Chances are you’re probably going to stick around with XP until Windows 7 comes along. And even then you may wait. If that’s what you plan to do, no problem. You can do a few things to get XP to look and feel better. 1. Use the Zune theme The Zune theme is available here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078 This gives XP a black and orange...

Windows XP has a myraid number of aspects which can be tweaked. Many through option dialogs, miscellaneous utilities or by changing registry entries. On this note, I thought I would pass along a huge catalog of XP fixes and tweaks. Most of the entries here accomplish the task by using either a VBS script or a REG (registry) file. You can use scripts on this site...

There are more than a few people out there who would find it quite handy to be able to run Windows XP off a USB stick (or hard drive in a caddy). I was also interested to know if this was possible to do. The Big Question: Is it possible? Answer: Yes. However it is a humongous pain in the butt to get working. The best write-up I found on how to get XP running...

I came across an extremely well put together site on Windows XP this week called ‘Optimize Guides‘, and since I know a lot of readers are still on XP I thought it would be good to pass along. This site covers everything from malware protection to browsers to an expansive list of freeware applications. Of course, the most popular feature of this site...

What’s this? Is this a Photoshopped image? Nope. You can insert your own custom "builders" logo in Windows XP, 2000, 2003 server (and probably several other flavors of Windows all the way back to Windows NT 4.0) by doing the following: 1. Create a 180×144 image, save as oemlogo.bmp to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder. 2. Create a text file...

For those that want a built-in way of supporting a friend or family member using Windows XP via Remote Assistance, this is how to do it. Important note: It is far easier to use a service like LogMeIn which can be found elsewhere on PCMech (just search for LogMeIn in the search bar). But being that the person you’re trying to connect to may not have...

If you would like a retail copy of Windows XP for future use, you might want to run out and buy it today. Today is the day that Microsoft is officially ceasing the sale of Windows XP to retailers and major computer makers. The major computer manufacturers will only have what is left in inventory in order to sell you a Windows XP machine. After that is gone,...

If you haven’t heard, XP will continue to be supported by Microsoft until 2014. What this means to you: Will you be able to buy Microsoft Windows XP until 2014? No. After this month you won’t be able to buy a license outright. What it means is that patches and updates will continue to be delivered thru Windows Update until 2014. Will you see a...

If you were thinking of buying a new Dell PC but Vista makes you want to crawl under the bed, go into fetal position and suck your thumb, you can cancel those plans because Dell does have a few boxes that you can have delivered brandy-new with XP instead of Vista. There are 4 boxes. Two Inspiron and two XPS desktop models. None of these are Dell’s...

If you find yourself performing clean installations of Windows XP often, you may want to take the time to build your own installation CD which includes the recently released SP3. This process is called “slipstreaming” and basically creates an install CD which includes SP3 as part of the installation process. This process is very easy to do and is...

If you are a Windows XP system tweaker, you probably know there are dozens of places you can go to configure or customize your computer. Rather than actually navigate to each one manually, download Windows In A Box to access virtually all common locations appear in a single place. Windows In A Box conveniently places most configuration options and applications...

A PCMech Community member alerted me that Service Pack 3 for Windows XP is in fact in Windows Update now – which would put it ahead of schedule. So I checked it out. (click image for full-size view) Yep, it’s there. Will I be installing it? Not yet. I’m going to purposely wait to see if the auto-updater actually does its thing and downloads it...

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs stating that “Yes, Service Pack 3 is in Windows Update! Really! Truly!” No it’s not – and it’s not supposed to be there until June. Yes you can download it now manually if you choose (why you would want to I have no idea) but like many others I’m waiting for it to be delivered over the...

If you are looking to get a new machine and are still wanting to use Windows XP instead of Vista, make a note on your calendar that June 30th is the last day major manufacturers will be able to sell machines loaded with Windows XP. Whether or not you like Windows Vista, it is the future for Windows as XP will eventually go the way of Windows 98 and 2000…...

Here are a few quick tips you can do from the command prompt in Windows XP (this will actually work in all versions of Windows since 3.1): Getting a listing of every single frickin’ thing on your hard drive in a single text file Command: DIR /S C:\*.* > C:\all.txt This will write a text file of every single file on your system (excluding hidden files)...

To show the date in the Windows XP taskbar all the time (without the use of any additional sofware) you can extend it “two tiers” high and it will display the date. The default taskbar looks like this.Right-click an empty area and make sure “Lock the Taskbar” is not checked.A small border will appear above the taskbar. Place your...

Windows XP will be officially retired in June 2008. And maybe you’re the type of person that says "Well.. I like my computer the way it is and I really don’t feel like buying a new computer or changing the operating system. How long can I continue to use XP before it’s unusable?" The answer is about 2 years...