Windows XP Shortcuts

Want to quickly save a Web page to your favorites list? Visit the page you want to add to your favorites. Once you’re there, press the CTRL and then press the D key (CTRL+D).

Don’t like the menu bar on top of the Internet Explorer? Want the address bar on top? No problem! On the left side of the menu bar, links bar, button bar and address bar, you’ll notice a little raised vertical line. Grab that line with your mouse pointer and drag the bar where you want it to be!

Web browsers and proxy servers often cache Web pages to speed up your browsing experience. The problem is you might not have the latest version of the Web page. If you think you have an outdated version of a Web page, hold down the SHIFT key on the keyboard and then press the F5 key.

Creating a Bootable Floppy in XP

To create a bootable floppy from within WindowsXP:

Insert a floppy into the A: drive

Open the Explorer

Right click on the A: Drive

Select Format

Check Create an MS-DOS startup disk

Click on the Start button

This will create a Millennium boot disk.

Checking CPU Speed

How fast is your CPU? There are a couple of places you can check. The first place is in the System Properties dialog box.

You can open the System Properties dialog by right clicking on the My Computer icon on the desktop and clicking the Properties command.

Click on the General tab and you’ll see the processor rating and how fast it’s currently running.

The second place to check out is the System Information applet. Just open the Run command and type msinfo32 in the Open text box and click OK.

The system summary page will show your processor speed and a lot of other cool information too!

How to use Driver Roll Back to Restore Old Drivers

If you use your Windows XP computer long enough, you’ll likely run into a situation where you need to install a new device driver. Device drivers are software pieces that control how hardware talks to the Windows XP operating system. Most device drivers are written very well, but some of them can create havoc after they’re installed! One very cool feature included with Windows XP is driver roll back. Windows XP saves copies of old device drivers when you install a new one. If the new driver “drives” your Windows XP computer crazy, you can easily roll back to the old one. Here’s how you do it:

Click Start and then click on Control Panel.

Make sure you’re in Classic View and then open the System applet.

In the System Properties dialog box, click on the Hardware tab. On the Hardware tab, click on the Device Manager button.

In the Device Manager window, expand the device that’s giving you problems.

Right click on the device and click the Properties command. In the device’s Properties dialog box, click on the driver tab. On the driver tab, click the Roll Back Driver button.

You may need to restart the computer. Restart the computer if instructed to do so.

That’s all there is to it. Now your device will work again using the old driver. Make sure to let the vendor know that their new driver didn’t work!

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