Windows 2000: Tips for New Arrivals

Working With Files

Windows 2000 handles files differently than Windows 95 and 98 do. It's designed to store files in a different way, using NTFS--the NT File System. But NTFS isn't required--Windows 2000 can also handle the DOS/Windows throwback file allocation table and 98's improved FAT32 (32-bit file allocation table). But here's where the differences begin...

Search and Ye Shall Find

Windows 2000 replaces the simple Find Files or Folders with a more Web-like Explorer window called Search. It's got more useful features than Find--but to use it well requires a little finesse. On the Start menu, select Search, For Files or Folders, and a two-paned window pops up with a search form in the left pane. The first three boxes in the form neatly combine the three most common search criteria--file or folder name, text within files, and the folder or disk to search. By default, Search roots through subfolders in any folder or disk that you select.

Search uses fairly basic criteria--just keyword or phrase, without more-sophisticated Boolean logic. But you can use the asterisk (*) and question mark (?) as wild-card characters in the file or folder name and text fields. You can use the asterisk as a prefix (*.doc), suffix ( boo* could return boogie, boolean, or bootstrap ), in the middle of a string of characters (tr*ble could fetch trainable, tribble, and trouble), or some combination of uses (*My*). Each question mark stands for a single character (boo? could return book or boot).

For more-sophisticated searches--based on file date, file type, or size--click the Search Options heading, and click a check mark next to the relevant search criterion. Click Date, for example, and you're presented with a list box that enables you to narrow your search to files created, modified, or last accessed within a timeframe of days or months, or in a date range. The Type and Size criteria enable you to narrow a search to any registered file type of a given size. In addition, the Advanced Options include the capabilities to switch off subfolder searching, enable case sensitivity, and search so-called slow files--that is, files that reside on removable storage media.

Save and Reuse Your Searches

Do you search for the same type of file or a specific directory on your hard drive frequently? Don't squander your efforts--save whatever set of criteria you use in Search and reuse it. After you finish constructing your search query and conducting the search, right-click in the search results pane (or select the File menu) and select Save Search. You will be prompted for a file name and location, and Search will save the results as a file with the extension .fnd.

To conduct the search again, use Explorer to track down the .fnd file and double-click it. This launches the Search with the save criteria already conveniently inserted into the appropriate fields.

Indexing for Swifter Searches

To speed up the Search function and increase its capabilities (such as searching for the author of a Microsoft Office document), use the Indexing Service. Click the Indexing Service link in the Search dialog box and follow the screen prompts. This begins a process that parses every document on your computer or specified hard drive partition, lifting properties such as author information from Office documents, e-mail and newsgroup messages, and HTML documents. It interprets a document's language and extracts key words. These details are indexed in a compressed file that Search can root through quickly.

Indexing a whole hard disk takes time and system resources--you will want to compile your first index overnight while you're away from your computer. But subsequent indexing sessions don't take much out of your system, and they are performed automatically. Indexes don't take up too much disk space either--our index of almost 1700 documents takes up about 1 MB.

If you notice your system performance suddenly begin to drag, disable indexing for a while. Select Start, Search, For Files and Folders, click the Indexing Service link, and click "No, do not enable Indexing Service."

Customize Explorer Toolbars

Explorer's Toolbars aren't set in stone. To add or remove buttons, go to View, Toolbars, Customize. The customize dialog box contains two lists of buttons--Available toolbar buttons, and Current toolbar buttons. To remove a button, click its name in the Current toolbar buttons and click Remove. To add one, click the place you'd like it to fit in the Current toolbar buttons--the new button will go above the selected one--select the button you would like to add, and click Add. To change the position of a button, select it and click Move Up or Move Down. In addition, you can use your mouse to drag and drop list items to add, remove, or move. If you veer too far from a usable toolbar, you can revert to a default setting simply by clicking the Reset button in the Customize Toolbar dialog box.

Save Toolbar Territory

Tired of clicking the chevrons to see Explorer toolbar icons at the far right of your toolbar collection? Just lose the text labels to reclaim horizontal real estate.

Don't worry--if you forget what a button does, simply hold the mouse pointer over it, and a description will soon pop up. Select View, Toolbars, Customize. In the Text Options drop-down list box, select "No text labels." This setting is immune to the Customize Toolbar Reset button.

Quick Compression

To save disk space, why not compress a file or folder you don't use often? This could be a program you use infrequently, old data you aren't ready to archive completely--anything that you can afford to load up a little slower than usual (yes, that's the trade-off with file compression).

In Explorer, right-click the file or folder, and select Properties. On the General tab, click the Advanced button, and click a check mark in the box labeled "Compress contents to save disk space."

Preview Multimedia Files

In any Explorer that uses the Web view--including those in the Search Results window--you can play a sound or video file without running a separate program. To play back .avi, .mpg, or .wav files, make sure that "Enable Web content in folders" is checked in Tools, Folder Options, General, and make certain that Windows Media Player or RealPlayer is installed.

Then select the multimedia file. In the Web view's file information pane, a preview window will appear with the first frame of a video file, and a slider bar with player controls will appear for sound files. To listen, click the Play button. To check out frames of a video file, slide the bar beneath the preview.

Trim the FAT

If you chose FAT or FAT32 for your file management system when you installed Windows 2000 but still want to take advantage of Windows' better, higher-security file management based on Windows NT File System, there is a solution.

You can convert the disk or partition--but it's time consuming. First, you must boot from a different disk or partition which is easiest to do using a system boot disk. (See "Create a Boot Disk" in "System Maintenance.")

Start the system in command line mode--it's an option that shows up during Windows 2000's boot-up. Its syntax is: convert [drive:] /fs:ntfs [/v].

To convert your C: drive to NTFS you would enter convert c: /fs:ntfs with an optional /v at the end to specify verbose mode, that is, to display all messages as the drive is being converted.

But be aware that once NTFS is set up, the system will not longer be able to boot MS-DOS or Windows 9x.

Change the 'Send To' Menu

If you send items to a particular destination--say, your floppy drive or a particular folder--one of the quickest ways to do it is to right-click the selected files in Explorer and select the Send To option.

By default, this menu includes common destinations such as My Briefcase. But it's easy to add to this menu, or remove items. In Explorer, double-click the drive where Windows 2000 is installed and open the Documents and Settings folder. Double-click your folder. Double-click the Send To folder, and add or delete new shortcuts as appropriate (select File, New, Shortcut, and locate the item you want to include as a new shortcut).

(Note: Unlike in Windows 95 and Windows 98, the Send To folder in Windows 2000 carries the Hidden attribute: If you can't see it, select Tools, Folder Options in any Explorer window, and click the View tab. As long as you make sure that "Show hidden files and folders" is selected, all files should remain visible.)

This icon is your clue that this 2000 function works much as in Win 98.