots without Warning!
By default when WinXP encounters a system failure, it reboots without warning. The setting that controls this can be changed:
Control Panel/System/Advanced/Settings (Startup & Recovery)/System Failure/Uncheck-Automatically Restart. To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or Start/Run/eventvwr.To bypass the BSOD altogether and enable the instant "Auto Reboot" feature: Start/Run/Regedit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl. Right click on "AutoReboot", modify and change the value to 1. Exit, reboot. To disable set the value back to 0.

Windows® Online Crash Analysis
If you experience a blue screen crash event, or Stop error, while using Microsoft Windows XP, you can upload the error report for analysis. http://oca.microsoft.com/welcome.asp

By default when WinXP encounters a system failure, it reboots without warning. The setting that controls this can be changed:
Control Panel/System/Advanced/Settings (Startup & Recovery)/System Failure/Uncheck-Automatically Restart. To view the event log: Admistrative Tools/Event Viewer or Start/Run/eventvwr.

To bypass the BSOD altogether and enable the instant "Auto Reboot" feature, run Regedit and go to:
Right click on "AutoReboot", modify and change the value to 1. Exit, reboot. To disable set the value back to 0.

Windows® Online Crash Analysis

If you experience a blue screen crash event, or Stop error, while using Microsoft Windows XP, you can upload the error report for analysis. http://oca.microsoft.com/welcome.asp

Force Exit
Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In the right pane find, "AutoEndTasks" (Create if not present). Set the Value of 0 or delete it. No reboot needed

The Computer Continuously Restarts
When you start your computer, the Microsoft Windows XP start up screen appears, and then the computer restarts. The Windows XP logon screen does not appear. This error can occur if the Kernel32.dll file is missing or damaged.

To resolve this issue, use the Windows Recovery Console to extract a new copy of the Kernel32.dll file from the original Windows XP compact disc (CD). To do this, follow these steps:
1. Start the Recovery Console. If you do not have the Recovery Console installed,
start it from the Windows XP compact disc (CD). To do this, follow these steps:

a. Insert the Windows XP CD and restart the computer. If prompted, select any
options required to boot from the CD.
b. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts; choose the repair

or recover option by pressing R.
c. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that
you need to access from the recovery console.
d. When prompted, type the Administrator password.
2. At the command prompt, type "cd system32" (without the quotation marks), and then
press ENTER.
3. Type "ren kernel32.dll kernel32.old" (without the quotation marks), and then
press ENTER.
4. Type "map" (without the quotation marks), and then press ENTER.
5. Note the drive letter assigned to the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP
CD. It is displayed in a format similar to the following: D: \Device\CdRom0
6. Type "expand \i386\kernel32.dl_" (without the quotation marks) (where
is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD),
and then press ENTER. For example:
Expand d:\i386\kernel32.dl_
Note the underscore character after the "L" in Kernel32.dl_
The following message appears: Kernel32.dll, 1 file(s) expanded.
7. Type "exit" (without the quotation marks). The computer restarts.
8. Remove the Windows XP CD and start the computer normally.

How to Install the Windows Recovery Console

Disable Error Checking at Startup
Start/Run/Regedit. In the right pane, delete this entry: BootExecute autocheck autochk*

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

Disable/Remove Serious Error Message Upon Boot
Start/Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings/Advanced/Virtual Memory/Change/Set to 0. Reboot/Reset Pagefile to System Managed Size.

Disable Windows XP's Windows Tour Prompt for all Users
Start/Run/Regedit. Navigate to...
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets
In the right pane, locate Tour (if it doesn't exist, add it. Edit/New/Key. Then select New Value and set it to 0).
To set the same option for users, navigate to...and repeat the above steps.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets

Disable Unnecessary Programs at Startup
Start/Run/Regedit. Right Click/Delete unnecessary programs listed here:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Disable or Enable Boot Defrag
Start/Run/Regedit. Navigate to...
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction

Select Enable in the right pane/Right Click/Modify/Change Value to Y to enable, N to disable. Exit/Reboot.

Troubleshooting Guide

Trying to track down and resolve technical problems on your computer is, undeniably, one of life's most frustrating experiences. To help you through the process, I've written some articles that explain the critical issues you need to understand to do effective troubleshooting on PCs or Macs. In addition, the articles address common questions and common problems I'm often asked about on the "O'Donnell on Computers" radio show. These articles (at least the PC versions) also form the basis of some of the more extensive troubleshooting advice you'll find in my book, "Personal Computer Secrets." I hope you find them useful.

Home Networking and the Internet

In the early days of personal computers, the thought of having more than a single PC in a household was probably as uncommon as the idea of multiple televisions in households of the 1950's: it simply didn't happen. But now, just as multiple TVs per home has become the rule as opposed to the exception, so too has the multiple PC home become commonplace. (To get tips on what to look for in a new computer, by the way, check the "Computer Shopping Tips" article available on this web site.) People have found that, far from being an extravagance, owning multiple computers (whether they're PCs or Macs or even both) is extraordinarily practical, particularly for those households with multiple computer users, such as just about anyone with kids….

With the growing importance of the Internet, the dilemma now is figuring out how to get all those computers connected to the online world. Some people with multiple PCs have chosen to sign up for multiple online accounts, but in addition to being expensive, this can be impractical because of all the additional hassles it entails: setting up multiple phone lines, configuring multiple modems and so on. This is particularly true for those homes who already have or are interested in fast, "always on" (sometimes called broadband) connections to the Internet, such as via cable modems, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), satellite and fixed wireles technologies.

As a result, there's a tremendous interest in figuring out ways to share a single online connection among multiple computers. Simply put, the best way is to create a home network and then share the web connection through that network. Home networks offer many other useful benefits for multiple computer homes-including the ability to share printers and other peripherals, transfer files, play games and more-but sharing a single internet connection is widely recognized as being the "killer application."

Home networks will also be very important in the future for other types of applications, such as connecting information appliances and even consumer electronics devices, such as home stereo and home theater components, to the Internet. Without a home network in a place, you won’t really be able to take full advantage of some of the cool new crossover products and technologies that are just starting to become available.

Finding information on how to create a home network and shared Internet connection isn't easy, however, and many of the resources that are available aren't easy to understand. To address these issues, I've written this article. It offers complete, but straightforward explanations about both the concepts involved as well as the specific steps required to create your own home network with a shared Internet connection.

The Big Picture

The first thing to understand about this process is that there are two major steps involved. First, you have to create the network itself by connecting the appropriate hardware, installing the necessary software and setting up the computers to communicate with one another. Once that's done, then you also have to create the shared Internet connection, which can be done either with software or hardware. Simply creating a network does not automatically give you a shared Internet connection. Conversely, you cannot just install Internet connection sharing software and expect success-you have to have some type of network in place first.

Depending on the equipment and software you choose to install, you may find that you can achieve both ends (that is, create a network and share an Internet connection) with the same piece of hardware, but that's only because the device is specifically designed to handle both tasks. (Devices that offer this capability are sometimes referred to as residential gateways and they are discussed in much more detail later in this article.) In many cases, the process involves two or more separate pieces of hardware and/or software. Be aware also that the exact equipment you need and the procedures you’ll use to set them up vary depending on what you're using and what you already have. In addition, it’s important to know that there can be a lot of steps involved….

Getting Wired (or Unwired)

The first step in creating a network, which is the first part of the overall process, is figuring out how the machines will be connected together. Traditionally, this has been done via wired connections using specialized network cabling and a hardware device known as a hub, which serves as the common connection point between machines. Each computer uses (or needs to have installed) a network interface card (sometimes referred to as an Ethernet card), and the cables are connected from each PC's network/Ethernet card to the hub. Note that if your PC already has a network interface card that was installed along with your cable or DSL modem, you sometimes have to add a second network card to create your home network.

