There are several ways to work around this problem. The first option is to check the manufacturer’s Web site for updated drivers. If this doesn’t help, it’s best to either purchase a better graphic card or turn off the visual effects that slow the computer down.

To turn off the visual effects:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click on the System icon.
3. Click Performance And Maintenance if using the Web view.
4. Click System on the next screen.
5. Open the Advanced tab in the System Properties dialog that appears.
6. Click the Settings button under the Performance section.

The Performance Options dialog will open, listing all the visual effects that can possibly slow down the system. Users can manually enable or disable individual effects or use one of the predefined settings.

Additional settings are located in the Display Properties dialog box. To view these settings:

1. Right-click on the desktop and select Properties.
2. Click the Effects button on the Appearance tab. A new dialog box with six additional visual settings will open.

Periodically, XP parses the files in the prefetch folder and creates a Layout.ini file. This file includes the information about the optimal layout of files on your hard drive. The built-in defragmenter uses this information to optimally defragment the hard drive every three days.

While you normally don't have control over this automatic procedure, it's possible to accidentally disable some of the optimizations. For example, if you disable the Scheduler service, you also disable the automatic defragmentation. XP schedules the defragmenter through the Scheduler service but doesn't show it through the user interface.

Fortunately, if you do disable the Scheduler service, you can still manually run the optimizations. Just open the Start menu, select Run, and type the following command:

rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

This command will run all the tasks XP runs when the computer is idle.

To see how the computer performs without prefetching, turn off this feature. Here's how:

1. Open the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
   Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\.
3. Set the EnablePrefetcher to 0.
4. Delete the layout.ini file from the %windir%\prefetch folder.

Since the system runs faster with Prefetcher turned on, you typically will not want it disabled.

Note: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes.

Unfortunately, disabling QoS RSVP doesn't do much. QoS isn't even used in most home networks; Microsoft enabled it by default on Windows XP Professional to make the deployment of QoS in enterprise environments a bit easier.

Are you still concerned about it reserving 20 percent of the network bandwidth? Don't be. This percentage refers to the bandwidth limit that can be used by QoS applications. It doesn't mean that your other applications will only be able to use the remaining 80 percent.

Details of the report can be viewed by clicking on the link that specifies: "To see what data this error report contains, click here." However, if you're skeptical about privacy, it's possible to disable Error Reporting. Here's how:

1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
2. Go to the Advanced tab and click Error Reporting.
3. Click Disable Error Reporting.

If you want Error Reporting only on certain applications, click Enable Reporting and then select Choose Programs.

• Csrss.exe: The Client Server Runtime Subsystem process, also known as the Win32 subsystem, generates a worker thread for client requests.
• Explorer.exe: This process is the user interface/default Windows shell.
• Iexplorer.exe: This process is the built-in Web browser.
• Inetinfo.exe: The Internet Information Services (IIS) process is Microsoft's Web server.
• Lsass.exe: The Local Security Authentication Server process receives authentication requests from Winlogon and calls the appropriate authentication package.
• Mdm.exe: The Machine Debug Manager is a support process for debugging.
• Msmsgs.exe: The Microsoft Windows Messenger process is the built-in instant messaging application.
• Services.exe: The Service Control Manager process is responsible for starting, stopping, and interacting with system services.
• Smss.exe: The Session Manager Subsystem is the first user mode process that's created. It's responsible for the initial launch of other subsystem processes.
• Svchost.exe: This is a placeholder process, or Service Host, where all DLL-based services execute.
• System: The System process contains the majority of the kernel-mode system threads.
• System Idle Process: This process runs when no other process is executing.
• Winlogon.exe: The logon process handles interactive user logons and logoffs.

This list includes processes that are found on most computers, but it's not exhaustive.

One constant is the System Idle Process, which is a single thread that runs on each processor. This process runs more than any other system process, and it takes a lot of CPU time; however, its memory usage is very low.

The System Idle Process runs only when no other processes are using the CPU. Thus, when the CPU is idle, the System Idle Process is in action, executing special halt (HLT) instructions that put the CPU into a suspended mode and thereby cool the processor.

Note: It's not possible to End Task the System Idle Process from the Task Manager.

Hibernation is different from Standby. If you experience a power failure, you won’t lose any data when the computer is in Hibernation. The machine saves the complete memory content to the hard disk (in the Hiberfil.sys file) and completely turns off the power. When you restart the computer, it reads the Hiberfil.sys file and restores your desktop exactly as you left it. Restoring the computer from Hibernation takes more time than Standby. The exact time depends on the amount of memory you have in your computer.

You can put your computer into Standby or Hibernation using either the Start menu or Task Manager. From the Start menu, select Turn Off Computer. A dialog box will present you with three options: Stand By, Turn Off, and Restart. If you want to hibernate, press the [Shift] key, and the Hibernate option will replace Stand By in the dialog box. Putting the computer in any power state is also possible from the Task Manager by using the Shut Down menu.

The Applications tab lists all applications you are currently running. Use this tab to end running applications, to switch between them, or to run new ones. The Processes tab displays more detailed information about the processes that are running on your system. It displays the name of the executable, the user account under which the process is running, the CPU usage, and the amount of memory the process is using. You also have the option to end running processes on this tab. The Performance tab displays the graphs for CPU and memory usage and some additional counters, such as the amount of memory allocated to the system cache, the total amount of memory used by the kernel, and so on.

