Windows XP basics
The following is a small selection of introductory texts from Indiana University's Knowledge Base. You can also search for particular words or phrases throughout the entire Knowledge Base with the full-text search.
On this page:
General information
- System requirements and information about Windows XP
- Getting service packs for Windows
- What is Windows Update and how do I use it to update my Windows installation?
- Where can I find out what hardware is compatible with the various Windows versions?
- In Windows, what is the Start menu?
- In Windows, what is the Taskbar?
- In Windows, what is the registry?
- In Windows, what is a shortcut, and how do I create one?
- In Windows, how do I lock my workstation without logging off?
- What is NTFS?
Setup
- In Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, how do I convert a FAT partition to an NTFS partition?
- In Windows, how do I create setup boot disks?
- How do I set up Windows 2000 or XP Professional to accept FTP transfers?
- In Windows 2000 or XP, how do I choose between NTFS and FAT32?
- For Windows, where can I find drivers for video cards?
- Where can I find driver updates for my Windows computer?
- In Windows XP or Vista, how can I restore my computer to a previous configuration?
System information
- How do I determine my computer's IP address?
- In Windows, how do I find the MAC address of my network adapter?
- In Windows, how do I find out how much memory (RAM) I have?
- In Windows, how can I see or print a list of all my directories and files?
- In Windows, what is a user profile, and how do I copy one user profile to another?
- Determining which service packs are installed in Windows
- In Windows, how do I list all running processes?
- In Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, what is the SID (security identifier)?
- In Windows, how do I change the date and time?
Networking
- Windows on-campus connections to the IU wireless network
- In Windows XP, how can I see what wireless networks are available to my computer?
- Making an IPsec or PPTP VPN connection to the IU network in Windows XP
- Dialing into the IUB and IUPUI modem pools in Windows XP and Vista
- Manually setting up a wired network connection in Windows 2000 or XP
- In Microsoft Windows, how do I map a drive?
- In Windows, what is traceroute and how do I use it?
- What is Dynamic DNS (DDNS), and how do I set it up at IU?
- In Windows, what are some networking commands I can use from the command prompt?
- At IU, using Windows, how can I access shared resources on other Windows computers?
- In Windows XP, how do I configure the firewall to allow pings?
Troubleshooting
- In Windows XP or Vista, how can I restore my computer to a previous configuration?
- In Windows, how can I boot into Safe Mode?
- In Windows, how do I restore my display settings after they have been changed and my display is illegible?
- In Windows, what is the Device Manager, and how can I use it?
- In Windows, how do I close an application that is not responding?
- In Windows, how do I restore the speaker icon to the system tray?
- When installing software in Windows, what does "An error occurred during the move data process - ###" mean?
- In Windows, what should I do if my Start button and Taskbar are missing?
- In Windows, if my mouse breaks, how can I save my work, exit, and restart?
- After copying a Ghost image to a different PC, why do I get IP conflicts even though I am using DHCP?
- In Windows NT 4.0, 2000, and XP, what is the Blue Screen of Death?
- In Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, how can I check a disk for errors?
- In Windows NT 4.0, 2000, or XP, why won't my CD-ROM play automatically?
- On my PC, why am I having network problems after installing file-sharing software?
