(2K, 98, XP, ME) Yikes! You flipped on the power for your computer, but Windows XP Professional won't load. What to do? If you've prepared for this day, you can lessen the pain. XP Pro contains a special tool--called Automated System Recovery--for just such occasions. Regrettably, ASR isn't switched on by default. Follow these steps to activate it today, before the worst happens.

First, open the backup utility that comes with Windows XP: Choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup. If you see the Backup or Restore Wizard, click Advanced Mode. On the Welcome tab, click Automated System Recovery Wizard (see FIGURE 1). Follow the prompts to make a backup of your system files. Note that this process backs up only the Registry and other files that are critical to starting Windows--not all of your computer's files. When the backup is finished, you'll be prompted to insert a blank floppy disk in the drive. When the wizard is done, eject the disk and put it in a safe place.

In the future, if disaster strikes and you aren't able to boot your XP Pro machine, you'll be ready to save the day. First, try booting Windows XP using either the Last Known Good Configuration or the Safe Mode option, as described by Lincoln Spector in his Answer Line column from last November, "What to Do When XP or 2000 Won't Boot").

If neither of these two boot-up options does the trick, insert your Windows XP installation CD and reboot your computer. Follow whatever steps are necessary to boot Windows from the CD. When you're prompted in the status line at the bottom of the screen, press F2, insert your ASR floppy disk, and then follow the on-screen prompts to restore your system.

Open Windows Supersize

(2K, XP, 98, ME) When I double-click one of my Internet Explorer desktop shortcuts, I want the program to open in a maximized window. Currently it opens small, and as a result I have to click the maximize button every time. But when I close the window and then double-click the shortcut again, it's still not maximized. Please help me make it open big.

Vincent Casolaro, San Jacinto, California

Windows provides several ways to make windows fill the screen: Single-click the maximize button, double-click the title bar, or right-click a taskbar button and choose Maximize. Unfortunately, very few windows are capable of remembering to open in the state you left them in the next time you access them.

To make an application always open in Jumbotron mode, find the shortcut you want to adjust on the Start, Programs or Start, All Programs menu. Right-click the shortcut and click Properties. On the Shortcut tab, choose Maximized from the Run drop-down list. (The 'Normal' setting is the behavior you usually get; 'Minimized' makes the program start as a taskbar button.) From now on, choosing that shortcut will launch the program in a full-size (maximized) window.

This trick works for your application and document shortcuts, but not for document files or for such special desktop icons as My Computer and Internet Explorer. The only workaround for these holdouts is to create shortcuts to the items that you use frequently (by right-dragging an icon, dropping it where you want it, and choosing Create Shortcut(s) Here), and then to set the window size in the Shortcut tab as explained above.

Unfortunately, shortcuts to Internet Explorer Web pages are an exception to the usual arrangement; their Properties dialog boxes have no Shortcut tab. For a solution, see this month's "Windows Toolbox."