Automatic resizing of large images is a feature Microsoft built into Internet Explorer, and turned ON by default. In my opinion, when large images are scaled to fit the screen it can make them a little too distorted. Most of the time I find I end up just clicking the little resize image box in the lower right hand corner, this tells the browser to display the image as it was meant to be seen.

Luckily this is one feature which is super easy to turn off in Internet Explorer. To do this you need to open up Internet Explorer and go to Tools menu, from there select Internet Options. If you don’t see the File/Edit/View/Favorites/Tools/Help menu at all, just hit the ALT key once to bring it up.

Click on the Advanced tab and you should see a window with a lot of radio and check boxes. Scroll down to the "Multimedia Section" and from there un-check the "Enable Automatic Image Resizing" box. Click the Ok button and now you’re set. Images will no longer resize to fit in the Internet Explorer Window.

While you’re in there, you might want to also un-check "Play Sounds in Webpages". This stops background music from automatically playing on websites that have it embedded.

Windows XP Pro has a limited variety of user privileges available to choose from, and at times the default choice of ‘Administrator’ or ‘Limited’ user privileges falls far short of the situation. But whether you know this or not, there are a few more privilege levels hidden away from view; such as ‘Power Users,’ ‘Backup Operators’ and ‘Network Configuration Operators’ to name just a few. To enable these privileges types is a bit trickier, but here’s the low down on how to access all the different accounts available to Windows XP.

First right click on the "My Computer" icon and go to "Manage". The "Computer Management" window will open and follow this path Local Users and Groups -> Users. In the right hand window, right click and select "New User…" Enter the user name and description to remind you of this account’s powers then press the "Create" button, then "Close". Right click on the new account and go to "Properties" then click the "Member Of" tab and the "Add…" button. From here click "Advanced…" and then the "Find Now" button and a list of all different user levels will appear. Select the one you want this account to have, then press the "Ok" button three times. Now that newly created account will have intermediate powers between a full Administrator and the base limited option.

This tip is useful for those times when you want to give someone more capabilities without requiring the administrator to baby-sit everything. For instance ‘Network Configuration Operators’ can adjust the networking properties like assigning IP addresses, configuring the DNS, etc., yet they do not have the ability to install programs (think Spyware). Power Users can install and run non-essential OS affecting programs, but cannot delete or modify someone else’s account or data without permission. Assigning Privileges are also a great way stopping kids from messing up the family computer too.

This tip is applicable for Windows 2000, 2003, Vista & 7.

Within Windows XP you tell the operating system to give priority to background or foreground applications. So for example, you can make XP allocate more CPU cycles to programs you are using at the moment, or split them equally between background applications like a weekly virus scan and your open programs. To change this setting, go to Control Panel> System> Advanced> Performance> Settings. Under the Advanced Tab click on ‘Processor Scheduling’ and choose ‘Programs’ if you want more processing resources allocated here, or ‘Background Services’ if you want to assign equal amounts of CPU cycles to all programs.

For most situations it is best to leave focus on Foreground applications, but if you routinely do backups from your computer to another location, setting the focus on Background applications should speed up that process a little.

While you’re under the Performance Options window, click on the ‘Visual Effects’ tab and select ‘Adjust for Best Performace‘. This does away with all the WinXP eye candy, but it nicely speeds things up if your PC is strapped for memory.

Have you ever reinstalled Windows XP only to have it complain about ownership of a certain folder, giving you an access denied error when trying to open a user’s directory? Ownership of folders is important so other users cannot access your folder unless they have proper administrative rights. This is done by default by the operating system in an effort to keep individual user data safe.

Luckily, reclaiming ownership of the folder is an easy task. First thing to do is reboot the computer and load the operating system in "Safe Mode". Do this by pressing the F8 key as the computer boots and select "safe mode" from the pre-boot menu screen. In safe mode, login with a user account that has administrative privileges and go to the location of the folder in question.

Right click on it and select "Properties", click the "Security" tab and find the "Advanced" button. Click on the "Owner" tab. Find your name or account name then click the "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects", click the "OK" button then "Yes". After that’s done reboot the computer and load Windows XP normally. The user in question will now have access to that folder once again.

Here’s a quick shutdown tip for all the Windows 2000 users in the house. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the Task Manager, while holding the Control key click the Shutdown menu and select ‘Turn off.’ That will force your system to shut down quickly ending all tasks, a warning box might pop up saying “If you continue, your machine will reboot and any unsaved data will be lost. Use only as a last resort.” click the Ok button and Windows 2000 will immediately start closing all tasks.