#FF00AA

If you’re using XP Home, you might want to know that, by default, your computer isn’t protected at all. You think a password is required to log in? Wrong. Anyone can log in as an adminstrator, without typing a password, simply by starting in safe mode (with F8). XP Home is for the home indeed. Actually, not: that’s the kind of trick that kids will discover long before their parents. So, if you want to fix that, you have to start your computer pressing F8, log as administrator, and set a password.

By the way, there are two possibilities in XP Home that allow you to change file access persmissions in advanced mode (i.e., the way that’s available only in XP Pro). Either by starting in safe mode again, in which case the Security tab is said to appear (untested), but it’s obviously not all that convenient to have to reboot everytime you want to change access rights; or through the command line, by typing cacls, which isn’t extremely practical either, but at least a little bit more accessible.

Do you want a couple of other tricks? If you want to deactivate the Picture and Fax Viewer that loves stealing file associations (or maybe it takes precedence over them only when you open a file in the My Documents folder), you have to execute this:
regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

If you want to deactivate the irritating gadget that expands the file explorer’s tree view, everytime you click a directory name, you have to uncheck the Display simple folder view in the folders list” box in the folder display options. I mention it because the option title is pretty unclear, and I never thought of unchecking it. Incidentally, it also removes the .zip files from the tree view, which is a surprising choice, but one I won’t mind.

I thought I had already blogged the ClearType configuration page, but I couldn’t find the address back when I searched for it, so here it is.