How to Use Your XP Computer as a FAX Machine

Did you know that a FAX component is included in Windows XP? The problem is that it's not installed by default. However, you can install it easily:

1. Click Start, Control Panel.
2. Open the Add/Remove Programs applet.
3. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
4. In the list of Windows components, scroll down to select Fax Services and check the check box.
5. Click Next. You may be asked to insert the Windows XP installation disk. Click OK (you can also specify a network path for the XP installation files).

How to Fix Random Problems by Turning Off Speech Recognition and Text Services Here's an interesting problem that can be hard to track down. One of our readers wrote to say that different application programs were starting and quitting randomly and the logon screen was acting funny - as if someone were remotely controlling it. He suspected a hack attack or a virus, but it turns out this was caused by Office XP's built in speech recognition feature being turned on, but not configured. The computer was responding to sounds in the environment. Here's how to turn off the speech recognition and text services (and, we hope, fix those weird problems): Click Start, Control Panel Click the Regional and Language Options applet Click the Languages tab Click the Details button Click the Advanced tab Under "System Configuration," check the box that says Turn off advanced text services. Click OK in each dialog box to close it. How to Determine your CPU Speed as Reported by Windows Want to know the CPU speed Windows recognizes for your processor? There are several different ways: Right click My Computer and select Properties. Click the General tab. The processor speed is listed under "Computer." Click Start, Control Panel and click the System applet. On the General tab, the processor information is shown under "Computer." Click Start, Run and type msinfo32 in the Run box. Click OK. This opens the System Information tool. Select System Summary in the left pane. Processor speed is shown in the right pane. Scroll down to find the item labeled Processor. Click Start and select Help and Support. Under "Pick a Task," Click Use Tools to view your computer information and diagnose problems. Select My Computer Information from the Tools list in the left column. Click Find information about the hardware installed on this computer. It may take a while for the information to be collected and displayed. Click Start, Run and type dxdiag and click OK. Your screen might go blank for a moment as the utility collects information. On the System tab, the processor information is displayed under "System Information."

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Programs that have Problems with XP SP2 Are you still holding off on installing Service Pack 2 because you're afraid some of your programs may not function properly? One big reason for loss of program functionality is the new Windows firewall, which is on by default. Although this protects your system from attackers, it can also prevent some programs from sending or receiving data they need. You can read more about programs that lose functionality (or seem to) when XP SP2 is installed in KB article 884130 at: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=041207CO-KB_884130 SP2 "Breaks" Programs that Connect to Loopback Addresses The IP address range 127.x.x.x (that is, from 127.0.0.0 through 127.255.255.255 is known as the "loopback address range." These addresses are used by applications to test network interface cards, or for management interfaces. They act as a sort of virtual interface because the communications don't really go out on the network. The "standard" loopback address is 127.0.0.1 but sometimes applications use other addresses within the loopback range. Service Pack 2 prevents connections to all loopback addresses except 127.0.0.1, so if you have an application that tries to use other loopback addresses, you will receive an error message that says you are unable to establish a connection. There is a fix that you can download to correct this problem. See KB article 884020. http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=041207CO-KB_884020 What to do when you get a Windows Installer Error Message if you try to Add or Remove a Program Windows Installer is a component of XP that installs and removes programs using .msi package files. If the installer files are damaged or somehow deleted, you might not be able to add or remove some programs. Instead, you get an error message that says "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed." You might be able to fix the problem by re-registering Windows Installer (this requires editing the Registry) or by reinstalling the Windows Installer component. For detailed instructions on how to use these methods, see KB article 315346 at: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=041207CO-KB_315346 Why Doesn't Windows Remember My Folder View Settings? If you've changed the view settings for a folder, but Windows "forgets" the settings when you open the folder again, or if Windows doesn't seem to remember the size or position of your folder window when you reopen it, this could be caused by the default limitation on storing view settings data in the registry; by default Windows only remembers settings for a total of 200 local folders and 200 network folders. You can work around the problem by changing a couple of registry values. For detailed information on how to do so, see KB article 813711 at: http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=041207CO-KB_813711

