Windows ® XP FOR DUMmIES® by Andy Rathbone HUNGRY MINDS, INC. New York, NY N Cleveland, OH N Indianapolis, IN N Foster City, CA Windows ® XP For Dummies® Published by Hungry Minds, Inc. 909 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022 www.hungryminds.com www.dummies.com Copyright © 2001 Hungry Minds, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 2001092737 ISBN: 0-7645-0893-8 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1B/TQ/QY/QR/IN Distributed in the United States by Hungry Minds, Inc. Distributed by CDG Books Canada Inc. for Canada; by Transworld Publishers Limited in the United Kingdom; by IDG Norge Books for Norway; by IDG Sweden Books for Sweden; by IDG Books Australia Publishing Corporation Pty. 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THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN AND THE OPINIONS STATED HEREIN ARE NOT GUARANTEED OR WARRANTED TO PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULTS, AND THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES. Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or regis- tered trademarks of their respective owners. IDG Books Worldwide is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. is a trademark of Hungry Minds, Inc. About the Author Andy Rathbone started geeking around with computers in 1985 when he bought a boxy CP/M Kaypro 2X with lime-green letters. Like other budding nerds, he soon began playing with null-modem adapters, dial- ing up computer bulletin boards, and working part-time at Radio Shack. In between playing computer games, he served as editor of the Daily Aztec newspaper at San Diego State University. After graduating with a comparative literature degree, he went to work for a bizarre under- ground coffee-table magazine that sort of disappeared. Andy began combining his two main interests, words and computers, by selling articles to a local computer magazine. During the next few years, he started ghostwriting computer books for more-famous com- puter authors, as well as writing several hundred articles about com- puters for technoid publications like Supercomputing Review, CompuServe Magazine, ID Systems, DataPro, and Shareware. In 1992, Andy and DOS For Dummies author/legend Dan Gookin teamed up to write PCs For Dummies. Andy subsequently wrote the award-win- ning Windows For Dummies series, Upgrading & Fixing PCs For Dum- mies,MP3 For Dummies, and many other For Dummies books. Today, he has more than 15 million copies of his books in print, which have been translated into more than 30 languages. Andy lives with his most-excellent wife, Tina, and their cat in Southern California. He wants a new LCD panel monitor for his main computer, but then the cat wouldn’t have anyplace to sleep. Feel free to drop by his Web site at www.andyrathbone.com. Dedication To my wife, parents, sister, and cat. Author’s Acknowledgments Special thanks to Dan Gookin and his wife, Sandy Gookin, Matt Wagner, the Kleskes, the Tragesers, Steve Hayes, Nicole Haims, Kim Darosett, and Jerelind Charles. Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Hungry Minds Online Reg- istration Form located at www.dummies.com. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Production Development Project Coordinator: Dale White Senior Project Editor: Nicole Haims Special Help (Previous Edition: Darren Meiss) Teresa Artman, Amy Pettinella, Rebecca Senior Acquisitions Editor: Steve Hayes Senninger Senior Copy Editor: Kim Darosett Copy Editor: Jerelind Charles Technical Editor: Lee Musick Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron Permissions Editors: Carmen Krikorian, Laura Moss Media Development Coordinator: Marisa Pearman Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves Editorial Assistant: Jean Rogers General and Administrative Hungry Minds, Inc.: John Kilcullen, CEO; Bill Barry, President and COO; John Ball, Executive VP, Operations & Administration; John Harris, Executive VP and CFO Hungry Minds Technology Publishing Group: Richard Swadley, Senior Vice President and Publisher; Mary Bednarek, Vice President and Publisher, Networking and Certification; Walter R. Bruce III, Vice President and Publisher, General User and Design Professional; Joseph Wikert, Vice President and Publisher, Programming; Mary C. Corder, Editorial Direc- tor, Branded Technology Editorial; Andy Cummings, Publishing Director, General User and Design Professional; Barry Pruett, Publishing Director, Visual Hungry Minds Manufacturing: Ivor Parker, Vice President, Manufacturing Hungry Minds Marketing: John Helmus, Assistant Vice President, Director of Marketing Hungry Minds Production for Branded Press: Debbie Stailey, Production Director Hungry Minds Sales: Michael Violano, Vice President, International Sales and Sub Rights ♦ The publisher would like to give special thanks to Patrick J. McGovern, without whom this book would not have been possible. ♦ Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................1 About This Bookl.............................................................................................. 1 How to Use This Bookl .................................................................................... 2 And What about You?l..................................................................................... 3 How This Book Is Organizedl.......................................................................... 4 Part I: Bare-Bones Windows XP Stuffl .................................................. 4 Part II: Making Windows XP Do Somethingl........................................ 4 Part III: Using Windows XP Applications (And Surfing the Web)l.... 5 Part IV: Help!l .......................................................................................... 5 Part V: The Part of Tensl ....................................................................... 5 Icons Used in This Bookl................................................................................. 5 Where to Go from Herel .................................................................................. 6 Part I: Bare-Bones Windows XP Stuff ............................8 Chapter 1: What Is Windows XP? .............................................................10 What Are Windows and Windows XP?l ....................................................... 10 What Does Windows Do?l ............................................................................. 11 How