Improve Windows XP with Powertoys

Virtual Desktop Manager
Now follow the same procedure to download and install the Virtual Desktop Manager (this time right-clicking the ‘Deskman.exe’ link on the Powertoys download page).

The Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM) allows you to work with four ‘virtual’ Windows Desktops, and switch between them much as you would switch between program windows.

So, for example, you could keep all your web browser windows on the first virtual Desktop, a selection of Microsoft Word documents on the second, spreadsheets on the third and something else of your choice on the fourth. The point is, that VDM offers four times the workspace, virtually speaking ­ – it is for you to decide exactly how you want to use it.

With VDM installed it needs to be switched on. To do this, right-click on an empty part of the Windows Taskbar, choose Toolbars from the pop-up menu then click to place a tick alongside Desktop Manager. Four numbered icons will now appear on the Taskbar ­ – each is a virtual Windows Desktop. Click a number to switch to that Desktop, or click the green window icon to see all four Desktops at once.

To tweak the way VDM works, right-click its toolbar in the Taskbar. To turn if off, once more right-click an empty part of the Taskbar, choose Toolbars and then click to remove the tick from Desktop Manager.

Tweak UI
By far the most powerful Powertoy is Tweak UI. It is also the one that requires the most caution, because it can alter the way XP works in fundamental ways. That’s not to say Tweak UI is harmful ­ – it won’t do anything unless you tell it to ­ – but it can tweak Windows in so many ways that it’s too easy to forget that it has been used. Put another way, you may later find yourself perplexed as to how or why Windows is acting in a particular way.

So, if you’re going to use Tweak UI, we would recommend affixing a note to your monitor with the words ‘Tweak UI’ as a reminder.

Download and install Tweak UI by right-clicking the ‘TweakUI.exe’ link on the Powertoys home page and select Run. Be sure to click the correct TweakUI.exe link ­ there’s one for Itanium-based systems, which we can say with 99.9 per cent confidence won’t work on your home PC ­ – so pick the other one.

Once installed, launch Tweak UI by selecting its entry from the Powertoys for Windows XP program group under All Programs from the Start menu.

Remember, Tweak UI can make Windows XP operate quite differently to the way it normally does, so don’t make lots of changes at once ­ – work slowly and methodically.

For example, click the little plus sign next to Mouse in the navigation pane on the left-hand side of the Tweak UI application window to explore ways you can tweak the way your mouse works. If you think the mouse scroll wheel isn’t fast enough, click Wheel and then increase the number of lines in the ‘Scroll by’ figure.

Similarly, if you find the image thumbnails displayed by Windows Explorer are too small, click Explorer then Thumbnails and type in a size in pixels.

Another useful Tweak UI tool is Autologon in the Logon category. Click to place a tick in the ‘Log on automatically at system startup’ checkbox, type in the Windows username (the default user name will be shown) and then click the Set Password button to enter your password.

From now on, Windows XP will launch without asking for a username or password (of course this isn’t a terribly good idea if the PC is shared).

As you can see, Tweak UI really does get down to the nuts and bolts of Windows XP and it's up to you to explore the categories and see what appeals.