Control Panel Components

Appearance and Themes: Change what your desktop looks like —
wallpaper, colors, mouse pointers, screen saver, icon size and spacing,
and so on. Set screen resolution (for example, 1024 x 768 or 800 x 600)
so that you can pack more information onto your screen — assuming
your eyes can handle it. Make the Windows taskbar hide when you’re
not using it, and change the items on your Start menu. Change what
Windows Explorer shows when you’re looking at folders.

Printers and Other Hardware: Add or remove printers and connect to
other printers on your network. Troubleshoot printers. Set up and
modify Windows faxing. Install, remove, and set the options for scanners
and digital cameras. Control the options on mice, game controllers,
joysticks, and keyboards. Set up dialing rules and other modem arcana.
If you use a modem for your Internet connection, Windows faxing may
not do what you expect. You may have to disconnect from the Internet
before you send or receive a fax, for example. Many people like J2 fax
(www.j2.com) because it treats faxes like e-mail. Outbound faxes are converted
to e-mail on your PC using J2’s programs, and then they are sent
to J2, which routes the fax to a local fax machine at your destination,
thus bypassing long-distance telephone charges. Inbound faxes get
delivered to your e-mail inbox.

Network and Internet Connections: Set up a network. Configure Internet
Explorer and its startup page, history files, cookies, AutoComplete, and
so on. Set up Internet connections, particularly if you’re sharing an
Internet connection across a network, or if you have a cable modem
or DSL.

User Accounts: Add or remove users from the Windows welcome screen.
Enable the “Guest” account (see Book I, Chapter 6 for more about adding
users). Change account characteristics, such as the picture, password
requirement, direct connection with .NET Passport, and so on.

Add or Remove Programs: Add and remove specific features in some
programs.

Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options: Set the time and date —
although double-clicking the clock on the Windows taskbar is much
simpler — or tell Windows to synchronize the clock automatically. Here
you can also add support for complex languages (such as Thai) and
right-to-left languages, and change how dates, times, currency, and
numbers appear.

Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices: Control volume, muting, and
so on, but those functions are usually better performed inside the
Windows Media Player. You can also choose a Sound scheme, which is
something like a desktop theme, except that it involves the pings and
pongs you associate with Windows events (for example, the music that
plays when Windows starts, or the cling! you hear when you try to click
on something you shouldn’t). Speech choices cover only text-to-speech
output — the “Danger, Will Robinson!” voice you hear when the computer
tries to read something out loud.

Accessibility Options: Change settings to help you see the screen, use
the keyboard or mouse, or have Windows flash part of your screen
when the speaker would play a sound.

Performance and Maintenance: Use an enormous array of tools for
troubleshooting and adjusting your PC, and making it work when it
doesn’t want to. Unfortunately, it also includes all the tools you need to
shoot yourself in the foot, consistently and reliably, day in and day out.
Use this part of the Control Panel with discretion and respect.

Desktop

Windows taskbar: Runs all along the bottom of the screen, keeps you
posted on what your computer is doing — which computer programs
are running, where you’re visiting on the Internet, and almost anything
else that requires your attention.

Notification area: Also known to techies as the system tray. This area
sits on top of the taskbar on the right side and tells you the time, but it
also lets you know what Windows is doing behind the scenes. For example,
if you’re using a modem to connect to the Internet, little modem
lights down here reassure you that the connection hasn’t frozen. At
least, that’s the theory. Other tiny icons in the notification area may
control your speaker volume or tell you if you’re logged on to Windows
Messenger.

Start button: Located in the lower left of the desktop. This button gives
you access to everything your computer can do. Click it and you see the
Start menu — menu being geekspeak for a list of things that you can
click. Look for all the details in the “Starting with the Start Button” section,
later in this chapter.

PC Hardware and Software

Hardware: Anything you can touch — a computer screen, a mouse, a
CD. Your PC is hardware. Kick the computer screen and your toe hurts.
Drop the big box on the floor and it smashes into a gazillion pieces.
That’s hardware.

Software: Everything else — e-mail messages, that letter to your Aunt
Martha, pictures of your last vacation, programs like Microsoft Office. If
you have a roll of film developed and put on a CD, the shiny, round CD is
hardware — you can touch it — but the pictures themselves are software.
Get the difference? Windows XP is software. You can’t touch it.