Tips and Tricks-May 2005

Miscellaneous Stuff

Having recently upgraded multiple computer systems to Windows XP Professional, I noticed that some of the default settings drive me absolutely crazy. Here are a couple of things to look for and change.

It is often very useful to be able see file extensions—you can avoid opening email attachments you shouldn’t open when you can see that they end in .pif, or .exe, etc. We’ve looked at this before. So what does Windows do for you—it turns off the file extensions. You have to turn them on. Pick a folder, any folder, and go to Tools, Folder Options, in the menu bar at the top.

Select the tab “View” and find the listing for “Hide extensions for know file types” and uncheck the box.

I also like to be able to see hidden files and folders and operating system files. Most of the other items shown in the screen shot are actually checked by default. The include things like the pop-up information that shows when you mouse over a file name. I love being able to see the file size and date. You can also see some of the files contained inside a folder if you hold your mouse over the folder for a second or two.

When you do a new installation, you will wonder where the heck the icons for My Computer, My Network Places, My Documents and Internet Explorer went as they are nowhere to be seen on your desktop. To get them back, right-click on the desktop to open the Display Properties dialog. Click on the Desktop tab and click on the Customize Desktop button. Click on the checkbox to select the icons you want to see on the desktop.

If you want to change the icons, click on Change Icon. I am not sure how they decided which icons to present, but the selection changes depending on whether you select My Computer or My Documents. Not all the icons shown have any relevance to the item you selected, but at least you can customize the look of your desktop.

That’s all I’ve got for today. The reason I am having to upgrade multiple systems (try 15 computers, all with different hardware) is that we are installing a new clinic management application where I work and it needs to run on Windows XP. I have learned many lessons in the process. Run the software that comes with Windows that gives you a report of what you may need to change on your computer—like network cards and other adapters that might not work—try figuring out that your printer won’t work because the parallel port adapter in your system needs to be upgraded. The report also tells you about software that should be uninstalled or upgraded. It’s well worth the wait for the report and review of the information. You can avoid lots of problems by doing careful preparation. Anyway, all this work is my excuse for not having more information for you. See you at the meeting.

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Copyright 2005

Banner Photo by Charles Scamahorn