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Windows XP
What’s in it for you?
By Greg Swain
M
ICROSOFT’S new Windows XP operating
system finally puts an end to the 16-bit
DOS underpinnings of the Windows 95/98/Me
product line. In its place is a stable new
32-bit operating system that’s evolved from
the Windows NT/Windows 2000 core but
you’ll need a fair bit of firepower to run it.
UNTIL NOW, you’ve really had two
choices when it comes to a Microsoft
operating system (OS) – Windows 98/
Me or Windows NT/2000.
Home users have traditionally opted
for Windows 98/Me due to its strong
multimedia and games support, plus
its support for a wide range of hardware and for features such as plug
and play (P’nP), USB and Firewire.
At least, that was the upside. The
downside was that it was hardly the
most stable OS around. Anyone who
has used Windows 98/Me has, at one
stage or another, encountered system
lockups and the dreaded “blue screen
of death”.
It’s no exaggeration to say that
Windows 98/Me system crashes have
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caused PC users a lot of frustration.
That’s why many businesses (and
not a few home-users) have instead
opted for the rock-solid stability of
Windows NT or Windows 2000. These
provided true multi-tasking ability
without the frustrating lockups encountered in Windows 98/Me and are
a must if you frequently multi-task or
run heavy-duty applications such as
desktop publishing or large accounting
programs.
But Windows NT had its own
drawbacks. It doesn’t support USB or
plug and play, has limited multimedia
capabilities and has nowhere near the
driver database of Windows 98/Me.
It also cost considerably more than
Windows 98/Me, was much more
demanding in terms or hardware and
was harder to setup – especially when
it came to networking.
These problems were addressed to
a large extent in Windows 2000 which
added support for plug and play and
USB. However, its hardware support,
multimedia capabilities and games
support were still inferior to Windows
98/Me.
HOW XP FITS IN
Windows XP supersedes both Windows 98/Me and Windows NT/2000,
effectively unifying the two into one.
This new “unified” OS boasts extensive multimedia capabilities, supports
a wide range of hardware and is built
on the rock-solid Windows NT/2000
operating core so it’s a full 32-bit
operating system. In a nutshell, Windows XP combines Windows 98/Me’s
multimedia and hardware support
with Windows 2000’s more stable and
manageable kernel.
On top of that, Microsoft has done a
lot of work on the interface. It’s more
intuitive to use than ever before, is far
easier to set up than its predecessors
and sports a stunning new look that
you can tweak to your liking. Naturally, it has full support for plug and play,
USB and Firewire and retains useful
features such as Internet Connection
Sharing (ICS) and the Network Setup
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Wizard. There are also lots of new
features and we’ll look at some of
those shortly.
You still have a choice when it
comes to this new OS, though. That’s
because there are two versions –
“Windows XP Home Edition” and
“Windows XP Professional”. Basically,
the two are identical except that the
Professional version includes extra
networking and administration tools.
It also includes multi-processor support, with support for up to two CPUs.
The version that you choose will
depend on the OS that you’re currently
using and your personal requirements.
You can upgrade Windows 98/Me to
either XP Home or to XP Professional
but note that you cannot upgrade from
Windows 95.
If you’re currently running Windows 98/Me and you don’t have any
special administrative requirements
or require multi-processor support,
then Windows XP Home Edition
should do everything that you want.
Alternatively, if you’re a Windows
NT/2000 user, you will need to go to
XP Professional. There is no upgrade
path from Windows NT/2000 to the
XP Home Edition.
You can think of Home Edition as
the logical upgrade for Windows 98/
Me, while XP Professional is basically
an upgrade for Windows 2000.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
You’ll need some pretty decent
hardware to run Windows XP, so
don’t expect to be able to whack it on
anything that’s more than a few years
old – not if you want acceptable performance that is. At the very minimum
Fig.1: Windows XP features a radically altered Taskbar and a
“Start” menu that lists your most recently used applications. The
default desktop (shown here) is called “Bliss” and a fresh install
places just one icon on the desktop – the Recycle Bin. You can easily
add the familiar icons shown at right by clicking the “Customize
Desktop” button in the Display Properties dialog box.