The Networking and Users tabs are new to Windows XP. By default, the Networking tab displays the network utilization graph for your network adapters. You can add additional counters on this tab by selecting the Select Columns option on the View menu. You can set additional options on the Options menu. The Users tab lists all users currently logged on to your computer (either locally or through Remote Desktop). You can send users messages and, if you have the proper permissions, you can also disconnect them or log them off. When you disconnect someone, his or her programs continue running on your machine. When you log someone off, his or her programs are closed, and the session is disconnected.

Notice also that the Shut Down menu in Task Manager performs the same tasks as the Start menu. You can shut the machine down, log off, put the computer into hibernation or standby, restart the computer, or switch the user.

• Roxio DirectCD Creator versions 5.00, 5.01, 5.02, and 5.02a
• Roxio Easy CD Creator 3.x and 4.x, CD Creator 5 Platinum IS compatible
• Hewlett-Packard CD Writer 8200

One reason for choosing a third-party application over XP's integrated burning engine is the lack of support for burning so-called ISO files. ISO files or images are files that contain an image of the entire CD. To burn ISO files, you don't need to purchase a third-party application; you can obtain it for free. Alex Feinman has written a small application that uses the engine from Windows XP to burn ISO images. You'll find this free application on his Web site.

The burning engine doesn't include packet writing, obtainable from third-party vendors. This has several consequences to how the engine works. For instance, you cannot delete individual files from the CD-RW; you can only erase the whole CD-RW. Additionally, you cannot format CD-RW discs. You can only erase them.

When you write files to your CD-R, the engine creates a new session, burns the files, and then closes the session. However, the disc is not closed, which means that you can still add files to the CD-R. The engine opens another session, burns files, imports the previous session, and closes the new session. This causes some overhead (21 MB for the first session and 12 MB for each additional session).

Advanced users will find several flaws. For example, the burning engine doesn’t support ISO images: You cannot create or record ISO images. Advanced users will miss this functionality. Another feature that isn’t supported is the direct copying of one CD to another; you must use the hard drive as intermediate storage.

Another drawback to using XP’s integrated burning engine is that it takes much longer to burn a CD than other applications. The engine first copies all files to a temporary location, called the staging area. When you are ready to burn the CD and select Write These Files To CD, the engine uses the data in the staging area to create an image file. It then uses this image file to record the files to CD. Not only does this take time, it also takes a large amount of space. For instance, if you want to create a whole CD (650 MB), you will need more than 1 GB of free space (approximately 650 for the staging area and another 650 for the image file).

Advanced users will find several flaws. For example, the burning engine doesn’t support ISO images: You cannot create or record ISO images. Advanced users will miss this functionality. Another feature that isn’t supported is the direct copying of one CD to another; you must use the hard drive as intermediate storage.

Another drawback to using XP’s integrated burning engine is that it takes much longer to burn a CD than other applications. The engine first copies all files to a temporary location, called the staging area. When you are ready to burn the CD and select Write These Files To CD, the engine uses the data in the staging area to create an image file. It then uses this image file to record the files to CD. Not only does this take time, it also takes a large amount of space. For instance, if you want to create a whole CD (650 MB), you will need more than 1 GB of free space (approximately 650 for the staging area and another 650 for the image file).

If you have a CD burner or CD-R/RW device, Windows XP should automatically detect it.
Verify this by right-clicking in Windows Explorer on the burning device’s drive and selecting Properties. In the dialog box that appears, you should see the Recording tab. This tab
includes the settings you can configure for your CD burner or CD-R/RW device.

To burn a CD, select the desired files in Windows Explorer and drag them to the burning device’s drive. These files are first saved in a temporary location on your hard drive. When
you are ready to burn them on a CD, right-click on the CD burner or CD-R/RW device in Windows Explorer and select Write These Files To CD. A wizard appears that guides you through the process.

It wasn’t that long ago when we had to use some third-party (in most cases) shareware zip applications. But these times are now gone, since Microsoft decided to integrate support for zip files into its operating systems, beginning with Windows Me. Windows XP is the second Microsoft OS that features integrated zip support.

You can work with zip archives just as you do with normal folders. To compress a file or folder, select it, right-click it, and select Send To | Compressed (Zipped) Folder. A simple wizard will launch that will guide you through the rest of the process. To see the contents of a zipped folder, just double-click it in Windows Explorer. Extracting files is similarly straightforward. Right-click the zipped folder and select Extract All.

The biggest advantage of integrated zip support is its simplicity. Nonetheless, many experienced users will still want to use some third-party product. Integrated zip support is available only in Windows Explorer but not from the command prompt. In addition, you can't create self-extracting archives or archives that span over several files.

The toolkit includes several helpful utilities and documents, which allow you to look behind the scenes at compatibility mode. Specifically, the toolkit includes the following utilities:

• AppVerifier: This is a GUI application that can help you test the specified
  application for any compatibility problems under Windows XP.
• CompatAdmin: This utility provides an interface for browsing and editing the compatibility fix database in Windows XP.
• GrabMI: This is a command-line tool that "grabs" the information about files
  in a given folder.
• QfixApp: This utility creates a list of fixes that are necessary for an application
  to work in Windows XP.