50. Change the picture in the welcome screen

If you'd like to replace the picture identifying each user on the XP welcome screen with something more personalized, read on.

Go to start\control panel\user accounts. Select the user account you wish to change and click 'change my picture.'

From here, select 'browse for more pictures' and locate the pic you wish to use. XP will automatically size the picture down to fit, but be aware that the welcome pics are rather tiny, so use a shot that has good detail to start with or it will be difficult to see.

51. Add items to the 'Send To' right click option.

(You will need to enable the viewing of hidden files and folders to use this tip. See tip #68)

Windows XP, like previous versions of the operating system, has a handy 'send to' option in the menu that appears when you right click an icon in explorer. By default this contains only a few options, none of which are particularly useful except for creating shortcuts.

However you can easily add your own destinations to the 'send to' menu. Very useful if you have a folder you use for backing up files, for example, and you want to periodically move different files and folders to that location for storage.

To add items to the 'send to' command: In explorer, navigate to 'c:\documents and settings\(your user name)\send to'

Any shortcuts to folders or applications placed in this folder will appear in the 'send to' option when you right click an icon. You could use this to send files to a Zip program, for example. Experiment with it, and I'm sure you'll find a few ways it can help you on a day-to-day basis.

52. Automatically run programs when starting Windows XP

If there are applications or commands that you run every single time you start your computer (Email comes to mind) you may want to consider setting things up so that these programs run automatically during the Windows XP startup. This can be done quite easily in XP by creating shortcuts and shuffling them around.

Here's how: Windows XP has a startup folder located at 'C:\ Documents and Settings\ (your user name)\ Start Menu\ Programs\Startup.' Shortcuts placed into this folder will be run automatically when Windows XP starts up.

If you already have shortcuts for the programs you desire to use, copy and paste them into the startup folder. Otherwise, go to 'start\programs,' select the program you would like to create a shortcut for, right click it and select 'send to' then 'desktop.' This will create a shortcut on the desktop that you can then use.