Microsoft recommends a 233MHz
Penti
um II machine with 64Mb of
RAM, a CD ROM drive and 1.5Gb of
free hard disk space.
Now while Windows XP will run on
this minimal system (“crawl” might
be a better word), you’ll really want
something better – particularly when
it comes to RAM. Windows XP likes
lots of RAM and a 400MHz Pentium
II with 128Mb of RAM will be a much
better proposition.
In fact, with RAM prices at an
all-time low, there’s no
excuse for not going to
256Mb of RAM or more.
The performance gains
with Windows XP will be
well worthwhile, particularly if you intend running
lots of applications at once or switching between users. You can now pick
up 256Mb of PC133 SDRAM for just
$70, so there’s no reason to hold back.
For multimedia enthusiasts, a 1GHz
Pentium III or Athlon-equivalent PC
with 256Mb of RAM, a DVD-ROM
drive, a CD-RW drive, a sound card
and a video card with 32MB of RAM
will be necessary to extract the full
benefits of Windows XP. Fortunately,
PC hardware has moved a long way
in the last few years, so performance
with Windows XP will not be an issue
if you are buying a new machine.
INSTALLING WINDOWS XP
Fig.2: you can customise the Taskbar
and Start Menu with just a few mouse
clicks.
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Fig.3: XP comes with a snazzy new
look and there are several new colour
schemes to choose from.
Barring any hardware incompatibility issues, installing Windows XP is a
straightforward procedure. You can
check whether your existing hardware
is compatible by going to Microsoft’s
hardware compatibility list located at
www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp
before actually buying Windows XP.
If you already have Windows XP,
December 2001 15
Fig.4: the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard lets you easily transfer your Internet, email & dial-up settings and/or
data files between computers or individual disk drives.
it’s a good idea to run the compatibility checking program that’s on the
installation disk. This will also reveal
any software incompatibility problems
if you are upgrading an existing system. Anti-virus programs, CD-ROM
burning programs and system utilities
are the most likely to cause problems
here and these should be uninstalled
if problems are found. If you have an
Internet connection, the compatibility
program will also offer to download
any updated setup files and drivers
before installation starts.
There are several approaches you
can take when installing Windows XP:
• Upgrade “over the top” of your
existing OS. This will keep your existing files and system settings (eg, for
network and Internet connections);
• Install a new copy of Windows XP
into the same disk partition as the
Fig.5: you can launch the Files and Settings Transfer Wiz-ard from the Windows XP setup CD or access it via the
Start button after Windows XP is installed.
existing OS. This will delete all programs and system files from a previous
installation);
• Install a new copy of Windows
XP onto a different partition or disk
drive to the existing OS. This results
in a dual-boot system that lets you
choose between your previous OS and
Windows XP each time you boot the
computer (ie, a boot menu appears); or
• Back up all your data and system
file settings, repartition and reformat
the disk drive, and do a “clean” install
of Windows XP.
If you choose any of the last three
options, the XP installer brings up a
partition screen. This lets you create
new partitions in any unpartitioned
disk space, delete existing partitions
and select the target partition. You
cannot resize or merge partitions using
the Windows XP partitioning utility,
though. If you want to do that, you will
have to use a third-party partitioning
utility such as Partition Magic before
installing Windows XP.
Assuming that you’re simply upgrading an existing system, you can
start the upgrade procedure simply by
booting the PC and inserting the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM drive.
Provided “Autorun” is enabled, the
CD-ROM drive will automatically start
and bring up the installation menu.
After that, it really is just a matter of
following the bouncing ball – not that
you need to do much.
One thing that Windows 98/Me
users will need to consider is whether
to convert the disk to NTFS (NT File
System) format or stick with the FAT32
(File Allocation Table) format. In most
cases, you’ll want to go with NTFS
– it’s faster, more reliable and offers
Fig.6: our copy of Windows XP installed on
a 1GHz Athlon system
without a hitch.
Fig.7: setting up local area network (LAN) and Internet
connections has never been easier.
