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Frequently Asked Questions of Windows XP
Version 1.1

Introduction

This FAQ is created to address the frequently asked questions in the few XP newsgroups I frequent:

There are more newsgroups than these. Check them here. Answers were obtained from the replies. As I was bored, this is another work I did.

DISCLAIMER

Proceed at your own risk! The information here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I will not be held responsible if this document causes your computer to explode or burst into flames. In real serious terms, if any corruption of data, hardware damage or any other kind of damage/losses/etc. arises from the use of this document, I will not be responsible for it. If you don't like this, please don't read any further.

Some Humour [US: Humor]

Computers churns out some ironic messages:

"Windows XP has no drivers for my modem, so it tries to use the Internet to find some" Irony being, Can't use Internet because it needs modem drivers to use it, which it does haven't & wants to look for. - Sweet Spin

"ERROR "Keyboard not found" press F1 to continue?" - Mhzjunkie

"Windows can not continue because the process has completed successfully." - Vern

"What's XP? Xpensive, Xpect, Xtra Pain, ......"- Many Sources

The Basics

These tips will get rid of about 75% of the problems out there

Many of the answers here should apply to Home Edition as well. However, things related to NTFS security and network will mostly likely won't be available in the Home Edition.

Quick Links

  1. I'm having problems shutting down my PC. My previous Win9x OS always shut off automatically, but here Windows XP shows me the "It is now safe..." message? [Answer]
  2. I've enabled my taskbar to be hidden always but doesn't hide always! [Answer]
  3. Is there any way to speed up the bootup process? [Answer]
  4. How do I enable the good old search method? [Answer]
  5. Do you have good utilities to recommend to customise my Windows XP environment? [Answer]
  6. I want to run a old DOS game that refuses to work under WinXP. [Answer]
  7. How do I do it such that Explorer opens up pointing to the C drive or some other location? [Answer]
  8. How do I disable the built-in ZIP support? [Answer]
  9. How do I make the taskbar transparent? [Answer]
  10. How do I get rid of the pop-up balloons(or bubbles) that appear near the system tray? [Answer]
  11. How much space does a Windows XP installation roughly takes up? [Answer]
  12. What is this file named HIBERFIL.SYS doing in my root folder? [Answer]
  13. I have the upgrade version of XP, can I perform a clean install using it? [Answer]
  14. How do I stop folders from expanding when I click on a folder in Explorer? [Answer]
  15. How do I stop Windows Messenger from starting up every time I boot up my computer? [Answer]
  16. Where's Scandisk gone? [Answer]
  17. What are the pros and cons of FAT32 and NTFS? [Answer]
  18. The Command Prompt in Windows XP does not have DosKey installed? [Answer]
  19. Can I install XP Home (or Professional) on more than 1 computer? [Answer]
  20. Every time my PC boots up, it takes about 2 minutes for the Network connections submenu in the Start menu to expand! [Answer]
  21. The volume icon does not appear in the notification area (taskbar). [Answer]
  22. All my games can't detect OpenGL [and, or] Glide for my video card? [Answer]
  23. What's the best antivirus software out there for XP? [Answer]
  24. Can I remove Outlook Express or Internet Explorer? [Answer]
  25. What is SVCHOST.EXE doing in my Processes? [Answer]
  26. How do I install Windows XP in DOS mode [or from MS-DOS command prompt]? [Answer]
  27. How do I remove programs such as Pinball, wordpad and other accessories? [Answer]
  28. In Outlook Express, the spell check doesn't work. It's checked in the tools options menu, but it still will not work! [Answer]
  29. How do I get Internet Explorer to open new windows maximised? [Answer]
  30. Doing a "SFC /SCANNOW" always keeps asking for the CD, even after I've inserted it! [Answer]
  31. How do I make a boot disk in Windows XP? [Answer]
  32. How do I uninstall Windows XP? [Answer]
  33. How do I change the Boot screen when Windows XP starts? [Answer]
  34. My hard disk shows frequent activity, which is the application causing this? [Answer]

The FAQs

1)

I'm having problems shutting down my PC. My previous Win9x OS always shut off automatically, but here Windows XP shows me the "It is now safe..." message?
You need to get into Control Panel, Power Management, and turn on APM (Advanced Power Management).If that doesn't work, check out this website here. (to review)

2) I've enabled my taskbar to be hidden always but doesn't hide always!
This is a known problem. Unfortunately I haven't come across any fixes for this. There could be an application request which you have to attend to. However, I myself have seen a situation where the taskbar refuses to hide even with all windows closed.
3)

