East Carolina University
Department of Psychology
If you use an LCD monitor on an XP machine, you may improve the appearance of screen fonts by selecting Clear Type. Right-click the desktop and choose Properties, Appearance, Effects. Check "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" and then select Clear Type.
Critical Updates
I strongly recommend that you turn on automatic updates. With XP, go to the Control Panel and select System. Click the Automatic Updates Tab. Check "Keep my computer up to date" and then select a setting (I recommend Automatically download and install).
If you want to print a list of files and directories in a folder, the most simple approach is to issue the appropriate commands in DOS. From Windows, you need to open a command window. With XP, Start, Program, Accessories, Command Prompt. You will get a window with a line like this: C:\Documents and Settings\WUNDTW>_. The first thing you need to do is point to the folder of interest. Suppose I want to work with a folder on my D drive. I enter the command D: -- the command line now looks like this: C:\Documents and Settings\WUNDTW>D. I hit Enter and this line is produced: D:\>_.
I want to look at the root directory of the D drive, so I enter the command dir /w /o -- the /w gives me Wide format (four items per line rather than one item per line), and the /o gives me alphabetic Order. Another useful switch is /p, which stops the directory listing after each page and waits for me to hit Enter before continuing. D:\>dir /w /o sends the root directory to my screen. I see the directory [SAS] listed in the root of D. That is the one I want to print.
I go to that directory this way: D:\>cd SAS -- the prompt changes to D:\SAS>_. Assuming that my printer is defined on LPT1, I can now print a copy of the directory this way: D:\SAS>dir>LPT1 /o. If I would rather save a copy of the directory in a plain text file, I can do that like this: D:\SAS>dir>SASdir.txt /o. The file SASdir.txt will now appear in my SAS folder, and can be brought into the Notepad, Word, or other text editor.
Suppose I want to write the directory of a CD. My CD drive is E. I want to write the directory to the root of my D partition on the hard drive. From the command prompt I enter E:\ to take me to the directory I want to write. Then I enter dir>D:\MISC-mp3.txt. The directory is written to the root of the D drive with the indicated file name.
What if want just the file names, not all the details? The default format produces a directory listing like this:
02/10/2006 09:21 PM 3,096,576 Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire.mp3
02/10/2006 09:25 PM 3,325,952 Jerry Lee Lewis - Johnny Be Good.mp3
02/10/2006 09:43 PM 2,766,930 Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lot Of Shakin Going On.mp3
The /b switch produces a directory listing like this:
Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire.mp3
Jerry Lee Lewis - Johnny Be Good.mp3
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lot Of Shakin Going On.mp3
Much better for listing the contents of a music CD, eh? To write it to hard drive, dir>D:\MISC-mp3.txt /b.
If you have subdirectories and wish to list the contents of all of them too, use the /s switch. For more on the DOS dir command, go here.
When I no longer need the command window, I just enter the command EXIT to close it. To learn about other methods of printing directories, see Annoyances.org
You will probably not like the default settings. Here is what I like and recommend.
Here is what I like and recommend:
Did your ISP attach its name/logo to the Explorer? Return the Explorer to its generic version this way: Start, Run, then enter “rundll32.exe iedkcs32.dll,Clear” and hit the enter key
For fast shutdown and startup, hibernate rather than shut down. In XP, Start, Setting, Control Panel, Power Options. Click on the Hibernate tab. If "Free disk space" is much more than "Disk space required to hibernate," then click on "Enable hibernation." Now that this is set (until you reset it), you get the option to hibernate when exiting Windows. From Start, Shutdown, or from Atrl-Alt-Del, Shutdown, you can select "Hibernate." Your machine will turn off quickly, but all open programs and folders will remain as you left them. Of course, this requires some power, so don't turn off that power strip. When you are ready to resume work, just turn the computer on again. The machine will be locked, so you will need to Ctrl-Alt-Del and enter your password, but that takes very little time.
I generally go ahead and do a full shut down, and turn off power at the power strip. I am energy conscious, and hopeful that a power surge is less likely to damage my computer when power is off at the strip. Powering off or hibernating your computer might be helpful if you have a broadband connection but an inadequate firewall. When your computer is off, those Internet nasties are not able to get into your machine.
If you don't like the icon for the shortcut, just right click it, select Properties, Shortcut, Change Icon, and select a different icon. If you don't like the collection of icons to which you are pointed, you may have to Browse to find a good collection of icons. To find where icons are located on your computer, select other shortcut icons on your desktop and click Properties, Shortcut, Change Icon. I found quite a few icons at C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll. You can more icons on the net, just Google for "Windows Icons." I downloaded a bunch of icons from http://interfacelift.com/icons-win/ .
F11 toggles kiosk mode for an absolutely full screen view of the folder directory.
Right click on the icon you use to start the application. Select Properties. From the drop-down menu for Run, select Maximized.
Y ou probably leave your computer on while you are away at class or lunch or other such activity. You know it is easy for various rascals to get into your office, so you worry about them messing with your computer. Not to worry, just hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and select Lock Computer. Nobody can get into the computer now without first entering your password.
If you use a PC owned by the university, I know the administrative password for it. I could log on to your PC and do all sort of nasty things to it, even things that you probably can't do. Many others, including some students, also know your administrative password. Chances are, you do not even know your own administrative password. If you find it unsettling that so many people know the administrative password to your computer, you might want to install a start-up password. If you have a Dell computer, here is how to secure your computer from rascals:
Search your hard drive for ~*.tmp. Delete all of the them.
When I open the My Documents folder, I want to have a two-pane window (with a tree on the left and the files and subfolders on the right). Sure, I can just click "Folders" to toggle the folders pane on or off, but I am impatient). Here is how to get the Windows Explorer to open as I want it too: Right click the desktop and select New, Shortcut. Enter EXPLORER.EXE as the location of the item, Next, type My Docs as the name of the shortcut, Finish.
I also want the two-pane view when I go to the User Files (D drive) partition on my desktop, which is where I keep all my documents on that machine. Here is the command to enter to create the shortcut: explorer.exe /e,D:\
Note that there is a space after "explorer.exe" and then the /e switch and then a comma and then the target, "D:\". If you do not want the tree cluttered up with other folders, you can add the /root switch: explorer.exe /e,/root,D:\. Do note that after you have created a shortcut like this you can also edit it (for example, to add or remove the /root switch) by right clicking the icon and selecting Properties.
On my home PC My Docs points to C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe /e,/root,C:\Documents
and Settings\Karl Wuensch\My Documents.
If you are running Windows 2000 or a more recent version of Windows, I recommend that you disable the Windows Messenger Service. Failure to do so can provide access to your machine by spammers and other scum. You can download a small program to turn it off for you from Shoot The Messenger or you can do it yourself -- see How to Turn Off Windows Messenger Service.
Background Buggers -- Detect and disable undesirable programs running in the background of Windows
Bane of the Preview Pane -- Problems associated with use of the preview pane in Outlook and Outlook Express
Manage Internet Explorer Add-Ons -- See what add-ons have been added to IE and disable them if you wish
Printer, Duplex -- Set your computer to duplex print
Printer, Network -- Define a network printer
Sounds -- Change the sounds associated with various Windows events
Spyware -- Fight the spies who track what you are doing on the web
Symantec Email -- Stop Symantec AntiVirus from Sending Email to Innocent Third Parties
Unzipping Programs -- needed to uncompress zipped files
Working With Windows - A short primer on how to use Windows
Annoyances.org -- an assortment of tips about common problems with PCs.