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Fig.8: Windows XP is strong on multimedia. The new Windows Media Player 8 plays audio and DVD files, tunes to
radio stations and makes it easy to copy files to a CD.
better security than FAT32. Stick with
FAT32 if you are installing a dual-boot
system though, as Win98/Me cannot
recognise NTFS partitions.
If you do go ahead and install to
a FAT32 partition, you can always
convert it to NTFS format (without
losing data) after Windows XP has
been installed. It’s a one-way street
though – once you’ve converted to
NTFS, there’s no going back to FAT32
without repartitioning the disk.
CLEAN INSTALL
Personally, I always use a new OS as
an excuse to repartition and reformat
the hard disk. That way, you start
with a completely fresh installation
without any of the unwanted debris
from a previous setup. It also gets rid
of any stuff that’s just clogging up the
hard disk.
In this case, you boot the machine
directly from the setup CD (note: you
may have to alter the boot order in
your system BIOS to do this). This
initially takes you to a text-based setup
menu which allows you to partition
and format the hard disk as required.
Setup then copies some system files to
the hard disk, after which the machine
automatically reboots and begins
installing Windows XP.
During installation, the upgrade
version searches for evidence of the
previous OS, to confirm that you qualify for the upgrade. However, if you’re
starting with a “blank” hard disk, all
traces of the previous operating system
will be gone. The trick is to “show”
the system the setup disk from your
previous version of Windows when
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Fig.9: Windows Movie Maker is still fairly limited and
allows only basic video editing tasks to be performed.
Most users will find it adequate.
asked to do so (even an upgrade disk
for the previous OS will do).
By the way, both the upgrade and
the full retail versions of Windows XP
install exactly the same files onto the
hard disk drive. The only difference
between them is that the full version
doesn’t do compliance checking.
You can also boot directly from the
CD if you intend installing Windows
XP to a new partition, as part of a
dual-boot system. However, it’s not
possible to upgrade over the top of
an existing system if booting direct
from the CD.
HOW GOOD IS THE INSTALLER?
In a word, it’s slick. The installation
takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes on
a reasonably fast machine and most
of it happens automatically. And
provided you have all the settings at
your fingertips, you can step through
the Network and Internet Connection
Sharing Wizards (if required) during
setup. Alternatively, you can use these
wizards to set up your network and
Internet connections at any time after
XP has been installed.
With Windows XP, you no longer
have to be a guru to set up a network.
In our case, we installed Windows
XP on a 1GHz Athlon machine and it
all went without a hiccup. To our delight, the installer correctly identified
all the machine’s hardware and installed the correct drivers – including
drivers for the DVD-ROM & ZIP drives,
the GeForce2 MX video card, the network card, the Creative SB Live! sound
card and even the Promise Technology
Ultra-IDE controller (Fig.6).
We didn’t have to do a thing in that
department – you really can’t do better
than that. What’s more, we found that
we had immediate connectivity to our
network and to the Internet.
THE NEW INTERFACE
Fig.10: Remote Desktop is found only
in XP Professional. It allows you to
control the XP desktop from another
PC so that you can access data and
applications from a remote location.
The Windows XP interface has a less
cluttered look than ever before, with
only the Recycle Bin appearing on the
default desktop. The Start button and
Taskbar look different too, the familiar
grey look replaced by a colourful green
and blue colour scheme.
Fig.1 shows the appearance of the
default desktop. In case your wondering, the rolling green hills and blue
sky combination is called “Bliss”.
Yeeeeeeeshh! Fortunately, there are
lots of other desktop themes to choose
December 2001 17
Fig.11: the Control Panel has been given a make-over, with
the opening dialog listing nine categories in place of the
familiar icons. The icons are just a click away, though.
from or better still, you can get rid of
the desktop theme altogether. There
are also some new colour schemes to
choose from – “Silver” looks good in
our opinion.
The windows also have an elegant
new look, with rounded top corners
and colourful new icons and buttons.
In short, we really liked the new XP
“style” but you can easily revert to
the Windows “classic” style if that’s
what you prefer (just right-click the
desktop, click Properties and click the
Appearance tab).