In many cases, home networks also use this type of arrangement, but it has one significant drawback. Traditional networks like this require that new cables be run to the rooms in which the computers are located. Not surprisingly, many homeowners (and renters) have no desire to run more wiring throughout their house, especially if it requires fishing wires through walls, climbing through attics or crawlspaces and so on. As a result, the computer industry has come up with several alternatives that are less intrusive or disruptive to the typical home and, in addition, are simpler to set up.

The first alternative encompasses two choices that are collectively referred to as "no new wires" techniques. As the name suggests, these methods use wiring that already exists in all homes: specifically, phone lines and the electrical lines. Products that use phone lines conform to the Home Phoneline Networking Association (HPNA) standard and allow you to network together two or more computers by plugging them into available phone jacks. Similarly, power-line products use your home's existing electrical outlets to connect together multiple PCs. In the case of power-line based products, the standard is called HomePlug, but it's being adopted very slowly and products that support have just started to trickle out. Importantly, both phoneline and power-line products work in such a way that they will not affect the normal operation of your home's phones or electrical outlets. So, for example, you can still make and receive calls on the phone lines while using an HPNA-based phoneline network and you can still plug in and use any device requiring electricity while using powerline-based networks. In both cases, the products essentially take advantage of unused “space” on the respective types of wires.

As appealing as these two options may be, there are certain limitations. Both mechanisms, for example, are typically slower than traditional wired network connections. Power-line connections, in particular, tend to run much more slowly than other alternatives. Similarly, phoneline products that conform to the HPNA 1.0 standard are much slower than other options, although HPNA 2.0-compliant products offer much better performance. To put it into numerical perspective, traditional wired Ethernet networks commonly run at 10 Megabits per second, or 10 Mbps. (The Mbps number refers to how much data, measured in bits, can be transferred across the network in a given amount of time.) In addition, 100 Mbps Ethernet, 1 Gigabit (Gbps, or 1,000 Mbps) Ethernet and even faster options are available with traditional network wiring. Some power-line networks, on the other hand, work at less than 1 Mbps, while HPNA 1.0 devices run at 1 Mbps and HPNA 2.0 devices offer up to 10 Mbps.

Other limitations are even more confounding. HPNA products, for example, must all connect to jacks that use the same phone number. If you happen to have multiple phone lines and, for example, only have jacks for the second line in one of the rooms in which your PCs are located (such as if you set up a dedicated phone line for dial-up Internet access), you could end having to wire your house with another phone line (or at least manually rewiring a phone jack) in order to get HPNA products to work. As far as I'm concerned, this completely defeats the purpose of HPNA in the first place because it doesn't live up to the promise of "no new wires." Thankfully, there are some solutions around this problem in some situations, but it can still be frustrating. Plus, it is very poorly and, in fact, very rarely, documented.

Power-line products, on the other hand, don't often work well with the electrical filtering found in power strips, which are otherwise usually recommended for use with your computer equipment. As a result, you'll have to be sure you attach power-line networking products straight to the wall or via a non-filtered outlet. Also, until more HomePlug-compatible products become available, all of the powerline products are proprietary and won't work with products from other vendors.

The second major alternative to wired networks are wireless products. Early wireless products were slow and more expensive than any wired alternatives, but current wireless products offer speeds up to 11 Mbps, in addition to the flexibility and ease of setup provided by a wireless connection. Cost-wise, however, they still are more expensive than the other options. Unfortunately, there are several different wireless alternatives and they are not compatible with each other, so you need to be careful if you're considering a wireless network. The two primary standards are Home RF (short for Radio Frequency) and IEEE 802.11b, which is used in Apple's AirPoint product and Lucent’s Orinoco RG-1000 among others. 802.11b has been standardized by many major computer and networking vendors and is now often referred to as Wi-Fi (short for Wireless Fidelity).

As long as all the products you use for your network conform to one of the two wireless standards you should be OK-even if you mix and match products from different companies-but to be safe, you should always check first to make sure that different wireless products can interoperate with one another. (One other potential future point of confusion is that neither of these wireless protocols work directly with another type of wireless networking technology called Bluetooth that's expected to be available in PDAs, cell phones, notebooks and other types of devices in the near future.)

Speaking of interconnections-or interoperability, as folks in the computer business like to say-it is sometimes possible to connect different kinds of network types together. So, for example, with the help of a hardware device that's generically referred to as a bridge (because it "bridges" or connects together two types of networks), you could have a home network that uses HPNA and Wi-Fi, or HomePlug and HomeRF or many other possible combinations. Certainly it's easier (and probably less expensive) if you stick with one main type of network connection, but be aware that there are "adapters" available that let multiple different network types connect together.

After you've decided on the technology you intend to use to create your home network, you'll need to plug everything in and get the computers connected. With traditional wired networks, the process typically entails plugging in an Ethernet-based network card (or taking advantage of the Ethernet jack built into many of today's PCs and Macs) and plugging each of the machines into a device called a network hub using Category 5, or Cat5 cabling. Many companies sell home networking kits that bundle together everything you need, including the network cards (sometimes also called network or Ethernet adapters), the hub and the cable. If you want to, however, you can also purchase the pieces individually.

With most phoneline, powerline and wireless products, the process is somewhat similar, although most of the alternatives don't require a hub and they use different type of cabling (or no cabling at all!) to make the connections. HPNA products, for example, often come in the form of a plug-in card that you install inside an open slot within your PC. Some newer PCs come with HPNA adapters pre-installed and you can also get external HPNA adapters that attach via your computer's USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports. Whatever form the adapter takes, all you have to do is connect it to an available phone jack and you've completed the physical installation.

Similarly, powerline products install or connect to your PC and then attach to an available electrical outlet. Wireless products in some instances are stand-alone devices that plug into an available expansion slot inside your computer while in others, they are external and must attach to either a USB port or an Ethernet card or connector on your computer. In the case of notebook computers, the wireless products are sometimes built directly into the computer and, in other cases, are added via a PC Card slot or via some other internal connector. (If you run into problems installing the necessary network hardware, you may also want to investigate the "PC Hardware Troubleshooting Tips" and "Mac Hardware Troubleshooting Tips" articles that are also available on this web site.)

In all cases, including traditional wired and the other alternatives, the next step is to install the required software. Most hardware devices require the installation of driver software, which is system-level software that communicates between the operating system and the device. In addition, in order for computers to communicate, they have to use an agreed upon "language," which in the case of computer networks is called a protocol. Several protocols are used on computer networks but the most common is called TCP/IP, which stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. As its name explains, TCP/IP is also the language used to communicate between computers on the Internet. Other protocols used for simple networks include NetBEUI for Windows-based networks and AppleTalk for Mac-based networks.

The final two pieces of software required to make a network "work" are network clients, which essentially look for and talk to other computers connected to the network, and network services, which is software that allows you to do things such as share files and printers across the network.

Thankfully, you don't usually need to worry about manually installing all these different software components because the software installation process that you go through when installing network hardware virtually always takes care of it for you. So, for example, when you attach an Ethernet or HPNA or Wi-Fi card into your PC or your notebook's PC Card slot, you'll typically be asked to install the accompanying software. When you do, the installation process usually installs not only the driver software for the new device, but also the appropriate networking software pieces.

In some instances, however, you do have to install these pieces manually (and even if you don't, it's good to know what exactly is involved in case you need to troubleshoot your network later on). Should you need to manually install the network clients, adapter drivers, protocols and services on a Windows 95/98/ME machine, you can do so via the Networking control panel. (You don't have to worry about this for Windows NT or 2000 because they presume a network connection and therefore don't offer a Network Control Panel.) Just open the control panel, click on the Add… button, select the Network Component Type (such as Protocol) you need from the list, click Add… again, and choose from the available options. Note that you may need to have your Windows CD nearby in order to complete the installation. Also, in almost all cases (except for adapters), you should select Microsoft from the list of vendors that appears on the left side of the dialog boxes that appear during this installation process and then choose from the options that appear on the right.

