Don't just maximize your windows—go full screen
When you need a really big window, don't just maximize it: go full screen! To view a window full screen, hold down the
Ctrl key and double-click the window's title bar—or when the window is active, press the
F11 key at the top of your keyboard—to get the biggest window possible.
Add the Links toolbar to My Computer
You know what would make a great
toolbar?
One where you could put your favorite applications and documents so
that you could open them from any window at any time. Guess what? You
can and here's how: click
Start, then
My Computer. Now right-click the toolbar and then click
Links. You now have the
Links toolbar on your windows, just like in Internet Explorer. Note: Make sure that
Lock the Toolbars
is not checked. Click on it to deselect it if it is.The really cool
thing about the Links toolbar is that it's completely customizable. Try
this: Navigate to your favorite application and drag and drop its
icon to the Links toolbar. You just created a shortcut. Do this again
and again for as many applications as you want to appear on the
toolbar.
Arrange windows on your desktop
You can display any
two windows side by side on the desktop by first clicking a window's
button on the Taskbar. Next, press and hold the Ctrl key and
right-click the second window that you want to open, then click
Tile Vertically. This works great when you want to view two Microsoft Word or
Microsoft Internet Explorer windows at the same time.
Organize your files into groups
Organize your files
by grouping them. Try this: Open a folder containing several different
subfolders and file types. Right-click any empty space on the window's
contents pane, click
Arrange Icons By, and then click
Show in Groups. To arrange the window's contents, right-click again in any empty space on the window's contents pane, point to
Arrange Icons By, and click
Name,
Size,
Type, or
Modified.
Make your own icons
It's shockingly easy to create your own icons in Windows XP. Let's do it: Click
Start, click
All Programs, click
Accessories, and then click
Paint. On the Image menu, click
Attributes. Type
32 for both the
Width and
Height of the document, and make sure that
Pixels is selected under
Units. Click
OK
to create a new 32x32-pixel document: the size of an icon.Now add
type, color, or do whatever you'd like to your image. I like to shrink
photos (headshots work best) to 32x32 and simply paste them into my
Paint document. When you're finished, open the
File menu and click
Save As. Use the
dialog box to choose where you want to save your file, then give it a name followed by ".ico" (without the quotes), and click
Save.
(The extension ".ico" tells Windows that it's an icon file.) You just
created an icon! Now you can change any shortcut or folder to your
own icon—just browse to it on your hard drive.

These tips are from the book,
Windows XP Killer Tips by Kleber Stephenson, ISBN 073571357X. Published here with the permission of Pearson Education, Inc.