1. Chapter 1 Making the Most of Windows XP

   1. What IS an Annoyance?

   2. A Brief History of Time, Re: MS Windows

   3. Transition to Windows XP

2. Chapter 2 Basic Explorer Coping Skills

   1. Working with Explorer

   2. Handling Files and Folders

   3. Regaining Control of the Desktop

3. Chapter 3 The Registry

   1. Getting to Know the Registry Editor

   2. Registry Tips and Solutions

4. Chapter 4 Tinkering Techniques

   1. Customizing Your Desktop

   2. Covering Your Tracks

   3. File Types: The Link Between Documents and Applications

   4. Cool Things You Can Do with Drives and Folders

5. Chapter 5 Maximizing Performance

   1. Eliminating Software Bottlenecks

   2. Squeezing Performance Out of Your Hard Disk

   3. Fine-Tuning and Upgrading Hardware Components

6. Chapter 6 Troubleshooting

   1. General Troubleshooting Techniques

   2. Specific Software Issues

   3. Dealing with Drivers and Other Tales of Hardware Troubleshooting

   4. Fixing Device-Specific Problems

   5. Preventive Maintenance and Data Recovery

7. Chapter 7 Networking and Internetworking

   1. Getting Started with Networking

   2. Step-by-Step Procedures

   3. Securing Your System on a Network

8. Chapter 8 User Accounts and Administration

   1. Managing Users

   2. Sharing Files and Printers

9. Chapter 9 Scripting and Automation

   1. Building a Script with VBScript

   2. Running Applications from Scripts

   3. Accessing the Registry from Scripts

   4. Manipulating Files from Scripts

   5. Creating Windows Shortcuts and Internet Shortcuts in Scripts

   6. Networking with Scripts

   7. Manipulating Internet Explorer from Scripts

   8. Using Command-Line Parameters in Scripts

   9. Managing Services with Scripts

   10. Writing CGI Scripts for a Web Server

   11. Making a Startup Script

   12. Deciphering Script Errors

   13. Finding a Better Editor

   14. Further Study

   15. Automating Scripts with Scheduled Tasks

   16. Wacky Script Ideas

10. Chapter 10 Installing Windows XP

    1. Installing the Operating System

    2. Migrating to Windows XP

    3. Making Room for Windows

    4. Advanced Topics

1. Appendix A Setting Locator

   1. Alphabetical Listing of All Windows XP Settings: A-M

   2. Alphabetical Listing of All Windows XP Settings: N-W

2. Appendix B BIOS Settings

3. Appendix C Command Prompt Crash Course

   1. DOS Commands

   2. Batch Files—The Other Way to Do It

   3. Turn the Address Bar into a Command Prompt

4. Appendix D TCP/IP Ports

5. Appendix E Error Messages (Blue Screen of Death)

   1. Alphabetical List of BSoD Errors

6. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Windows XP Annoyances is a Surinam toad (also known as Pipa Pipa). Surinam toads are entirely aquatic, never venturing onto land from the dark, muddy South American rivers where they dwell. Adapted to life in a constantly murky environment, the eyes of the Surinam toad are little more than small dark spots on its evenly brown body. Adult toads are about six inches long with a broad, flat, almost rectangular appearance. They have large, heavily webbed hind feet and small sensory feelers on their front feet and around their mouths. They use these feelers to aid in the search for food along the muddy river bottom. Once a morsel is located, the toad uses its front feet to stir up the water and swish the food into its gaping, tongueless mouth. It will consume anything it can swallow, dead or alive.

Surinam toads are remarkable even among the several other similar species of aquatic frogs. Rather than depositing her eggs in a secluded location and leaving their fate to chance, the female toad relies on the male to direct the fertilized eggs onto the softened skin of her back. Over the course of several hours the skin swells and completely envelopes the eggs. Here the young remain for several months until metamorphosis is complete, emerging as tiny, fully developed toads. Sarah Sherman was the production editor and copyeditor for Windows XP Annoyances. Mary Brady, Claire Cloutier, and Matt Hutchinson provided quality control. Tom Dinse wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Sarah Sherman.