Be aware that you can mix and match computers with different versions of Windows on a network. So, for example, you could network together a desktop with Windows 95, a notebook with Windows 98 or XP and another desktop with Windows 2000, without any problems. They do not have to all be running the same versions of Windows.

Crossing the Chasm

If you happen to have both Macs and PC (or a Mac and a PC), you can also connect them together in a network, although there are a few other considerations to bear in mind. Most importantly, you need to install additional software either on the Mac or the PC (but not both) in order to allow it to fully communicate with the other. That is, unless you're using MacOS X.1 or later, which includes built-in support for PC file and printer and sharing. All previous versions of the MacOS, including the original release of OS X, do not.

If you aren't yet running MacOS X.1 or later want to connect a single Mac to a PC network, I would recommend Thursby Systems' DAVE software, which lets Macs talk to PC networks. If, on the other hand, you're attaching a lone PC to a Mac network, check out Miramar Systems PC MacLan, which you install onto a PC in order to let it speak the language of Mac networks. If you have one Mac and one PC, you can go either way, but you'll have to choose one option or the other if you want to share files and printers. (Note that you don’t need any software if all you want to do is share an Internet between a Mac and a PC. In that case, you can just use a piece of hardware called either a gateway or router and connect each of the computers to that device via standard Ethernet cables. I’ll provide more info on this a bit later in the article.)

In addition to getting the Macs and PCs speaking together over the network, you may need file translation software in order to open Mac files on a PC or PC files on a Mac. Thankfully, versions of Microsoft Office 98 and later on the Mac and Office 97 and later on the PC can directly read each other’s files without the need for any translation. If you have other translation requirements in either direction, you should visit the Dataviz web site, where you can get either MacLinkPlus to install on the Mac or Conversions Plus to install on the PC. Both programs enable you to translate between Mac and PC files (such as AppleWorks on a Mac to Word or WordPerfect on a PC).

Testing the Connections

Once all the software is successfully installed, you'll need to reboot your machine to try your network out. Before you do that, however, make sure that inside the Network control panel of any Windows-equipped PCs you have connected together, that you give the same Workgroup name to each computer. You’ll find Workgroup name under the Identification tab of the Network control panel. For Windows 2000, you can check for and/or change the Workgroup name through the System Control Panel and then the Network Identification tab and finally the Properties button. You can call each computer by any name you want (each machine must be different), as long as it’s limited to about 15 characters.

One potential hassle you may run into very quickly is that, in most cases, when you have a network you'll have to create and a use a password to log onto Windows. Passwords aren't required for single computers, but they are for a network, so either get used to it, or download and install Microsoft's handy TweakUI control panel (the newly updated version I’ve linked to here works with every type of Windows from 95 on, despite the fact that this link comes from a Windows NT section of the Microsoft web site), which lets you "save" a password and automatically log on whenever you turn on your Windows-based PC. In the case of Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you can also tell the system that it can always presume the same user is going to be logging into the system so that the operating system does it for you automatically.

To check your network connections, double-click on the Network Neighborhood or My Network Places icon on your desktop and you should the see other PCs on your network. (You might need to click on the Entire Network icon first.) If you do, congratulations, you're now a networking guru! If not, double check all your hardware connections, ensure that all the necessary software is installed, double-check your workgroup names and then reboot your system and try again. (If you want help with software-related problems, you can also check out the "PC Software Troubleshooting Tips" and "Mac Software Troubleshooting Tips" articles that are also available on this web site.) Windows 98 SE, Windows ME and Windows XP include help files on Home Networking, by the way, so if you have one of those operating systems installed on any one of your networked PCs, you can just select Help off the Start menu and search for home networking support. The help files in Windows XP are particularly useful.

Once everything is working, you may want to turn file and print-sharing on if you want to be able to transfer files from one computer to another on the network or you want to share printers. To do so in Windows 95/98/ME, double-click on the Network control panel and the click on the File and Print Sharing… button and select the appropriate check boxes. As I will discuss later in this article, however, there are some important security-related issues that may arise when you turn on file sharing, particularly if you have a high-speed DSL or cable modem connection to the Internet, so be careful. If you do turn on file sharing, you can get access to files on the other computer(s) by double-clicking on one of them in Network Neighborhood or My Network Places. What you'll actually be doing is viewing their hard drives. Once you have another computer open, you can copy files or move files over from the machine on which you're working.

One important caveat that I discuss in more detail later is that if you have a software-based firewall installed on at least one PC on your network, you may not be able to "see" that computer or any printers attached to it. While this can be both frustrating and annoying, it's actually a good thing because it means the firewall is doing its job of "hiding" that PC from the outside world. You can quickly get around this limitation by temporarily disabling the firewall when you need to print or share a file, but just remember to turn it back on (or "re-enable" it) after you're done. The specific method for enabling and disabling a firewall varies from program to program, but all of them should offer an easy, straightforward way to do so.

Cool Network Stuff

Before we get into how to share an Internet connection, I want to spend a few moments discussing the great things you can now do with your new network. Foremost among these new opportunities is the ability to share peripherals across the network. Let's say, for example, that you just bought a nice new color inkjet and connected it to one of your PCs, but you also have an older laser printer or multifunction device that you like to print to or fax from as well. What you can do with a network is attach one device to each computer on the network and then print to either one from either computer.

All you have to do to make this happen (in addition to turning on Printer Sharing, that is) is install the appropriate printer driver software onto each machine. (Simply having a printer attached to a networked computer will not make it automatically show up on all the other networked computers, unfortunately.) To network-enable your printers, go to the Printers Folder and see which printers are already installed. Ideally, you should just have the one directly connected printer available to each machine. (If you have the other printer's software already installed, go ahead and delete it. We're going to re-install it as a network printer in just a moment.)

Double-click on the Add Printer Wizard and on the second screen of the wizard, select Network Printer. The only tricky part of this process comes on the next screen, when you have to type in or browse for the location of the network printer. All you have to do is select browse, find the computer on the network to which the printer you want to use is attached, double click it, and then you should be able to see and select the printer you want to use. The final step involves installing the actual printer driver software on the networked computer. Make sure you're ready by having the CD or floppy disk that came with the printer with you so that you can insert it at the appropriate point in the installation process.

Once all the installations are complete, you'll be able to print to any printer from any computer on the network, which is really nice. Just remember to choose the printer you want from the Print dialog box that appears when you go to print from an application. Again, also remember that if you are using a software firewall--which I highly recommend you do--you may not be able to "see" any shared printers unless you temporarily disable the firewall.

Other fun things you can conceivably do with a network is share a CD- or DVD-ROM drive so that, for example, you could access a CD or DVD from a computer that doesn't have one. This can be very handy if, for example, you have a notebook that doesn't have a CD- or DVD-ROM drive and you want to install some CD-based software onto the notebook from your desktop computer's CD- or DVD-ROM drive. You can also share scanners and other peripherals as well as do fun stuff like play networked games.

Sharing the Web

OK, now that the network is complete we're finally ready to talk about sharing your Internet connection (I told you there was a lot to this….) Before diving into the specifics, I need to explain conceptually what's involved so that you can understand how the different mechanisms work and why some are better suited for some applications than others.

The critical issue is that in order for a computer to communicate with any other computer on the Internet it needs to have an IP (Internet Protocol) address. These addresses, which are assigned to computers either manually or automatically depending on the type of connection you have to the Internet, are what enable you to, for example, type in the address of a particular web site and have that web site send back the contents of its page to your specific computer. Without an IP address, a request sent to a web site would go unanswered because the site wouldn't know where to send the information. IP addresses take the form of four separate numbers (ranging from 0-255) separated by periods. An example would be 207.30.37.115, which happens to be the IP address of the web server hosting this web site.

