86. Use Virtual Desktops in Windows XP

One of the great things about Linux is its ability to use multiple 'virtual desktops.' These are desktop spaces held in memory which can be switched in and out of the 'active' desktop window being displayed on your monitor. In effect, you can have several different desktops with different backgrounds, running programs and icons, and switch back and forth at will.

Microsoft has made a tool available that opens up the same functionality for Windows XP. The Virtual Desktop Manager is available here.

87. Capture Screenshots in Windows XP

Windows XP comes with a simple screen-capture utility that is attached to the PRINT SCREEN button on your keyboard. A simple press of the PRINT SCREEN button will capture the entire desktop to your clipboard, ready to be pasted into an application. Pressing ALT + PRINT SCREEN will grab only the currently active window on the desktop.

To use these captured images, you will need to open an image-editing program like Photoshop or Microsoft Paint and paste the image into a new file, then save it.

88. Create an Easy HTML Picture Slide Show for Your Website

If you'd like to display pictures on your personal website, Microsoft offers a free tool that will create an HTML slide show for your pictures easily and automatically. Get it here.

89. Import Pictures from a Digital Camera

Many digital cameras, especially older models, include software to enable you to transfer pictures from the camera onto your computer. This software can often be difficult to use, and on Windows XP is just unnecessary. Assuming your digital camera connects to the computer via a USB cable, you should be able to use The standard USB mass storage drivers built into Windows XP.

What this means is that you can plug in the camera, turn it on, open 'my computer,' open the new 'removable drive' or camera icon that has appeared then simply drag and drop your pictures from the camera to another directory. Try it if you haven't already, it's simple!

90. Prevent XP From Shutting Down Normally

While we admit this is an odd sort of tip, there may be times when you want to ensure that no one can shut down your PC normally. This can come in handy on a display PC, for example. A quick registry edit ensures that anyone who wants to shut the PC down must go through the task manager first.

To prevent normal XP shutdown: Open Regedit and Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies|Explorer\'

Create a new DWORD value called 'NoClose' and give it a value of '1'. Close Regedit and restart explorer or Windows. To reverse this, delete the 'NoClose' value.