72. Set a new home page in explorer

You may already know how to do this, but if you don't you'll thank us, especially if you happen to get hijacked by one of the many sites out there that will happily change Internet Explorer's home page if you click on the wrong thing.

The easiest way to change IE's default page is to go to the web page you wish to use as your home page and then go to tools\internet options and under the 'home page' section, click the 'use current' button to set it. You can also simply type the address of any page you wish to use into the address bar here.

73. Remove the annoying dog from the search screen

To get rid of this unwanted canine companion, open the search screen, click the dog and select 'turn off the animated character.'

74. Change the look of your mouse pointer.

Windows XP offers several alternative appearance options for the standard mouse pointer. Whether you are using an older screen and are having difficulty tracking the pointer, or if you are simply bored of the default pointer appearance, you should find something you like here:

Go to 'control panel\mouse' and select the 'pointer' tab.

Using the drop down box, select a theme that appeals to you, then press 'ok.'

75. Email attachments are the most common vector for viruses.

Consider this an essential tip. Yes, there are viruses that can infect your computer if you so much as open the email containing them. However, the vast majority of viruses, and certainly the most damaging ones, are transferred through email attachments.

Never open an attachment from someone you do not know, regardless of what antivirus software you may be running. If someone you do know sends you an email with an attachment, look at the attached message first, use your virus scanner, then use your common sense; there are many breeds of computer viruses that can mail themselves out to every entry in an infected computer's address book, including themselves in an attachment.

76. Keyboard shortcuts

There are many useful keyboard shortcuts available for use in Windows XP. You may want to consider learning some of these, as using the keyboard is still noticeably faster than using the mouse. Save some time and reduce wear and tear on yourself.

Printing a full list of shortcuts here is sort of impractical, but you can find the official listing, straight from the source, here.