Tips-Trick Computers

Microsoft Windows XP has been on the market for five years now and is soon to be replaced by Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows Vista. Windows Vista will have a lot of new advanced features along with a new advanced price tag!


By now, you probably think you've used every feature in Windows XP and know just about everything there is to know about the operating system. You might be surprised. There are a number of tools built into Microsoft Windows XP which are a little bit hidden and are very unobvious if you don't know where to look, here are some tools built into Windows XP you just might not know about!


There is actually another instant messenger client in Windows besides Windows Messenger, there is an old program called Windows for Workgroups Chat which allows you to have a chat conversation with other people on your local network. In order to operate the program click "start", then "run", and type in "winchat.exe".

There's a tool called Driver Verifier Manager which can be accessed by clicking "start", "run" and typing in "verifier.exe". It will search through the drivers (the pieces of software which allow windows talk to your computer hardware), and see which ones are verified by Microsoft, and which ones are not.

A hidden tool called System Configuration Editor which has been around since Windows 95 makes it really easy to edit some of the files that operate when Windows is launched, program can be used by clicking "start" then "run" then "sysedit".exe. This program is clearly not up to date because it allows you to edit files such as config.sys which have not been used since Windows ME.

If you are interested in seeing some performance information about your system, you might be interested in a program called System Monitor, which lets you monitor system resource usage on a very nice graph. The program can be ran by clicking "start", then "run", then "perfmon.exe". Windows Vista actually contains an updated version of this piece of software which shows much more information.

A very old version of Windows Media player is still included in Windows XP. The latest version is Windows Media Player 11, but Windows Media Player 5 is still available on Windows XP. In order to make use of it, click "Start", then "run", then "mplay32.exe." Of course WMP 5 lacks a lot of the featur
es that 11 has, but its very light weight and a nice blast from the past!

If you have ever wondered what exactly is in your clipboard, you can view it quite easily by clicking "start", "run" then "clipbrd.exe". It will show you the contents of your clipboard.