This compact and comprehensive book systematically unveils what resoluteusers of the new Windows XP operating system should find interesting and useful, with little-known details, utility programs, and configuration settings all captured in a consistent reference format. A hands-on guide, it aims to cut through the hype and give practical details of use every day. At the heart of the book is a reference section titled "Windows XP Applications and Tools," containing: detailed information on most of the commands and utilities available with Windows XP, including Start Menu accessories, command prompt tools, hidden system administration utilities such as the Registry Editor, Microsoft Management Console, and TweakUI; a comprehensive "Where to Find It?" section designed to give Windows 9x/Me and Windows NT/2000 users a guide to the XP counterparts to previously familiar features, plus information on installing and upgrading; and a task and setting Index, which provides users with quick access to locations of the hundreds of settings in Windows XP, organized alphabetically; and a complete reference to the command prompt - not only covering the basics of the command line and the different ways to use it, but also the advanced commands and scripting features at Windows XP's disposal. The book also contains numerous tips and tricks, while warning of potential pitfalls, and should enable anyone to get the most out of all the resources available in XP.

Table of Contents:
Part I The big picture: the lay of the land, the big picture, what's new in Windows XP, Windows XP Home and professional editions, Windows update; using Windows XP - the desktop, point and click operations, starting up applications, styles and consequences of styles, Windows and menus, keyboard accelerators, common controls, files, folders, and disks, the command line, online help, shutting down. Part II Alphabetical reference; the user interface; Windows XP applications and tools - using the command prompt, alphabetical reference to Windows components; task and setting index; the command prompt - using the command line, command prompt choices, wildcards, pipes, and redirection, alphabetical reference to DOS commands. Part III Advanced topics: networking - networking terminology, general procedures; the registry, what's in the registry, adding and deleting registry keys and values, organization of the registry, hives, backing up the registry, exporting and importing registry, data with patches, ten cool things you can do in your registry; the Windows script host - what is WSH?, additional resources, executing scripts, creating a script, VBScript, object model, Wscript object, shell object, registry routines, shortcuts, popup, network object, network printer-related functions, fileSystem object, textStream object, object browser, database example, messaging MS-DOS batch files. Part IV Appendices: installing Windows XP; migrating to Windows XP; keyboard shortcuts; power toys and TweakUI; keyboard equivalents for symbols and international characters; common filename extensions; services.