Is there any way to speed up the bootup process?
You can use this utility called BootVisor, click Trace and Optimize and it will do the remaining work for you. Check out this guide for more tweaks. You can also try defragging your hard disk. If your computer seems to take a long time in the blue welcome screen, here are some things I did to speed things up:

  • Disable network drives which are "Reconnect at logon".
  • This also can speed up
Will add more if I come across any.
4) How do I enable the good old search method?
This website has a search fix. Windows XP Search Fix (to review)
5)

Do you have good utilities to recommend to customise my Windows XP environment?
Microsoft PowerToys, TweakXP and StylesXP are some popular ones. (To review)

6)

I want to run a old DOS game that refuses to work under WinXP.
You can create a Windows 98 boot disk which boots to the DOS prompt using the utility here. Be aware that Sound Blaster Live! and new sound cards may not work in DOS. You will also need to load the mouse, sound and cdrom drivers if your game needs it. If your partition is a FAT32, your boot disk should allow you to access your C drive and you can configure the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files in the boot disk to access the files from the hard disk or you can copy them to the boot disk as well.

7)

How do I do it such that Explorer opens up pointing to the C drive or some other location?
Changing the blue coloured text to the location, change the shortcut such that it looks like this:
%SystemRoot%\Explorer.Exe /e,C:\

8) How do I disable the built-in ZIP support?
Use the following command from the Run dialog:

regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

If you ever want to re-enable the built-in zip support, use:

regsvr32 zipfldr.dll

9) How do I make the taskbar transparent?
Head over here! (to review) I've heard you can use TweakXP, not sure about this.
10) How do I get rid of the pop-up balloons(or bubbles) that appear near the system tray?
Involves registry editing. Navigate to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced", create DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with Hex value of 0 and restart your computer.
11) How much space does a Windows XP installation roughly takes up?
Taken from usenet by Kent W. England [MVP] <kwe@mvps.org>:
1.0 GB for Windows folder
0.5 GB for Program Files
50 MB for Documents and Settings (w/o user shell folders)
200 MB for pagefile.sys (varies depending on RAM size)
130 MB for hiberfil.sys (same size as RAM)
2.0 GB (10%) for System Restore (default) in System Volume Info folder
2.0 GB (10%) for Recycle Bin (default)
2.0 GB (10%) for each TIF (default)
12) What is this file named HIBERFIL.SYS doing in my root folder?
Windows saves the state of the RAM to this file for use when you hibernate your computer. You can remove this file by disabling hibernation, which is by Control Panel, Power Options, Hibernate tab.
13) I have the upgrade version of XP, can I perform a clean install using it?
Sure, but the setup program will ask for a qualifying media to be inserted as proof of ownership.
14) How do I stop folders from expanding when I click on a folder in Explorer?
Go to Folder Options, View and uncheck the box for "Simple Folder View in Explorer's Folder list."
15)

How do I stop Windows Messenger from starting up every time I boot up my computer?
If you're running Pro, you can use GPEDIT.MSC to prevent Messenger from loading. Otherwise, even disabling it in startup won't cause it to "always" not run. Outlook, Outlook Express and some Microsoft web pages can still make it load.

  1. Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC 
  2. Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Messenger
  3. You can now modify whether it starts initially and/or whether it is to run at all.

If you don't have Pro, run Windows Messenger, Tools, Options and uncheck "Run this program when Windows starts". Run Outlook Express, go to Options and uncheck "Automatically logon to Windows Messenger". You can also try this command:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

16) Where's Scandisk gone?
Scandisk is gone from Windows XP. Replaced by the ol' Chkdsk.
17)

What are the pros and cons of FAT32 and NTFS?
NTFS offers a smaller cluster size (0.5) compared to FAT32 (4). This means more space for you. NTFS also allows compression and additional security features. Many people recommend formatting to a NTFS partition rather than converting the drive for speed reasons. You can go to this Microsoft article for more information, and only the pros . Some cons I've heard:

  • Virtually no recovery tools for a faulty NTFS volume. If you backup this isn't a big deal. If you can't backup then it's a very big deal.
  • It's rumoured to have performance problems, but I'm not entirely sure about this.
  • If you're dual booting, that's running OS's in the same system (like Windows 98 and XP), only NT, 2000 or XP can access the NTFS partition, other Windows OS's (95,98,ME) will not be able to view nor access the drive.
More cons will be added if I come across them.
18) The Command Prompt in Windows XP does not have DosKey installed?
Run CMD from the Run instead of command .
19) Can I install XP Home (or Professional) on more than 1 computer?
No. You're only allowed to install it on one computer. You will be unable to activate XP on the other computer. You have to purchase additional licenses to install it on more than 1 computer.
20) Every time my PC boots up, it takes about 2 minutes for the Network connections submenu in the Start menu to expand!
Disable "Obtain IP Address Automatically" for the local area network connection. If there's a DHCP server running on your network that assigns IP addresses dynamically, you have to enable Obtain IP Address Automatically.
21)

