Windows XP Hacks

Preston Gralla, the author of more than 20 books, is also a freelance journalist and columnist. He has written for major national newspapers and magazines, including PC Magazine, Computerworld, the Los Angeles Times, the Dallas Morning News (where he was the technology columnist), USA Today and several others. A well-known technology expert, Preston has also appeared on many TV and radio programs and networks, including CNN, MSNBC and NPR. In addition, he's won a number of awards for his writing, including for "Best Feature in a Computer Magazine" from the Computer Press Association. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

• Credits; Preface; Chapter 1. Startup and Shutdown; 1. Customize Multiboot Startup Options; 2. Change the Picture That Appears on the XP Startup Screen; 3. Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times; 4. Halt Startup Programs and Services; 5. Create Multiple Startup Profiles with Advanced Startup Manager; 6. Miscellaneous Startup and Shutdown Hacks; 7. Control User Logins by Hacking the Registry; Chapter 2. The User Interface; 8. Customize the GUI with Tweak UI; 9. Control the Control Panel; 10. Hack the Start Menu and Taskbar; 11. Clean Up the Most Frequently Used Programs List; 12. Rename and Change "Unchangeable" Desktop Icons and System Objects; 13. Remove "Nonremovable" Desktop Icons; 14. Hack Your Way Through the Interface; 15. Remove "Uninstallable" XP Utilities; 16. Make Your PC Work Like a Mac; 17. Create Your Own XP Themes and Find Thousands Online; 18. Give XP a Makeover with WindowBlinds; 19. Make Your Own Cursors and Icons; 20. Instant Linux; Chapter 3. Windows Explorer; 21. Generate Folder and File Listings for Printing or Editing; 22. Control Windows Explorer with Command-Line Shortcuts; 23. Empower Windows Explorer with PowerDesk Pro; 24. Better File Rename; 25. Find Files Faster by Mastering the Indexing Service's Query Language; 26. Force Windows Explorer into True Usefulness; 27. Customize Folder Icons and Balloon Text; 28. A Power User's Hidden Weapon - Improve the Context Menu; 29. Take Your Work on the Go with Offline Files and the Briefcase; 30. Get More Hard-Disk Space by Using NTFS Compression; 31. Put a Command-Line Prompt on Your Desktop; Chapter 4. The Web; 32. Give Internet Explorer a Face-Lift; 33. Stop Pop Ups with SP2-and Without It; 34. Kill Spyware and Web Bugs; 35. Take a Bite Out of Cookies; 36. Surf Anonymously Without a Trace; 37. Don't Get Reeled In by Phishers; 38. Read Web Pages Offline; 39. Hack Internet Explorer with the Group Policy Editor; 40. Speed Up File Downloads; 41. Secrets of Web Site Hosting with Internet Information Services (IIS); 42. Surf the Internet Ad-Free; 43. Hack Firefox; 44. Build Your Own Firefox Search Engine; 45. Google Your Desktop; 46. Out-Google Google with MSN Desktop Search; 47. Better Internet Searching from Your Desktop; 48. Run Java Applets Without Crashes or Problems; Chapter 5. Networking; 49. Tweak DNS Settings for Faster Internet Access; 50. Optimize Your Home Router; 51. Troubleshoot Network Connections with ping, tracert, and pathping; 52. Troubleshoot Network Connections with netsh, netstat, and ipconfig; 53. Speed Up Network Browsing; 54. Control Another PC with Remote Access; 55. Make Servers Always Available by Mapping a Hostname to a Dynamic IP Address; 56. Renew Your DHCP-Assigned IP Address; 57. Repair a Broken TCP/IP Connection; 58. VoIP Hacks; Chapter 6. Email; 59. Slam That Spam; 60. Open Blocked File Attachments in Outlook and Outlook Express; 61. Back Up and Restore Outlook and Outlook Express Datafiles; 62. Retrieve Web-Based Email with Your Email Software; 63. Gmail Hacks; 64. Fire Outlook and Outlook Express; Chapter 7