On most types of Internet connections involving a single computer, IP addresses aren't an issue you would have had to worry about because they're typically assigned to your computer automatically when you go to make a connection. What happens is a device at your ISP (Internet Service Provider) uses a standard called DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to automatically assign an IP address to your PC. The process occurs by setting certain parameters in software. Importantly, the IP address that is given to your computer through this dynamic addressing process, as it's sometimes referred, lasts only the length that you are online. If you disconnect and then reconnect, your machine will have a different IP address assigned to it.

Some broadband Internet connections provide (or at least, used to provide) fixed IP addresses in which you are/were given a specific IP address that you assigned to your machine by typing it in the TCP/IP protocol section of the Networking Control Panel. The benefit of a fixed IP is that you always know what it's going to be. This turns out to be helpful when it comes to sharing an Internet connection, as you'll soon see. Many broadband ISPs have begun switching to dynamic IP addressing, however, as with traditional modem dial-up accounts, and require you to use a "dialing" program in order to connect to the Internet. In many cases, ISPs who have this type of arrangement are using what's called PPPOE (Point-to-Point Protocol Over Ethernet) in order to implement it. While this isn't necessarily a huge problem for single computer connections, it can make sharing an Internet connection across a home network a bit more confusing when you first set up your network. (In particular, you have to make sure that any hardware or software you use to share your Internet connection supports PPPOE. Thankfully, nowadays, most do.)

When it comes to networks, IP addressing issues can become more complicated. Nevertheless, they are something you'll have to deal with (or at least know something about), so it's worth spending some time discussing the basic issues. Again, each computer on a network has to have an IP address assigned to it in order to access the Internet. Logically, the easiest way to do this is to give each computer its own unique IP address. The problem is that most ISPs only provide you with a single IP address (fixed or dynamic) and charge extra for additional addresses. With PacBell's DSL service, for example, the monthly charge is $39 for a single IP address but $79 for an upgraded service that includes 5 unique addresses.

In order to avoid these additional costs, several different ways have been developed to "share" a single IP address across multiple machines on a home network. One of the most common is to assign an IP address to a single computer on the network that acts as a proxy for the other computers and through which they make their Internet connections. With this proxy server method, software running on the machine that's actually connected to the Internet (called proxy server software, appropriately enough) takes all the Internet-bound messages coming from the different PCs on the network and then routes it to the appropriate location on the web. When it receives data back, this proxy server software keeps track of which PC sent which request and routes the appropriate page back to each computer. Practically speaking, what this means is multiple people on the network can be connecting to different web sites at the same time and the proxy server software will make sure each person receives the right stuff.

Several companies make proxy server software, include Sybergen's Sygate, Deerfield's WinGate and Ositis Software's WinProxy, all of which work with Windows-based PCs. For the Macintosh, there's Sustainable Networks' IPNetRouter and VicomSoft's SurfDoubler. If you want to connect a Mac and PC to a shared Internet account, your best (and perhaps only) options are VicomSoft's SurfDoubler or Internet Gateway, two cross-platform packages that let you use either the Mac or PC as the machine that connects to the Internet. (Note that if you have a hardware router­-see below for more­-you can share a Mac and a PC connection without any special software. These products are for sharing without a router.)

In most cases, there is a small charge for the software but you may also be able to find shareware or even freeware proxy servers out on the Internet. Most proxy servers do more than just handle the juggling of IP addresses, by the way. Many, for example, include basic firewall security features. One potential drawback with a proxy server that you need to be aware of is that some Internet plug-ins or helper applications that work along with your browser need to be specially configured in order to work properly with a proxy server. (Some proxy server packages take care of most of this for you.) So, if after you install a proxy server you notice that you can't hear or see some types of streaming media, for example, look into making some adjustments to the plug-in's settings.

Unfortunately, as nice a solution as proxy servers may be, some of them don't work with PPPOE-based dynamic IP addressing schemes. In other words, depending on the type of account you have with your ISP, they might not work.

If you have Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), Windows Millennium Edition (ME) or Windows XP, another option you have is the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) software built into those operating systems. ICS is not typically installed by default, however, so may have to add it by going to the Add/Remove Software control panel, selecting the Windows Setup Tab, double-clicking on Internet Tools and then installing it (be sure to have your Windows CD ready). In addition to installing ICS on the main computer connected to the Internet, you'll also need to install the ICS "client" on each of the other computers on the network. Thankfully, Windows 98 SE, ME and XP include a wizard that creates a floppy disk with all the files you need. Simply create that floppy disk and then walk around to the other machines on the network and install the necessary files.

ICS essentially works by "fooling" the Internet connection into thinking that all the requests for information from different computers on the network are coming from a single machine. Conceptually, this is similar to how proxy servers work, but because of differences in the technical implementation of how the addresses are shared, ICS often does work even with PPPOE-type broadband connections. Technically, the process that ICS uses is called Network Address Translation or NAT.

The technical details of how to set up each of these different proxy servers vary, but the concepts are similar. If you want to find out more, I have links to several excellent web sites on the Troubleshooting Resources page of this web site. One particularly good resource is Practically Networked. One important point to remember in all of this is that you’ll need to find or have access to the parameters and settings that your ISP gives you when you sign up for Internet service. Specifically, you’ll need to know the IP addresses of the gateway and DNS server addresses in addition to any possible fixed IP address information (which again, the vast majority of people do not have).

The Hardware Alternative

If you don't want to deal with the difficulties of setting up these software-based systems and/or you don't want to always have to leave the Internet connected PC turned on--which you have to do with the software-based systems I've just described in order for the other computers on your home network to connect through it to the Internet--you're a great candidate for a hardware-based solution. In other words, you might want to spend a few more bucks and purchase a dedicated piece of equipment that you can set up once and then have your entire home connect through to the Internet. These dedicated routers or "residential gateways," as they're starting to be referred to, are one of the hottest areas in home technology.

Once again, there are several different choices available. Right now, products such as the Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router and others like it essentially act as intermediaries between your home network and your Internet connection. In the case of the Linksys routers, for example, you attach it directly to your cable or DSL modem (or analog one, if that's all you've got) and then to the rest of your network. The company sells one unit with a built-in hub (if you don't already have one) and another one without the hub (if you do). If you have a hub, you connect all your PCs to the hub and then you also connect the router to the hub. They, and other companies, also sell similar units that integrate support for the 802.11b wireless network standard so that you can combine both wired and wireless connections in a single network.

One of the primary benefits of this approach is that you don't need to always leave one computer on-instead you simply leave this device on and whenever any computer on your network requires an Internet connection, it handles the connection (in conjunction with your DSL or cable modem). In addition, having a hardware connection like this saves you from having to install two networks cards into the main computer that connects to the Internet.

Another important aspect of these residential gateway devices is that they can automate (or even eliminate) the often tedious process or assigning IP addresses to each of your computers. As mentioned earlier, in order for computer and other devices to talk to other computers on the Internet, they have to be assigned an IP address of some kind. What happens with residential gateways is that most of these devices incorporate a mini-DHCP server inside the box, which means that they can take care of automatically generating and assigning IP addresses to each device on your home network that connects to them. The gateway itself has an IP address—either the automatically assigned IP address from your ISP via its DHCP server or, if you have one, the fixed IP address from your ISP. Then the gateway, in turn, assigns IP addresses to your connected computers. When you first set up a gateway, you need to enter all your ISP connection settings for it (IP, gateway, DNS addresses, etc.), just as you did when you first connected your computer to the Internet.