Click the “Start” button and you’ll
soon discover that Microsoft has put
some thought into this as well. The
new “fly-up” menu now has two
vertical columns, the lefthand side
listing your most recently used programs and the righthand side giving
you fast access to the main documents
folders, Control Panel, Search and so
on - see Fig.1.
By default, the Taskbar is locked into
place (you can unlock it if you like)
and you can hide “inactive” icons in
the System Tray (or notification area).
Clicking a little button arrow “slides”
them out for access and they then automatically slide back in again when
you’re done (Fig.3).
Again you can take the Taskbar back
to the Windows classic look. If you
do, some additional icons “magically”
appear on the desktop – My Documents, My Computer, My Network
Places & Internet Explorer. These are
not normally shown on the desktop
if you use the XP “look”, since you
have fast access to them via the Start
button, but you can easily add them if
you wish.
PUMPING UP EXPLORER
At long last, Microsoft has done
something about the rather anaemic
Windows Explorer that’s despised by
just about everyone. Now, when you
open up certain folders, so-called
“Task Panes” appear on the left, as
shown in Fig.14. These Task Panes
Fig.14: Windows Explorer now features task panes which
make it easy to carry out a variety of operations. The task
pane options change depending on the folder contents.
18 Silicon Chip
Fig.12: the “Search” utility is much improved in Windows
XP, with lots of options to choose from in the task pane on
the left.
Fig.13: Windows XP automatically
opens an “actions” dialog box each
time you insert removable media or
connect a digital media device. The
options vary according to the media
type (eg, audio or pictures).
relate to the contents of the folder (ie,
the file types) and make it easy to carry
out a variety of operations or to jump
to other locations.
Fig.15: clicking the Folder button on the toolbar closes the
task panes and restores the familiar “tree-like” view of
folders and disk drives.
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For example, if you open a folder
of picture files, the Task Panes let you
quickly print a selected picture, view
a series of selected pictures as a slide
show, email the selected files or carry
out a range of other tasks.
If you want to see the familiar folders “tree” instead, you just click the
“Folders” icon on the Toolbar. Clicking
this icon again takes you back to the
Task Panes view.
The Search utility is much improved
as well and the Control Panel also gets
a worthwhile make-over, with the initial display of icons now replaced by
nine categories – see Fig.11. Clicking
“Switch to Classic View” gives you
back the familiar icons if you prefer
the old layout.
MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT
This is where Windows XP really
shines, with much of the improvement due to the new Windows Media
Player 8.0 (WMP). This versatile tool
creates audio CDs, plays streaming
audio and video files, tunes into
Internet radio stations and can even
play DVDs – provided you install
either a hardware or software DVD
decoder, that is.
Copying CD tracks (in WMA format)
to the hard disk is a cinch and WMP 8
includes a basic CD burner so that you
can make your own music CDs. It’s not
quite as comprehensive as dedicated
CD burner software but it’s all most
users will ever need.
You can burn audio CDs in both
WMA and MP3 format, as well as data
CDs, but note that WMP 8 cannot rip
Fig.16: Windows XP includes Internet Connection Firewall (ICF). This blocks
ports that can be accessed via the Internet but you can unblock selected ports to
provide access to various services (eg, to an FTP server or an HTTP server).
audio files to MP3 format unless you
purchase a third-party plug-in. You
don’t really have to lay out extra cash
though – there are plenty of “freebie”
MP3 encoders available on-line, such
as MusicMatch Jukebox and CDex.
Provided they’re on-line and you’re
connected to the Internet, WMP automatically downloads track titles if
you insert an audio CD (see Fig.8).
Alternatively, you can add artist and
track titles manually using standard
ID3 tags before creating playlists.
In case you’re wondering, you cannot use WMP 8 with earlier versions
of Windows. It’s tightly tied to the
new XP interface, so you’re stuck with
WMP 7 if you stay with Windows 98/
Me or Windows 2000.
Also on the multimedia front, Windows XP includes Movie Maker. It
works OK but still allows only basic
editing tasks to be performed.