The volume icon does not appear in the notification area (taskbar).
Make sure Hide Inactive is disabled in Taskbar Properties. In Sound and Audio Devices Properties, make sure "Place volume icon in the taskbar" is checked. If it still doesn't work, you are one of the few people infected with this bug. Workarounds:

  1. Go to Start, Log off, log off then log back on
  2. Right-click the taskbar & select Task Manager under Processes tab select Explorer.exe & End Task. Under Applications tab select New Task, type in "explorer" and click OK
Watch this section for updates for this bug fix.
22)

All my games can't detect OpenGL [and, or] Glide for my video card?
Windows XP's drivers are basic ones that just allow you to manipulate the desktop (and possibly directx also). You have to get updated XP drivers from your card's manufacturer.

3dfx has closed down, if you do not know yet. Fortunately, some geeks have hacked (or tweaked) 3dfx's original drivers to make it compatible with Windows XP. You can find a list at VoodooFiles, and I recommend downloading Goat's driver if you own a Voodoo 3000, it worked for me well particularly for Diablo II and Ultim@te Race Pro.

23)

What's the best antivirus software out there for XP?
Norton Antivirus 2002.

24) Can I remove Outlook Express or Internet Explorer?
No, they are part of the operating system, and cannot be removed. You'll just have to ignore them.
25) What is SVCHOST.EXE doing in my Processes?
It represents all the services running in your computer. Type tasklist -svc in the command prompt to get a list of services running.
26) How do I install Windows XP in DOS mode [or from MS-DOS command prompt]?
First, start up SmartDrive to speed things up. Next, run WINNT from the I386 folder. Setup should launch, warn you if you don't have SmartDrive loaded, copy the cd to a temporarily to your hard disk and reboot your computer.
27) How do I remove programs such as Pinball, wordpad and other accessories?
Delete all "HIDE" words in C:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf file and you will be able add or remove more Windows components. The change can be noticed in the Add/Remove Programs.
28) In Outlook Express, the spell check doesn't work. It's checked in the tools options menu, but it still will not work!
Do a search for csapi3t1.dll and copy it over to the Outlook Express folder.
29) How do I get Internet Explorer to open new windows maximised?
There isn't such a way to do this so far, but a simple workaround is to open a window and manually drag the edges to fill the screen without using the maximise button. The next time you open it, it should remember that size.
30) Doing a "SFC /SCANNOW" always keeps asking for the CD, even after I've inserted it!
Hit Try Again every time the box comes up.
31) How do I make a boot disk in Windows XP?
Go to Explorer, insert a floppy disk, right-click on the A Drive, click Format, check Make System disk and click OK.

32)

How do I uninstall Windows XP?
You can boot from a Windows 9x boot disk, reformat the XP partition and install a previous version of Windows.

If XP is installed using NTFS file system, you'll first have to use FDISK to delete the partition, type FDISK at the prompt. Once you are at the menu, select "Delete Non-dos Partition." When complete, select create partition, be sure to set it active, exit FDISK, reboot from the Windows 9x boot disk, select "Boot with CD-ROM Support."

At the prompt type change to the C drive by typing C: and press enter. Type format and press enter, when complete, place the CD of the Windows OS you wish to install in the drive, change to your CD-ROM drive, note it may not be the same drive letter it was in Windows. Type setup, press enter and follow the prompts.

33) How do I change the Boot screen when Windows XP starts?
Head over here and download the 960kb file.
34) My hard disk shows frequent activity, which is the application causing this?
Run the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, and turn on the following columns: "I/O Read Bytes" and "I/O Write Bytes." This will give you details as to which process is accessing the disk. Although many processes will be accessing the disk a lot, look for one with a high total or a fast rate of increase, especially when you hear the drive being accessed.
   
   

Errors? Omissions? Need Help? Know something? Post your queries in the Windows XP Discussion Forum.

This document is Copyright(©) 2001, 2002 by G.Ganesh. You can host this page on a website, provided you copy it in its exact form and it contains a link back to my website. Visit Ganesh's Website (http://www.bootstrike.com).

(Last Updated 12 January 2002)

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Ganesh's Website - Planescape Torment, Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Ultima VII: Serpent Isle, Ultima Underworld I: The Stygian Abyss, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, Laughter HELL!, Windows XP Frequently Asked Questions FAQ, Installing Windows XP from DOS and Windows XP Review at http://www.bootstrike.com.

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