To get your computers to work with the gateway, all you have to do is tell them to “Obtain an IP address automatically” in the TCP/IP section of Windows’ Network control panel. In other words, once you’ve set this option up (and it is the default, by the way, so you may not even need to take this step) the configuration happens automatically, which is great—and much, much easier. In case you’re wondering, the difference between the DHCP server that your gateway might “listen” to from your ISP (if you don’t have a fixed IP address) and the DHCP server inside the gateway is that the DHCP server at the ISP assigns publicly available IP addresses which can be used on the Internet, whereas the mini-DHCP server inside the residential gateway/router assigns private IP addresses to your connected computer and these addresses can only be used on a private network (and won’t work directly on the Internet—only through the public IP address assigned to the gateway). Public and private IP address issues can be confusing, but the gateway/router should take care of this stuff automatically.

In the future, these residential or personal gateway devices will probably integrate the functions of and take the place of your cable or DSL modem and hub, which will simplify the setup process. In other words, instead of having three boxes (e.g., a cable/DSL modem, a residential gateway/router, and a hub), you might only need one. So, for example, when you sign up for a high-speed Internet account you might get a residential gateway box into which you plug in all your home's PCs--again perhaps via phoneline networking connections, regular Ethernet connections, powerline connections, wireless connections or some combination of them all--and it will take care of everything else for you. It will serve as a network hub, it will serve as a high-speed modem and it will serve as bridging device for connecting all the different types of networking products together. Unfortunately, we're not quite there yet…. In the mean time, you can piece together the equivalent of this dream solution with several different components, as I've described. By the way, most residential gateways do not care what type of network they are attached to. So, they will work with a standard Ethernet network, an HPNA-based network, an 802.11b-based wireless network and various combinations thereof.

If you add other devices to your home network, such as an Internet appliance, wireless web pad, Internet-enabled MP3 music player, or any other type of Internet-enabled consumer electronics device you may also have to deal with IP address issues. In most cases, all you have to do is plug in the device to the network and, by default, it will search for a DHCP to automatically assign it an IP address. In that case, with a residential gateway box that has a built-in DHCP server (as most all do) everything will just work, which is how it should be. If it doesn’t, however, you can apply the same principles to these devices as you do with PCs and make the appropriate IP address adjustments in the device’s settings.

Security Concerns

In these days of rampant computer viruses and never-ending hacker attacks I would be remiss if I didn't discuss two additional issues that all home networks should deal with, but particularly those with high-speed always-on connections such as DSL and/or cable modems: anti-virus software and security software. The anti-virus issue is simple: you need to have anti-virus installed and running on every computer on your home network. Period. Just putting it on one isn’t good enough.

If you don't have some type of anti-virus app on every connected PC, then there's a good chance that at some point, one of your PCs will be infected and you could lose valuable files. And don't forget to update the program's virus definitions. Note that this doesn't mean you have to buy all the latest upgrades to the program, but you do need to install and maintain the virus updates, which are typically provided at little or no cost. Many anti-virus applications are designed to automatically check for, download and install these updates files and I highly recommend that you use this capability. At the very least, have these updates occur once a month, but even once a week wouldn't be extraordinary.

In addition to anti-virus software, you need to keep your system secure. Network security (and home network security) is an enormous subject unto itself (see Steve Gibson's great Shields Up site for more security-related information) and I won't attempt to address all these issues here, but I will say this: home networks with high-speed Internet connections are at a much greater risk for security problems than those with dial-up modem connections. As a result, it is possible that unscrupulous hackers could break into your home computers and do all sorts of nefarious things, such as copying and or deleting files, spreading viruses and more. The easiest way to address this problem is to install one of several new personal firewall programs that have appeared on the market recently. Products such as the free ZoneAlarm from ZoneLabs or commercial packages such as Black Ice Defender, Norton's Internet Security 2001, or Open Door's Software's DoorStop for the Mac all provide important protections that can keep your computer data safe. Windows XP also incorporates a basic firewall into the operating system itself. As with anti-virus software, you should have a personal firewall installed on each computer in your home network. A properly installed personal firewall will prevent security problems even if you share files and folders on your home network.

The End

Well, OK, not quite. But now that everything is connected, the software is installed, you can access the Internet from any computer in your home, and you've secured your home network, there's only one thing left to do. Enjoy it!

How to make your computer faster

t is indeed the bane of all computers that with the passing of time, the performance tends to drop off. The pc you bought for thousands of dollars, only twelve months ago, which was the fastest, shiniest thing you could afford, is now starting to slow down. You constantly notice the hard drive light flashing away, and have gotten used to going for a coffee when you turn it on to give it time to load up... Well, I'd like to cover some ideas to get your PC back into ship-shape, starting from software tweaks and initiatives, to inexpensive hardware modifications. These tips are good for beginners and experienced users too, with some as simple as accessing underused windows tools, to exploring the Bios menu and overclocking... let's get started :

1 - Software tweaking (The least expensive option, can have some good results)

The tools I will focus on first are both already in windows. First and foremost, get rid of your temporary files, which are clogging up your hard drive by running "Disk Cleanup" (Located in Accessories->System Tools) this will allow you to get rid of these files all in one go. You can check every box in the list EXCEPT for compress old files. This may sound like a good idea, but if you refer back to these files they will need to be decompressed first and this will degrade performance. The second step after a cleanup is to run a complete defragmentaion of your hard drive. This will help to rearrange files so they are contiguous, and will reduce searching across your hard drive. This tool is also found in the system tools folder.

Now that we have cleaned and run a defrag we can move onto some other programs I recommend, they are : Ccleaner (Crap Cleaner) This program will not only run an advanced version of disk cleanup, it also has a registry problem checker which is great. This program is free. Another great program to keep your PC in shape and bug-free is Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, this is another free (for home use) program which will scan your drive for bugs and cookies and clean them off for you. A final piece of advice is to uninstall (Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs) any unused pieces of software on your PC. This will ensure you have maximum hard disk space available, and the least amount of clutter.

2 - Hardware Upgrades and Tweaking

This section is a little more involved, and can mean some expense for hardware, however the performance gains will be a lot more noticeable.

Firstly when dealing with home PC's, one component can make a huge impact on performance, this component is the RAM. by increasing the RAM, we are enabling the computer to reduce the usage of the slow (relative to RAM) hard disk drive, and also allow it to store more cached material to enable smooth loading of programs. You will get much more performance per dollar for ram, than for any other upgrade. Most modern day PC's use either DDR or DDR-2 Ram. (you can check this by asking your manufacturer or referring to your user manual). Often, increasing ram is as simple as purchasing from your local retailer, taking the side of your PC case (Switched off!) and popping it in the slot, this is made all the less daunting by the fact that it will only fit in in one direction, saving you from blowing anything up inadvertently! If you are considering upgrading your ram, purchase at least a 512Mb Stick, as the price seems to reduce each increment (ie 2 sticks of 256 will cost more than 1 stick of 512).

The final component of low cost computer speed enhancement is the procedure called 'overclocking' by overclocking components we are increasing their 'work per cycle' by increasing their running speed. Overclocking is no easy task, but the sheer volume of guides available on the net make it a lot easier to ascertain the ability of your hardware to be overclocked, as well as the expected percentages.
Usually, this process is carried out in BIOS (the menu you get on startup, usually entered by pressing Del or any one of the -F- Keys). The process involves increasing base frequencies to bring the speed of the central processing unit up, usually by a factor of 5-15% (Heat and cooling are huge factors) to increase the processing power of the unit. This will translate into a direct increase in running and loading times of programs. Although I will not tackle the process here, as it varies based on hardware and numerous other factors (please use google to find a suitable guide). This process works because of the mass produced nature of processors and their ability to run x% higher than their retail markings. Using this technique will yield you a free performance boost in all applications. Please use with caution as warranties can be voided and parts can be damaged.

I hope you found this guide helpful in bringing your PC up to speed and giving you some ideas where to find software and guides to get your PC in top shape. I hope that with this guide, you can squeeze another 12 months life into your PC!

