Enable clear type

Windows XP allows you to enable Microsoft's Clear Type font smoothing method. This blends the colours at the edges of type on screen, causing the letters to appear less jagged. While it is primarily intended to increase text quality for users of laptops and desktop PCs with LCD (flat panel) screens, it is worth experimenting with even if you use a traditional CRT.

Be advised that certain ClearType settings may appear rather blurry on a CRT monitor. If you use an LCD monitor on a laptop or desktop, you should definitely enable Cleartype as the increase in text quality is considerable.

To activate ClearType: Go to 'control panel\display' and select the 'appearance' tab.Click the 'effects' button. Ensure that the 'use the following method to smooth the edges of screen fonts' box is checked and change the drop down box to 'ClearType.' Press 'OK.'

Once you have enabled cleartype, Microsoft has provided a web location where you can fine-tune your ClearType settings. Here it is the link.

Create a keyboard shortcut to a folder or program

Shortcuts to programs are very convenient, but only if they are easily accessible. It can be a pain to have to minimize the window you are currently working in just to locate the shortcut you are looking for. To make things easier, XP features the ability to link shortcuts to user-defined key combinations, so you can easily activate the one you are looking for without disrupting what you are doing. Unfortunately this only works for shortcuts that are placed directly on the desktop, not in other folders, but it's still a useful little tip. To do it: Select the folder or program icon that you wish to use. Create a shortcut for it by right clicking on the item and selecting 'create shortcut' from the menu. Place your newly created shortcut on the desktop by dragging or cut/pasting. Right click the shortcut and select 'properties.' Select the 'shortcut' tab and enter the key combination you wish to use (XP will automatically edit the combination if it is not acceptable. Just entering 'e' for example, will get you an actual key combination of ctrl + alt + e). Click 'ok.'

Now you can open the specified shortcut without altering your workflow

Resize screen fonts on the fly in Internet Explorer

Here's a simple useful tip that you can use in Internet Explorer. While viewing a web page, hold down CTRL and use the scroll button on your mouse to increase or decrease the size of the fonts on the page. Some websites really like using the small size 1 fonts, and if you're eyes have a hard time reading such small text, this little trick can make previously headache ridden websites much easier to read through.

Mouse Sonar

Here's a good little tip for users who have trouble locating their mouse pointer on the screen. Windows XP has a nifty little 'mouse sonar' option available, which will cause your mouse pointer to pop-up a little concentric ring around itself to show you where it is.

Go to 'start\control panel\mouse' choose the 'pointer options' tab and check the 'show location of pointer when I press the control key' box.

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