Introduction

By now, you might have noticed that Windows XP Professional is not just a simple update of Windows 98/Me, or of Windows 2000 Professional for that matter. Perhaps it would be best to call it a successful merging of the reliable Windows 2000 kernel and file system with the multimedia features of Windows Me, all wrapped in a slick new GUI. However, as with any complex operating system, using Windows XP will, over time, wear down the system in terms of reliability and performance.

The only way of keeping your system in tip-top condition is to actively maintain it, even though XP will try to do so on its own the best it can. A number of you would probably rather not have to bother with system maintenance and would prefer to have the system take care of itself. Left to itself, the system will most likely make less than ideal decisions, unaware of how you want to use the system and what you expect of it. Taking care of system maintenance yourself will result not only in better overall performance, but also give you a more thorough understanding of how XP operates and how to get the most out of it.

Windows XP does not leave you out in the cold in dealing with the nitty-gritty maintenance chores. It comes with a limited, but very useful set of System Tools that can do a good job in assisting you in the maintenance. In this chapter, we discuss a...