How to Create Office "Scraps" If you use Microsoft Office programs to create documents, especially if you have to write reports for work, papers for school, or articles for publication, you might find Windows' "scrap" feature handy. This works great when you're researching and want to save bits and pieces of information, such as quotes or citations of other works. Instead of going through the extra steps of copying and pasting, just highlight the text you want to save in Word or another Office program and drag it to the desktop or into a folder. The scrap will be created there. Now when you want to put it into another document, just drag it to the place where you want to insert it. This saves several clicks of the mouse over the traditional "copy and paste" operation. Unfortunately, though, you can't create a scrap from a Web page. We think that would make the scrap feature really useful. (Just a note: when copying material from any type of document, whether you use scraps, copy and paste or any other method, always keep copyright laws in mind). How to Change the Registered Owner Name in XP Jon wrote to say that he was recently given a PC with XP as OS. He wanted to know if there is any way to change the system owner and the XP registration name without doing a full system restore. Jon, you're in luck. You can change the registered owner information by editing the registry. Always remember to back up the registry before making changes. Open your favorite registry editor In the left pane, navigate to the following registry key: HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion In the right details pane, double click the entry labeled RegisteredOwner. In the Value Data field, delete the name and type in the name you want. Click OK You can similarly change the company name (or make it blank) by double clicking the entry labeled RegisteredOrganization and editing the Value Data field

Get Rid of Annoying Balloon Notifcation QUESTION: I have one niggling little complaint against XP SP2. I use ZoneAlarm as my firewall of choice so have the XP firewall shut off. XP installs a little icon in the lower left corner next to the time. It is in the shape of a red medallion with an X in it. How can I remove it from there. Every time I restart after an install, it pops up a balloon saying my machine is unprotected and this is starting to really tick me off! HELP!!! Otherwise, Service Pack 2 went in with no problems this time around. Could you include something about how to get rid of this annoyance in some future issue of WinXP News? Thanks. - James F. ANSWER: Unfortunately, there is no way to turn off only specific balloon notifications, but you can turn off all system tray balloon popups by editing the registry. We've covered that before, but since turning off the balloons is still one of the most common questions we get, we'll repeat the instructions here: Open your favorite registry editor In the left pane, navigate to: HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Right click an empty space in the right pane and select New, then select DWORD value Right click the new entry and select Rename. Give it the name EnableBalloonTips Double click the entry and in the Value Data field, give it a hexadecimal value of 0 Close the registry editor You'll need to log off and log back on before the change takes effect, and the balloons will be disabled only for the current user. If you log onto the computer with a different user account, the balloons will still appear.

Testers get first taste of new Windows - 26/03/01 "XP"
Windows XP won't support USB 2.0 - 10/04/01
Microsoft 'experiments' with XP - 19/04/01
Microsoft clips Windows XP Smart Tags - 27/06/01
Windows XP could see September ship date - 07/08/01
Windows XP inches toward final release - 15/08/01
What's In XP for You? - 16/08/01 Buy Windows 2000 Professional instead - it's a terrific operating system, fast, stable, feature-rich, and free of Product Activation, Passport, and other good-for-Microsoft, bad-for-you baggage
Windows XP rush bypasses Sun's Java - 20/08/01
Microsoft ships Windows XP - 24/08/01
Win XP will send 9x into retirement - 03/09/01
Microsoft expands Windows XP messaging - 11/10/01
XP released; Do you need it? - 25/10/01
Gates launches Windows XP - 25/10/01 RealVideo
Fix your Windows, says Microsoft - 20/12/01 XP security hole
Microsoft issues patch for "serious" XP hole - 20/12/01
XP update to go beyond mere fixes - 01/03/02
Microsoft battening down the hatches - 01/03/02 New Win XP bug fixes released; .NET Server launch delayed
Windows XP reels in video editing - 31/10/02
Windows XP service pack gets face-lift - 17/03/04
Windows XP security gets tighter - 31/03/04 SP2, expected by the end of June, will include extras that block pop-up ads by default and give users a clearer picture of how secure their system is
Windows update hits a new delay - 13/07/04 SP2
Key Windows update ready to go - 09/08/04
Holes found in Windows XP update - 20/08/04
Key Windows update fully rolls out - 25/08/04
SP2 vs. the plug-ins - 03/09/04