LET’S CHANGE USERS
Windows XP makes it easy to set
up separate User Accounts and allows
you to “fast switch” between them
without shutting down applications.
This is a great feature if you have
more than one person using the computer.
Among other things, User Accounts
also allow you to:
• customise the way Windows and
the desktop look for each user;
• have your own lists of web Favourites and recently visited sites;
Fig.17: Windows XP makes it easy to set up user accounts and allows fast switching between them without closing applications or logging off. It’s also easy
to change account settings and to provide password
protection.
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December 2001 19
Windows Product Activation: Don’t Sweat It
To combat software piracy, Microsoft has introduced what is arguably
Windows XP’s most contentious feature
– Windows Product Activation (WPA).
When you install Windows XP, you
must activate it – either via the Internet
or manually via the phone – within 30
days, otherwise the OS will stop working until you do.
Activation involves obtaining a key
which is derived from up to 10 hardware components in your PC. When
you install Windows XP, it checks the
amount of memory and also derives
unique serial numbers from devices
such as your network card, video card,
hard disk and CD-ROM drives, the
motherboard and the processor. This
information is then used to derive a
unique 25-character key which is combined with the 25-character “Product
Key” supplied with the Windows XP
installation CD to produce the “Installation ID”.
In effect, WPA locks each copy
of Windows XP to the hardware of a
particular PC. This ensures that you can
use your copy of Windows XP on one
computer only and prevents you from
sharing it with friends or colleagues
in the workplace, or from borrowing
someone else’s copy. It also prevents
illegal hard disk cloning, whereby an
•
have your own My Documents
folder and use a password to keep files
private and protected; and
• protect important personal computer settings.
There are two different types of User
Accounts: “Computer Administrator”
and “Limited”. A user with a Limited
account has restricted file access and
cannot install programs, make system
changes or alter other accounts.
You can either set up your User
Accounts when you install XP or
add them later via the Control Panel.
The Control Panel also allows you to
change User Account names, set up
and change pass
words, and add or
delete User Accounts.
If you set up User Accounts, a welcome screen appears each time you
load Windows and you can then log
onto your personal account. Individual User Accounts can be password
20 Silicon Chip
entire image is copied from the hard
disk of one PC onto the hard disk of
another.
Now unless anyone thinks that this
is an impost and a horror to LOLs (little
old ladies), it’s really no big deal. For
starters, Windows Product Activation
is fast, no files are scanned and no
personal information or serial numbers
are sent to Microsoft, so there are no
worries on that score.
You also have plenty of leeway when
it comes to upgrading. For example, if
your PC has a network adapter, you can
change up to five other hardware items
in one go (or eight in a laptop computer) without having to reactivate. Alternatively, you can change the network
adapter plus three other components
(seven on a laptop) without problems.
Adding additional components, such
as a second hard disk drive or CDRW drive, has no effect on WPA. And
changing the same item several times
only counts as a single change, so if
you want to compare 20 different video
cards, you can do so to your heart’s
content without triggering WPA.
Of course, if you reformat your hard
disk and reinstall Windows XP, you will
have to “re-activate”. That’s because
the WPA information is stored on the
hard disk drive and is destroyed if the
protected to keep other users out but if
there is no password, it’s just a matter
of clicking the account icon.
The Fast User Switching feature
allows you to leave appli
c ations
running while you switch to another
account; eg, if another family member
wishes to print something out. When
you then switch back to your account,
your applications will still be running
just as you left them.
KEEPING OUT THE BAD GUYS
Keeping Internet nasties away is
important these days and Microsoft
has finally included some basic firewall protection into Windows XP. It’s
called Internet Connection Firewall
and it’s basically a port blocking
firewall that can easily be configured
to allow certain services; eg, FTP,
HTTP & ICMP (echo) requests, etc (see
Fig.6).
drive is reformatted. However, provided
the hardware isn’t changed substantially, you can do this as many times as
you like.