Overclocking Marathon Day 3 - A Budget Build

Editor's Note: On the first day of our overclocking marathon, we tried overclocking Dell's factory-overclocked XPS H2C with very modest success. Yesterday, based on requests from many of you, we overclocked our high-end build from May's System Builders Marathon; it did very well indeed. Today we build a brand new low-cost PC designed for optimal overclocking and see how far we can push it to maximize its performance. Tomorrow we'll sum up the performance of the three PCs in our overclocking experiments and show you which of the three is the best from a price performance perspective.

What Makes A Good Budget Build?

As we mentioned in our original system builder marathon, the budget specification we first came up with didn't cover overclocking. But we decided that to take on a high-end Core 2 Extreme in the overclocking department, we would have to take a hard look at what we wanted to include in this budget build. Here is a list of the components we used for this article - if you think we're off base on anything, an explanation of our choices follows.

System Builder Marathon High-End PC Component Cost
CPU	Intel Core 2 Duo e4300	$120
CPU Cooler	Thermalright XP-90 & 120mm fan	$55
Motherboard	Asus P5B	$115
RAM	Wintec Ampo DDR2 PC2-6400 - 2GB	$81
Graphics	GeForce 8800GTX	$500
Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar 250GB	$63
Sound	Onboard	$0
Case	Raidmax Smilodon	$80
Power	Aerocool Zerodba 620w	$125
DVD-RW	Sony NEC Optiarc 7170 SATA	$35
Total Price		$1174

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300

Our main change from the marathon budget build is the platform of course - we've chosen the Core 2 Duo e4300 over the Athlon X2 3200+ used in our budget marathon. The reason for this is simple: the Athlon 64 architecture simply doesn't measure up to the Core 2 Duo when overclocking is introduced to the equation.

While that is almost indisputable, many will disagree with the member of the Core 2 Duo family that we've chosen to overclock. The e4300 CPU only has 2 MB of cache and low a stock clock speed of 1.8 GHz, but it does have a very nice 9x multiplier and an ultra-low price of $120. The e4300 has proven to be a cheap, safe bet to get to 3 GHz with a decent motherboard.

But why didn't we choose the e6600 processor instead? For $100 more the e6600 also has the sweet 9x multiplier, double the cache for extra performance, and a reputation for high overclocking. In addition, the e6600 has been known to reach speeds of more than 3.5 GHz. In truth, the e6600 is also an excellent choice for a budget overclocker's system, and is probably even a better choice than the e4300 we used. Frankly, there is a bit of male hubris involved in our choice as we had an e4300 on hand and wanted to show that it could run with the big boys. The only other thing we'll mention is that if you're running an e6600 at 3.5 GHz or more you'd probably want to consider some high-end water or TEC cooling, which would have added a bit more to the cost of the build.

When all was said and done, even though our e4300 was no record breaker, we're very happy with the results from a cost/performance standpoint. But if you're putting together an overclocking rig, you should definitely give the e6600 some serious consideration as well if you can afford the extra $100.

CPU Cooler: Thermalright XP-90- And 120-mm Fan

When overclocking is the goal, the stock CPU cooler isn't going to cut it. Thermalright offers some excellent high-end air coolers for a good price, the only downside being you have to purchase the 120-mm fan separately. But $40 for the XP-90 and $15 for a 120-mm fan is well worth the huge cooling performance increase over the weak bundled cooler which, in the case of the e4300, was only designed to keep the CPU cool at 1.8 GHz.

If you manage to bring your overclocked CPU to even higher heights and find that a high-end air cooler isn't doing the job, it's probably time to consider water or TEC cooling. But for speeds less than 3.5 GHz at regular voltages on the Core 2 Duo, a high-end air cooler will probably do the job.

We should note that the XP-90 is an older cooler and may be difficult to source. The newer Thermalright SI-128 should do a similar, if not better, job for about $5 more.

Windows XP Professional Features

The features in the table below illustrate why the Windows XP Professional operating system is the best choice for businesses of all sizes. Windows XP Professional integrates the strengths of Windows 2000 Professional, such as standards-based security, manageability, and reliability, with the best business features of Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition, such as Plug and Play, simplified user interface, and innovative support services. This combination creates the best desktop operating system for business. Whether your business deploys Windows XP Professional on a single computer or throughout a worldwide network, this new operating system increases your computing power while lowering cost of ownership for desktop computers.

On This Page

	The New Standard for Efficient and Dependable Computing
	Puts the Advanced Productivity Tools of the Digital Age at Your Fingertips
	Advanced Management, Deployment, and Support Tools to Make Your Job Easier

The New Standard for Efficient and Dependable Computing

Feature	Description	Benefit
Reliable
Built on the new Windows engine	Windows XP Professional is built on the proven code base of Windows NT and Windows 2000, which features a 32-bit computing architecture and a fully protected memory model.	Windows XP Professional will provide a dependable computing experience for all business users.
Enhanced device driver verifier	Building on the device driver verifier found in Windows 2000, the Windows XP Professional will provide even greater stress tests for device drivers.	Device drivers that pass these tests will be the most robust drivers available, which will ensure maximum system stability.
Dramatically reduced reboot scenarios	Eliminates most scenarios that force end users to reboot in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95/98/Me. Also, many software installations will not require reboots.	Users will experience higher levels of system uptime.
Improved code protection	Critical kernel data structures are read-only, so that drivers and applications cannot corrupt them. All device driver code is read-only and page protected.	Rogue applications cannot adversely affect core operating system areas.
Side-by-side DLL support	Provides a mechanism for multiple versions of individual Windows components to be installed and run "side by side."	This helps to address the "DLL hell" problem by allowing an application written and tested with one version of a system component to continue to use that version even if an application that uses a newer version of the same component is installed.
Windows File Protection	Protects core system files from being overwritten by application installations. If a file is overwritten, Windows File Protection will restore the correct version.	By safeguarding system files, Windows XP Professional mitigates many of the most common system failures encountered in earlier versions of Windows.
Windows Installer	A system service that helps users install, configure, track, upgrade, and remove software programs correctly.	Will help minimize user downtime and increase system stability.
Enhanced software restriction policies	Provide administrators a policy-driven mechanism to identify software running in their environment and control its ability to execute. This facility can be used in virus and Trojan horse prevention and software lockdown.	Can contribute to improved system integrity, manageability, and, ultimately, lower cost of ownership of the PC.
Preemptive multitasking architecture	Designed to allow multiple applications to run simultaneously, while ensuring great system response and stability.	Run your most demanding applications while still experiencing impressive system response time.
Scalable memory and processor support	Supports up to 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and up to two symmetric multiprocessors.	Users who need the highest level of performance will be able to work with the latest hardware.
Encrypting File System (EFS) with multi-user support	Encrypts each file with a randomly generated key. The encryption and decryption processes are transparent to the user. In Windows XP Professional, EFS can provide multiple users access to an encrypted document.	The highest level of protection from hackers and data theft.
IP Security (IPSec)	Helps protect data transmitted across a network. IPSec is an important part of providing security for virtual private networks (VPNs), which allow organizations to transmit data securely over the Internet.	IT administrators will be able to build secure VPNs quickly and easily.
Kerberos support	Provides industry-standard and high-strength authentication with fast, single logon to Windows 2000—based enterprise resources. Kerberos is an Internet standard, which makes it especially effective for networks that include different operating systems such as UNIX.	Windows XP Professional will offer single logon for end users for resources and supported applications hosted on both Windows 2000 and our next-generation server platform, Windows Server 2003.
Smart card support	Smart card capabilities are integrated into the operating system, including support for smart card logon to terminal server sessions hosted on Windows Server 2003—based (the next-generation server platform) terminal servers.	Smart cards enhance software-only solutions such as client authentication, interactive logon, code signing, and secure e-mail.
Internet Explorer Add-on Manager	Easily manage and enforce a list of Internet Explorer add-ons that are either permitted or disabled to enhance security.	Helps reduce the potential for crashes.
Windows Firewall	Turned on by default, the built-in Windows Firewall helps increase computer security from startup to shutdown.	Reduces the risk of network and Internet-based attacks.
Windows Security Center	Easily manage security resources with this single, unified view of key settings, tools, and access to resources.	Easily change settings and identify security issues.
Attachment Manager	Isolates potentially unsafe attachments during the opening process.	Helps provide protection from viruses spread through Outlook Express, Windows Messenger, and Internet Explorer.
Data Execution Prevention	Helps prevent certain types of malicious code from attacking and overwhelming a computer’s memory.	Reduces the risk of buffer overruns.
Windows Firewall Exception List	Helps administrators better manage applications and static port exceptions by allowing only ports needed by an application to be open.	Increases application compatibility with Windows Firewall.
Windows Firewall Application and Port Restrictions	Easily configure applications and ports to receive network traffic only with a source address from any location, the local subnet only, or from specific IP addresses.	Helps reduce the potential for network-based attacks.
Easy to Use
Fresh visual design	While maintaining the core of Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional has a fresh visual design. Common tasks have been consolidated and simplified, and new visual cues have been added to help users navigate their computers more easily. Administrators or end users can choose this updated user interface or the classic Windows 2000 interface with the click of a button.	Allows the most common tasks to be exposed easily, helping users get the most of out of Windows XP Professional.
Adaptive user environment	Adapts to the way an individual user works. With a redesigned Start menu, the most frequently used applications are shown first. When you open multiple files in the same application, (such as multiple e-mail messages in the Microsoft Outlook messaging and collaboration client) the open windows will be consolidated under a single task bar button. To remove some of the clutter from the notification area, items that are not being used will be hidden. All of these features can be set using Group Policy.	A cleaner work environment allows the user to be more efficient. Users can find the crucial data and applications they need quickly and easily. All of these settings can be controlled using Group Policy, so IT administrators can decide what features are most appropriate for their environments.
Work with rich media	Windows Media Player for Windows XP is the first player to combine all of your common digital media activities into a single, easy-to-use player. The player makes it easy for you to: • View rich media information, for example, virtual company meetings or "just-in-time" learning • Receive the best-possible audio and video quality, because the player adapts to network conditions • Tune in to nearly 3,000 Internet radio stations • Create custom CDs up to 700 percent faster than other solutions • View DVD movies • Enjoy music, video, and broadband more safely and securely
Context-sensitive task menus	When a file is selected in Windows Explorer, a dynamic menu appears. This menu lists tasks that are appropriate for the type of file selected.	Common tasks that were hard to find in previous versions of Windows are exposed for easy access.
Integrated CD burning	Support for burning CDs on CD-R and CD-RW drives is integrated into Windows Explorer.	Archiving data onto CD is now as easy as saving to a floppy disk, and does not require an expensive third-party solution.
Easily publish information to the Web	Files and folders can be easily published to any Web service that uses the WebDAV protocol.	Users will be able to publish important information to Web servers on the company's intranet.
Dualview	A single computer desktop can be displayed on two monitors driven off of a single display adapter. With a laptop computer, a user could run the internal LCD display as well as an external monitor. A variety of high-end display adapters will support this functionality for desktops.	Users will be able to maximize their productivity by working on multiple screens, while removing the need for multiple CPUs.
Troubleshooters	Helps users and administrators configure, optimize, and troubleshoot numerous Windows XP Professional functions.	Enables users to be more self-sufficient, resulting in greater productivity, fewer help desk calls, and better customer service.

