Windows 2000

Emergency Repair Disks (ERDs) are supported in Windows 2000.

The Emergency Repair Disk feature helps you to repair problems with:

• System files
• Your startup environment (if you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system)
• The partition boot sector on your boot volume

Before you use the Emergency Repair Disk feature to repair your system, you must create an Emergency Repair Disk.

To create an Emergency Repair Disk (ERD):

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, then click Backup.

2. On the Welcome to the Windows 2000 Backup and Recovery Tools page, click Emergency Repair Disk.

3. Complete the wizard.

For those who find themselves frequently swapping and replacing their computer's internal hardware, creating an easy desktop shortcut to Device Manager saves several steps over the Control Panel route.

To create a shortcut to Device Manager:

1. Right-click anywhere in your desktop

2. Point to New, and then click Shortcut

3. In the Create Shortcut wizard, type c:\winnt\system32\mmc.exe and in the location of the item box type c:\winnt\system32\devmgmt.msc (c:\winnt is the default system directory)

4. Click Next

5. Enter a name for the shortcut, and then click Finish

You can also use this procedure to create a desktop shortcut to Computer Management, a utility that includes Device Manager as as Event Viewer, System Information, Performance Logs and Alerts, and other useful management tools.

To do this, just replace devmgmt.msc with compmgmt.msc.

Direct Memory Access (DMA) is frequently used for data transfer directly between memory and a peripheral device such as a disk drive.

If you encounter difficulty with your DVD-ROM set-up, the DMA might not be turned on. Check the DMA and confirm that it's turned on.

To turn on DMA in Windows 2000:

1. In Control Panel, click the System icon and click the Hardware tab

2.   Open Device Manager

3.   Select IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers

4.   Right-click the Primary IDE Channel icon and select Properties

5.   Click the Advanced Settings tab and selct the DMA check-box (if it's not selected already)

6.   Click OK

Display Settings

If you get an error about unavailable overlay surface, reduce the display resolution or number of colours.

You may also get the following error:

"Unable to create video window.  Please try altering your display settings"

To modify your display settings:

1.   Right-click your desktop

2.   Click Properties

3.   Select the Settings tab and make the appropriate changes

If you want to send a quick e-mail, perform one of the following steps:

Type mailto: in the Run: box (found in the Start menu)

Type mailto: in the Address: box of Internet Explorer

Create a shortcut (for starting a new mail message) by typing mailto: in the Location text box of the Create Shortcut wizard.

You'll save yourself a few steps by not going into your default e-mail application and starting a new mail message.

Control the Eject Function and More from Your Taskbar

If you have a computer tower case that rests on the floor, it may be bothersome to reach down and push the Eject button on your CD-ROM drive. Windows 2000 Professional allows you to play, pause, stop, and eject CDs from the taskbar.

By right clicking the CD Player icon, you can also select any track, jump to the previous or next track, and create and edit play lists.

To add this capability to your taskbar:

1. On the Start menu, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to Entertainment, and then click CD player

2. On the Options menu in CD player, click Preferences

3. In the Preferences dialog box, on the Player Options tab, click the Show control on task bar check box

4. Click OK

When scanning your folder contents in Windows Explorer, if you set the view mode to Details, you can usually view such default details as:

View Mode

When scanning your folder contents in Windows Explorer, if you set the view mode to Details, you can usually view such default details as:

• Name
• Size
• Type
• Modified

If you're interested in seeing additional file information in Windows Explorer when your files are set to Details mode, right-click on one of the column titles in Windows Explorer and you can add columns that display fields such as:

• Attributes
• Comment
• Author

If you select the More ... option at the bottom, a dialogue box displays with additional fields that you can select.

Comment Column

With Windows Explorer set to Details view, if you open the file properties of certain file types such as word Word documents or Excel spreadsheets, you can add explanatory text or comments to the Comment column.

To add comments to a file that you can view in Windows Explorer:

1.   Right-click the file name and open the Properties dialogue box

2.   Select the Summary tab

3.   Select the Comments icon and type your comments in the text box

4.   When finished, click OK

You can also use a Customise This Folder wizard to enable a folder to display information in the Comment column.

To enable a folder to display information in the Comment column:

1.   Open Windows Explorer and select a folder for which you want to add comments

2.   To launch the wizard, from the View menu, select Customise This Folder

3.   When the Welcome To The Customise This Folder Wizard window displays, click Next

4.   Select the Add Folder Comment check box.  Clear all remaining check boxes and then click Next

5.   In the Folder Comment: text box, enter your comments.  When completed, click Next

6.   To complete the wizard and have your changes take effect, click Finish

Folder shortcuts are a new feature of the Windows 2000 shell, allowing you to make any folder on the user's machine act as if it were another folder.

Unlike traditional shortcuts, Folder shortcuts integrate the target into the shell namespace, allowing you to present a direct hierarchy. For example, if you drag and drop an icon for a folder or disk drive to your Start menu, Windows 2000 creates a shortcut that cascades to expose the contents of the target of the shortcut.

To create a folder shortcut:

1. Drag and drop a folder or disk drive icon onto your Start menu

2. Click the Start menu, then point to the folder or drive that you just moved

The target of the folder or drive shortcut has been grafted into the shell namespace.

This reduces user confusion, because the Up button actually goes back up to the folder that contained the folder shortcut.

Note: If you open an Explorer window on the Start menu, you will see that the tree view expands through the folder shortcut.

Quick Launch

If you want to streamline your desktop and frequently used applications, simply drag a desktop icon to the Quick Launch portion of the taskbar.

The re-located icon appears next to the other Quick Launch icons (e.g., Internet Explorer, Outlook Express).

To remove the icon that still remains on the desktop, locate the icon again and drag it to the recycle bin. With this icon removed from the desktop, it'll be one less desktop icon to hunt for when you need to start a commonly used program.

My Computer icon

If you need to access My Computer on a regular basis, drag the My Computer icon to the Start button, and you will automatically create a cascading shortcut to My Computer that will expand to reveal your drives, folders, and files.

With Windows 2000 incorporating the use of tool tips, you can also hold your cursor over a partition in the Start Menu for a moment to view its free space and capacity.

You can execute a file just by single clicking on it in the Start Menu, and open a folder by double clicking.

Setting DMA and Display Settings

Direct Memory Access (DMA) is frequently used for data transfer directly between memory and a peripheral device such as a disk drive.

If you encounter difficulty with your DVD-ROM setup, the DMA might not be turned on. Check the DMA and confirm that it's turned on.

To turn on DMA in Windows 2000:

1. In Control Panel, click the System icon and click the Hardware tab

2. Open Device Manager

3. Select IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers

4. Right-click the Primary IDE Channel icon and select Properties

5. Click the Advanced Settings tab, and select the DMA check-box (if it's not selected already)

6. Click OK

Display Settings

If you get an error about unavailable overlay surface, reduce the display resolution or number of colors. You may also get the following error:

"Unable to create video window. Please try altering your display settings."

To modify your display settings:

1. Right-click your desktop

2. Click Properties. Select the Settings tab and make the appropriate changes