Finding Encrypted Files

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Finding Encrypted Files

Unless you use a command-line utility like Cipher.exe, it's difficult to see at a glance which files are encrypted and which is not. Right-clicking each file and then choosing Properties, General, Advanced (followed by Cancel, Cancel) is tedious.

• Open a folder containing the encrypted files.........
• On the View menu, choose Details, and then select Attributes. Encrypted files show a letter E in the Attributes column. You can also set an option so that the names of encrypted files appear in a different color from other file names.
• On the Tools menu, choose Folder Options, click the View tab, and select Show Encrypted or Compressed NTFS Files in Color.

Protect Your Files during a Power Outage
If the power goes out while your computer is on standby, you lose whatever is in memory. If you have any unsaved documents, for example, they're gone. With an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), however, you can prevent data loss during blackouts.

Although the blackout might last longer than the battery run time provided by the UPS, you can prevent loss, even if your computer happens to be on standby and you're away when the power goes out.
• Enable hibernation. (Click Start, clicks Control Panel, clicks Performance and Maintenance, and then clicks Power Options. On the Hibernate tab, select Enable Hibernate Support.
• Specify a time for the computer to switch to hibernation. This should be less than the battery run time. (On the Power Schemes tab, set a time for System Hibernate under Running On Batteries.)

Customize the Taskbar

Customize the Taskbar

With Windows XP, you can customize your taskbar so you can do everything from one place, including start programs, view documents, and surf the Web. Simply right-click the background of the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click the toolbar you want to add: an Address bar, a Links bar, a toolbar containing all items on your desktop, or the Quick Launch bar.

You can also create your own toolbar from any folder. To create a toolbar from a folder:

• Right-click the background of the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then clicks New Toolbar. Navigate to the folder you want. A toolbar containing all items in that folder will be added to your taskbar.

You can drag the new toolbar to any location on your desktop. You can also easily remove a toolbar from the taskbar by right-clicking the taskbar and then clicking the item again to remove the check mark.

Show Hidden Program or System Files

Showing hidden files can come in handy-for example, say you've tried to delete everything from a floppy disk and the disk properties still indicate 100K of disk space is being used by hidden files.

• On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options.
• Click the View tab.
• Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.

Note: To access Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Explorer.

Add Favorites

Add Favorites with One Keystroke

You can quickly add a Web page to your Favorites folder with a single keystroke. The page is automatically added to your Favorites list without any further input from you.

• Press Ctrl+D.

Set Your Browser to Open to a Page of Your Choice

Is there a site you always visit first when you browse the Web? Would you like it to be the first site you see when you start Internet Explorer? Just follow the steps below to change your home or "start" page.

• Navigate to the Web page you want to see when you start Internet Explorer.
• Click Tools on the menu bar, and then click Internet Options.
• In the Home page area, click Use Current.

Make Sure Downloaded Files Are Easy to Find Later

With Windows XP, it's easier than ever to download software updates, games, sounds, pictures-just about anything. But sometimes it's hard to find them again on your hard disk. To make sure you can, specify where you want a downloaded file to go.

• After you've indicated you want to download an item, a dialog box asks "What do you want to do with this file?" Select Save this program to disk.

A dialog box opens where you can specify a folder where you want the file to go.