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Puts the Advanced Productivity Tools of the Digital Age at Your Fingertips

Feature	Description	Benefit
Revolutionizes the Way Remote Users Work
Remote Desktop	Allows users to create a virtual session onto their desktop computers using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).	Allows users to access all of their data and applications housed on their desktop computers from another computer running Windows 95 or later that is connected to their machine via a network.
Credential Manager	A secured store for password information. It allows users to input user names and passwords once, and then have the system automatically supply that information for subsequent visits.	Users who are not connected to a domain, or who need to access resources in multiple domains without trust relationships, will be able to easily access network resources.
Offline Files and Folders	A user can specify which network-based files and folders she needs when she disconnects from the network. Offline folders can now be encrypted to provide the highest level of security.	Users can work with documents while disconnected from the network in the same manner they do when they're connected.
ClearType	A new text display technology that triples the horizontal resolution available for rendering text through software.	Microsoft ClearType display technology offers a clearer display of text on a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen.
Offline viewing	Makes entire Web pages with graphics available for viewing offline.	Customers can view critical Web pages while disconnected from the Internet.
Synchronization Manager	Lets users compare and update their offline files and folders with those on the network.	After working with files and folders offline, the changes will be automatically replicated back to the network, ensuring the latest version is always available.
Improved power management	By intelligently monitoring CPU state, Windows XP Professional can reduce the amount of power it is using. The operating system will provide more accurate data on the amount of power left; this will prevent the system from shutting down prematurely. Also, by allowing for the system to wake up as the battery nears a drained state, the computer can be put into hibernation, and save work in progress. Power management can now be set for each computer, or each user on a computer.	Users will be able to work longer on battery power and more accurately forecast how long their batteries will last.
Hibernate	After a set period of time, or on demand, Windows XP Professional will save memory to disk, and shut the power down. When power is restored, all the applications are reopened exactly as they were left.	Users can maximize battery life, and still be able to quickly resume working where they left off, reducing downtime.
Hot docking	Lets you dock or undock your notebook computer without changing hardware configuration or rebooting.	Laptop users can move easily between docked and undocked configurations without rebooting the system.
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)	Provides the latest in power management and Plug and Play support.	Provides key features for mobile professionals including Plug and Play, hot docking, and full power management support.
Wireless networking support	Provides secured access, as well as performance improvements, for wireless networks.	Makes it much easier for users who need to move between wireless networks, while supporting high levels of encryption to enhance security.
Network Location Awareness	Provides an underlying service that allows the operating system and applications to determine when a machine has changed network locations.	Applications and network services can be written to react intelligently when a network location change is detected. For example, an application could connect an end user to a closer server if that user moved from one building to another.
Easier remote access configuration wizards	Guide users through the steps for setting up remote access to a network or virtual private network (VPN).	Make it easier to connect to a corporate network or the Internet.
Improved Help and Support Services	The Help and Support Center combines features users are familiar with from previous versions of Windows (such as Search, Index, and Favorites) with content from the World Wide Web to give users more chances to get the help they need when they need it. If the content in the Help and Support Center doesn't answer their question, it can be used to contact a friend, a support community, or a professional to get assistance. Tools such as My Computer Information and System Restore are also available to diagnose and fix common problems.	Users can quickly and easily find the answers they need, reducing help desk calls and increasing user satisfaction.
Remote Assistance	Remote Assistance enables a user to share control of his or her computer with someone on a network or the Internet. An administrator or friend can view the user's screen, and control the pointer and keyboard to help solve a technical problem. IT departments can build custom solutions, on top of published APIs using HTML, to tailor Remote Assistance to their needs, and the feature can be centrally enabled or disabled.	Will reduce the amount of time system administrators spend at users' desks. Many administrative and troubleshooting tasks can now be done from the administrators' own desks.
System Restore	The System Restore feature enables users and administrators to restore a computer to a previous state without losing data. System Restore automatically creates easily identifiable restore points, which allow you to restore the system to a previous time.	If users experience system failure or another significant problem, they can use System Restore from Safe Mode or Normal Mode to go back to a previous system state, restoring optimal system functionality. System Restore will not revert user data or document files, so restoring will not cause users to lose their work, mail, or even browsing history and favorites.
Recovery Console	Provides a command-line console for administrators to start and stop services, format drives, read and write data on a local drive, and perform many other administrative tasks.	In the event of errors that prevent Windows XP Professional from starting, administrators can boot the system to a command console and potentially repair the operating system.
Device Driver Rollback	When certain classes of new device drivers are installed, Windows XP Professional will maintain a copy of the previously installed driver, which can be reinstalled if problems occur.	If a new device driver is causing Windows XP Professional to malfunction, an administrator can easily reinstall the previous driver.
Windows Messenger	The easy way to communicate with your customers, partners, friends, and family in real time. Will keep you updated with your contacts' online status. Choose text, voice, or video and experience the best online voice and video quality. Collaborate with contacts, transfer files, and share applications and whiteboard drawings. Additional features help protect users' privacy online.	Provides users with great platform for online conferencing and collaboration.
Internet Connection Firewall	A firewall client that can protect small businesses from common Internet attacks.	Small business owners will be able to securely connect their Windows XP Professional computers to the Internet.
Network Setup Wizard	Makes it easy for a small business owner to set up and manage a network. The wizard walks through key steps, such as sharing files and printers, sharing the Internet connection, and configuring the Internet Connection Firewall.	Small businesses can get a productive and secure network up and running without relying on network experts.
Network Bridge	Simplifies the setup and configuration of small networks that use mixed network connections (such as Cat-5 Ethernet and wireless) by linking the different types of networks together.	Small businesses have more flexibility when choosing network media and do not need to purchase extra equipment, such as bridges and routers.
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)	Connects a small office network to the Internet, using a dial-up or broadband connection. Windows XP Professional can provide network address translation, addressing, and name resolution services for all computers on a small business network to share a single connection.	Small business owners can connect their computer systems to the Internet with a single Internet connection, resulting in potential savings in ISP and hardware costs.
Peer-to-peer networking support	Enables Windows XP Professional to interoperate with earlier versions of Windows on a peer-to-peer level, allowing the sharing of all resources, such as folders, printers, and peripherals.	Small business owners can easily integrate Windows XP Professional into existing peer-to-peer networks.
Unified Wireless LAN Client	Wireless LAN client works with a broad range of wireless hotspots.	Helps users connect seamlessly to wireless hotspots without having to install or update third-party software.
Bluetooth 2.0 Update	Connect more easily with Bluetooth enabled devices.	Enables users to benefit easily from the latest Bluetooth enabled hardware devices such as keyboards, mice, cell phones, and PDAs.