As a final refinement, WPA automatically resets itself every three months so
that you can start the upgrade procedure over again. In addition, Microsoft
state that WPA will automatically allow
reactivation over the Internet up to
four times in one year on substantially different hardware. This is so that
“power users” can keep up with the
very latest technology and regularly
make substantial hardware upgrades to
their systems.
Users who buy a new PC with
Windows XP preloaded will probably
never have to deal with WPA – unless
the hard disk is reformatted. What’s
more, PC makers can lock OEM copies
of Windows XP to the PC’s BIOS, so that
users can later swap everything, including the hard disk (but not the motherboard) without re-activating.
Finally, businesses that need
to install Windows XP on multiple
computers don’t have to go through the
WPA. Instead, they can obtain a special
“volume licence product key” which
allows a single hard disk to be cloned
across multiple machines, without the
need for activation.
Blocking incoming ports greatly
reduces the chances of being hacked,
so ICF should be enabled on any computer that’s directly connected to the
Internet. Similarly, if your network
uses Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
to provide Internet access for multiple
computers, ICF should be enabled on
the shared Internet connection.
For home users, ICF is probably
good enough but a dedicated third-party firewall designed to work with Windows XP should be installed if security
is important. You can easily disable
ICF is you decide to use a dedicated
firewall package.
KEEPING XP HEALTHY
Ever installed a hardware driver
that caused system instability? With
Windows XP, you can easily revert to
the previously installed driver using
the new “Device Driver Rollback”
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feature that’s found in Device Manager (see Fig.19). In addition, Windows
XP includes “System Restore” which
enables you to roll your system back
to an earlier “restore point” and undo
any harmful changes.
As expected, Windows Update has
been included which allows Windows
XP to look for new updates on the
Internet. And like Windows 2000, XP
includes Windows File Protection.
This prevents the replacement of protected system files such as .sys, .dll,
.ocx, .ttf, .fon, and .exe files unless
the correct digital signature is found.
It runs in the background and protects
all files installed by the Windows
Setup program.
Another useful feature is the Program Compatibility Wizard. This
allows you to emulate older Windows
OS’es in order to get incompatible
programs to work. Once the program
is working, you can then save the
settings so that it runs properly each
time it is used. Of course, it’s better to
store an update for the program if it’s
available, so that you don’t have to use
the compatibility wizard.
Fig.18: “Computer Management” console (Start, Programs, Administrative
Tools) gives you fast access to a range of administrative utilities.
or create a “Files & Settings Transfer
Wizard” utility disk (eg, on a floppy
disk or ZIP disk drive).
The Remote Assistance feature is
a useful troubleshooting aid if you
get into difficulties. It allows a friend
(presumably someone who is computer savvy) or a computer dealer who is
also running Windows XP to connect
to your computer via the Internet, chat
with you online, view your desktop
and to work on your computer.
OTHER GOODIES
By now, you should be getting the
idea that Windows XP has a very extensive list of features – far too numerous to cover in detail, in fact. There are
lots of features that we haven’t even
mentioned, including MSN Messenger
(an instant messaging program that
works over the Internet), improved
support for wireless networking, a
“File and Settings Transfer Wizard”
and Remote Assistance. Briefly, the
“File and Settings Transfer Wizard”
makes it easy to transfer your system
settings (eg, Internet, email & dial-up
THE BOTTOM LINE
Fig.19: Driver Rollback allows you to
restore the previously installed driver
if a new driver causes problems.
settings) and/or data files between
computers or disk drives when you
install Windows XP. You can access
it via the Start button, via the menus
on the Windows XP installation disk
Fig.20: you can monitor the performance of various
system parameters and examine performance logs and
alerts.
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We have to admit that we liked
Windows XP. Admittedly, there’s not
an awful lot of incentive to upgrade if
you’re currently using Windows 2000
(unless there’s a feature you must have)
but Windows 98/Me/NT users should
take a closer look.
If it’s stability that you’re after and
you’re currently using Windows 98/
Me, Windows XP is a very attractive
upgrade – just be sure that you have
SC
the firepower to run it.
Fig.21: want to defragment your hard disk drive?
Like Windows 2000, Windows XP includes its own
disk defragger.
December 2001 21
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