Tweak It and Freak It: A Killer Guide to Making Windows Run Your Way

Make Windows Vista and XP work your way! Not just tricks: hacks that are useful, unique, and easy. -Performance, security, privacy, efficiency, Web browsing, email, networking, productivity, and a whole lot more. -Simple explanations of every hack for novice users, plus deeper under the hood coverage for experienced users. -Exclusive Reality Check sidebars reveal why many of todays most popular Windows tweaks are worthless - or even harmful. Hundreds of millions of people use Windows Vista and XP every day - and not many of them are happy campers. Everybody has something they hate about Windows. Scratch any Windows user: chances are youll discover a seething cauldron of unmet needs, unrequited desires, and unending frustration at being stuck with Windows the way it is. But it doesnt have to be that way. In this book, Paul McFedries teaches a hands-on, do-it-yourself approach to getting the Windows you want -- the Windows that suits the way you work and play -- not the Windows Microsoft thinks you should have! In this lighthearted, irreverent book, McFedries empowers non-expert Windows users with hundreds of hacks, every one of them useful, unique, and easy. McFedries helps you improve every corner of Windows: performance, security, privacy, interface improvements, email and Web improvements, file management and searching, networking, productivity, startup/shutdown, device drivers, and a whole lot more. Best of all, these arent the boring, useless, or downright counterproductive hacks youll find all over the Internet. These hacks are: Useful. They help you get your work done faster, solve a specific problem, or make Windows more secure or reliable. Unique. This fresh collection includes many custom hacks created by the author himself. Easy. If it cant be done in a few steps, or with an easy-to-understand plug-andplay script, you wont find it here!