Timesaving Computing Tips
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Whether you've been using your computer for years or you just got it, there are many features—some that are very little known—that you can take advantage of to work more efficiently and securely.
In this article, I'll introduce a few of my favourite features and tools and discuss how you too can take advantage of them to customise and optimise your Windows XP work environment.
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Travel Light Using Remote Desktop
Have you ever left your office one afternoon thinking that during the evening you'd be able to put the finishing touches on a budget due the next morning? But when you got home you realised with horror that the program you used to create the budget was actually not installed on your mobile PC.
With Remote Desktop, you get full access to your work computer through an Internet or network connection. For example, you can connect to your office computer from home and work with files, programs, and resources as though you were in front of your computer at work.
There are a few technical requirements associated with using this feature:
| • | Your office computer must be running Windows XP Professional. |
| • | Your mobile PC must be running Windows 95 or a more recent version of Windows and it must have the Remote Desktop Connection client software installed. |
| • | An Internet connection is required. Even though broadband is preferable, low bandwidth will also work since the amount of data transferred is minimal. |
Maintain Your Computer with Automatic Updates
I do consider myself a fairly proactive and "on top of things" person, but I do have to admit that I'm pretty reactive when it comes to security issues and protecting my computer against worms, viruses, and other external threats. That's why I'm a big fan of Automatic Updates.
As a controlling (in addition to proactive!) person, I appreciate that despite the fact the word "automatic" is used, I get to tell Windows XP when the updates get downloaded as well as confirm that I want to install any updates that have been identified as needed for my computer. Just because an update is available doesn't mean it's needed or even necessary in all situations. It's also a good idea to ensure that there is a current backup of all critical data prior to installing any selected updates.
Keep Undesirable Ads at bay with Pop-up Blocker
As the Internet reaches maturity, one thing that annoys me with other medium such as television, radio, and magazines has made its way into Internet browsing. Yes, you guessed it: I'm talking about ads.
Many advertisers use pop-up windows to present their message in a way that is hard to ignore. However, there are also times when pop-up windows are helpful. For example, when you click an image to see a larger version of the image, or when you click a link to see a seating diagram that opens in a pop-up window before buying concert tickets.
For more information about Pop-up Blocker and how to customise its settings to meet your needs, see Block Pop-up Windows with Internet Explorer.
Improve Readability with ClearType
As an avid mobile PC user, I have had to settle for less than crisp text on my screen over the years. But ever since the release of Windows XP, I have been taking advantage of Clear Type and loving it!
ClearType is a software technology that improves the readability of text on Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) and makes the words on your computer screen look almost as sharp and clear as those printed on a piece of paper. It can even improve your reading speed between 10 percent and 15 percent.
To learn more about ClearType and how to turn it on, see ClearType Information.
Customise the Places Bar
Have you ever wished that you could change the folders available on the right side of the Open and Save As dialog boxes to include the folders you most frequently use rather than the ones Windows provides by default (Recently Used Documents, Desktop, My Documents, My Computer, and Network Places)? You can!
I'm of the "clean desktop" persuasion, so I very rarely save any documents to the desktop. I have filled the spot previously occupied by the Desktop folder on the Places Bar with a folder on our company network where I like to save documents that I work on from both the office and home.
To customise your Places bar, download the Tweak UI powertoy.
Customise the Places Bar so that it's easier to save documents in the folders you use most frequently.
Increase the Destinations Available from the Send To Menu
Just as you can customise the folders that appear in the Places bar, you can also customise destinations available when you right-click a file and select Sent To. By default, you can mail the file as an attachment, copy the file to a floppy disk, or send the file to the My Documents folder, among other things.
I'm a compulsive filer and have added a number of additional folders I have created to the shortcut menu to quickly to move and share files. I have also added a shortcut to Notepad so that I can easily view XML files.
To learn how to add destinations to the Send To menu, see How to Add Items to the "Send To" Menu in Windows XP.
Customise the your Send To destinations to make it faster to move, share, and work with files.
Find Items on the All Programs Menu More Quickly
I have yet to understand the logic used by Windows to organise the contents of the All Programs menu. If you're like me, you've probably been frustrated about your inability to quickly locate a program that you know is installed on your computer.
In order to reclaim my sanity, I have sorted the contents of my All Programs menu using the tried and true alphabetical order, greatly increasing my ability to quickly find the programs I'm looking for.
It couldn't be any simpler.
To organise your folders in alphabetical order:
1. | Click Start, point to All Programs, and right-click any item. |
2. | Click Sort by Name on the shortcut menu. |