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Advanced Management, Deployment, and Support Tools to Make Your Job Easier

Feature	Description	Benefit
Application compatibility	We've provided fixes to hundreds of applications that didn't run on Windows 2000 Professional to run on Windows XP Professional. As new application fixes are published, we will make them available via the Windows Update service. In addition to the application fixes, Windows XP Professional has a mechanism that allows the user or IT administrator to specify if an application needs to run in either Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95/98 or Windows Me compatibility mode. In this mode, Windows XP Professional system DLLs provide appropriate responses to the running application, allowing it to execute appropriately without a noticeable loss of performance.	Users will experience increased application compatibility when compared with Windows 2000 Professional, and as more application fixes are rolled out, they'll be automatically available. Application compatibility modes will potentially allow thousands of applications to run that don't have applications fixes on Windows XP Professional.
User State Migration Tool	Helps administrators to migrate a user's data and application/operating system settings from an old computer to a new Windows XP Professional desktop computer.	IT administrators can reduce the number of help desk calls after a migration, and end users will have less downtime because they will retain their familiar operating environment.
Automatic Updates	Turned on by default, Windows XP Professional automatically downloads critical and security updates as they become available when the user is connected to the Internet. Done in the background, if the computer disconnects before the download completes, the update automatically resumes upon reconnection. Once the update completes downloading, it installs automatically.	Users automatically receive and install critical updates without impacting their ability to use network connections.
Windows Update improvements	As application compatibility updates, new device drivers, and other updates are released for Windows XP Professional, they become available on the Windows Update Web site. (Users can also find critical and security updates here, if they choose not to use automatic updating.) Administrators can disable user access to Windows Update. The Windows Update Catalog is provided for administrators to download updates and deploy them as appropriate in their organizations.	The operating system updates will always be available to ensure the most reliable and full-featured computing experience.
Support for latest hardware standards	Windows XP Professional supports the latest hardware standards. It supports UDF 2.01, the latest standard for reading DVD discs. It also supports the formatting of DVD-RAM drives with the FAT32 file system. Microsoft DirectX 9.0b API support will be included, and Windows XP Professional fully supports standards for Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and the high-speed bus known as IEEE 1394.	Will support the latest hardware standards, and be optimized for the latest applications. Ensures users have the most stable version of Microsoft's gaming and graphics technology.
Setup with Dynamic Update	The Setup routine ensures that the operating system files are up to date. Before any files are installed, Windows XP Professional checks the Web for critical system updates and downloads them for installation.	Will ensure that you install the most recent updates to the operating system for the best installation experience.
Unattended installation	Provides the ability to specify a greater number of options than previous versions of Windows, and allows for a greater degree of security by encrypting passwords in the answer files.	Allows administrators a greater degree of flexibility in scripting unattended Setup routines, ensuring the most flexible installation options available today.
Internet Explorer 6 Administration Kit	Internet Explorer 6 is more customizable using the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK 6), so it's easier to deploy and maintain the browser. Version 6 of the IEAK adds control over new features such as the Media bar, Auto Image Resize, and the Personal bar.	Administrators have a greater degree of flexibility in deploying Internet Explorer 6.
System Preparation tool (SysPrep)	SysPrep helps administrators clone computer configurations, systems, and applications. A single image, which includes the operating system and business applications, can be restored to multiple different machine configurations.	SysPrep will allow administrators to reduce the number of operating system images they maintain, while reducing the time it takes to deploy a typical desktop system.
Setup Manager	A graphical wizard that guides administrators in designing installation scripts.	It's now easier to create answer files for unattended installations.
Remote OS Installation	Windows XP Professional can be installed across the network (including SysPrep images). Note: This feature requires the Active Directory service.	Saves time and reduces deployment costs by allowing administrators to standardize desktop environments to match organizational requirements.
Multilingual support	Allows users to easily create, read, and edit documents in many languages with the English version of Windows XP Professional. The Multilingual User Interface Pack, an add-on pack to the English version of Windows XP Professional, lets you change the user interface language for each user.	IT administrators will no longer need to deploy multiple localized versions of the operating system. This will speed deployments, reduce operating system images, and lower cost of ownership.
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)	Provides a standard infrastructure for monitoring and managing system resources.	Allows system administrators to monitor and control the system using scripting and third-party applications.
Safe Mode startup options	Allows Windows XP Professional to boot the system at the most basic level, using default settings and minimum device drivers.	Provides a means to boot the system into the GUI so that IT professionals can repair the operating system.
Group Policy	Group Policy settings simplify the administration of users and objects by letting administrators organize them into logical units, such as departments or locations and then assign the same settings, including security, appearance, and management options, to all employees in that group. There are hundreds of new policies available for Windows XP Professional, in addition to those provided for Windows 2000 Professional.	As users move from location to location, they still have access to critical data, and they maintain their own customized work environment.
Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP)	Allows administrators to see the effect of Group Policy on a targeted user or computer. With RSoP, administrators have a powerful and flexible base-level tool to plan, monitor, and troubleshoot Group Policy.	Administrators can more easily implement and manage Group Policy using the new RSoP tool.
Microsoft Management Console (MMC)	Provides a centralized and consistent environment for management tools.	IT administrators will be able to create customized application consoles.
Windows Firewall Multiple Profile Support	Enables users and administrators of domain-joined PCs to configure Windows Firewall policies for two different networks.	Ensures users maintain a high security profile in each environment.
Windows Firewall Group Policy Support	Enables IT administrators to configure all Windows Firewall settings from a central location.	Easily maintain consistent configurations throughout a group or network.
Windows Firewall Global Configuration	Ensures that whenever a Windows Firewall configuration change occurs, it applies to all network connections.	Manage configuration changes easily and consistently across the network.