Windows XP Your Way- Windows Explorer Tips

There are many features in Windows XP that may be familiar to those conversant with Windows NT/2000 systems but which will be foreign territory to those used to the 9X/Me family. One area with a number of new concepts is in the management of hard disks. In particular, use of the file system NTFS allows for a new array of tools and actions. Also, there is the new concept of “dynamic disks.” In this article, we will discuss some of these new aspects. On this page we look at the right-click context menu and the Properties Sheet.

Properties sheet for hard drives

Click “Properties” and a sheet with a number of options will open. The sheet is similar to that for a FAT32 system but with an added tab “Quota”. Also at the bottom of the box for the “general” tab are two additional entries “Compress drive…” and “Allow Indexing…” (Figure 3). In NTFS systems a procedure for compressing files and folders to save space is available. In my opinion, today’s large hard drives make this less useful than it may have been once. Compression also slows down the computer. Indexing is for the purpose of keeping track of the files on the disk for search purposes. Many PC users prefer to turn this service off because it can result in unexpected disk activity and can sometimes slow down the machine. Unless you wish to do rather sophisticated searches, it probably isn't needed. This article explains how to turn it off. Note that the “General” tab shows a pie chart showing the used space on the drive just as in Windows 98/Me. Also the “Disk Cleanup” button is present as before. Use of this button is a convenient way to keep too many temporary files from accumulating and for emptying the Recycle Bin.