Often I've lost files here or there across different disk drives.  It is a pain to organize everything perfectly and using the search feature of Windows is not always that easy.  Well, a friend showed me the Google Desktop from http://desktop.google.com/.

I was impressed how easy it was to use and integrate into the Windows toolbar.  Now just by typing a few letters or words from a document I am presented with a list of documents to click on.  I think that this is particularly ideal for people who don't keep up to date with the latest computer technologies... it is very simple.

The installation requires indexing your documents (which can take a lot of time) but it sure seems to work a lot smoother than the integrated Microsoft search engine.  Additionally you can tell the Google Desktop to index only certain types of documents to make it even faster.

You can configure Windows XP to automate the logon process if your computer is not part of a domain. This is great if you want the computer to always boot to a defult account but still leave the other accounts active.

1. 
   
2. Click Start, click Run, and type control userpasswords2.
3. 
   
4. Clear the Users must enter a username and password to use this computer check box.
5. 
   
6. Click Apply.
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8. Enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and then click OK.
9. 
   
10. Click OK again and you're all done.
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This feature allows other users to start your computer and use the account that you establish to automatically log on. Enabling auto logon makes your computer more convenient to use, but can pose a security risk.

This tip and more is taken right from the Microsoft website at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/default.mspx

Tags: login, XP