Standout Files

(2K, XP, 98, ME) If your PC uses Windows XP Pro and the NTFS file system, you can compress and encrypt your folders and files (read tips 11 and 22 in March's "76 Ways to Get More Out of Windows"). If you would like these files and folders to stand out in Explorer, open any folder window and select Tools, Folder Options, View. In Windows XP, scroll down the 'Advanced settings' list and make sure that Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color is checked. In Windows 2000, check Display compressed files and folders with alternate color (or uncheck this option if you don't want to attract attention to your encrypted files). Finish by clicking OK. In Explorer, all compressed items will now have blue names, and all encrypted items will have green names (see FIGURE 2).

Speed Into Outlook and More

(2K, XP, 98, ME) In last November's column, I described several different things that you can do to get more use out of the Address bar in folder and Internet Explorer windows ("Fast Windows Navigation Is a Command Performance"). Reader Richard Stobart of Putney, London, sent some additional Address bar tips. For example, to get to any Microsoft Outlook folder (including Mail, Calendar, and Contacts, among others), type outlook: followed by the folder name (with no space between). For example, type outlook:tasks and press Enter to launch Outlook displaying your task list. If you're typing the address of a Web page that has a .com extension, you can skip both the 'www.' prefix and the '.com' suffix. Simply type the middle of the Web site's domain name and press Ctrl-Enter. Internet Explorer automatically adds the prefix and the suffix before sending you on your merry way.

Unskin Media Player 9

(2K, XP, 98, ME) You just couldn't resist downloading and applying that great-looking "skin" for Windows Media Player 9, could you? Unfortunately, the defective skin crashes Media Player every time you start the program. And what's worse, you can't change skins because Media Player won't run long enough to let you make the switch. What to do? Roll up your sleeves and prepare to edit the Registry: Choose Start, Run, type regedit, and press Enter. Scroll in the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Skins. With the key highlighted, click Registry, Export Registry File. Browse to the folder that stores your backups and click Save.

Now double-click LastViewMode on the right. Change the 1 in the 'Value data' box to 0 and click OK (see FIGURE 3). Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows Media Player. The player should display its normal (skin-free) look. To avoid further problems, delete the problem skin from your Windows Media Player folder altogether. In most cases, you'll find the file in C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\Skins, but your path may vary.

Stop Idle Disk Thrashing

(XP) Have you ever heard your hard disk spinning while you weren't doing anything on your computer? Windows XP might be running its disk defragmenter utility while your system is otherwise idle. At these times, the utility rearranges files on your hard drive to improve performance and shorten boot time. These automatic defrags should happen only when your machine is not being used, and theoretically they should happen only every few days. If you'd rather that your hard drive not work when you aren't around, you can turn the utility off with Tweak UI, which is part of Microsoft's free PowerToys for Windows XP. See "PowerToys for Windows XP" for a description of PowerToys and for a link to the download.

If you don't want to install any of the other PowerToys included in the set, select only the TweakUI.exe option on the Microsoft download page. Once you've installed Tweak UI, select Start, All Programs, Powertoys for Windows XP, Tweak UI. In the tree diagram on the left, click General. Scroll to the bottom of the Settings list on the right, uncheck Optimize hard disk when idle (see FIGURE 4), and click OK. The setting takes effect for all of the PC's user profiles after your next system reboot.