Reports on the next Microsoft Windows, still known only by its code name, Longhorn, are rampant, but it looks as if we'll have Windows XP to kick around for a while longer. Since we met XP back in 2001, we've been generally pleased with its power and stability, but often disappointed by the number of workarounds and nearly hidden settings required to make our computers come a little closer to working for us, rather than the other way around.

In this story we present our favorite Windows XP tips, including some of the best User to User questions and tips that our Solutions section has received since XP's inception. These will help you solve nagging Windows problems (er, quirks), make Windows suit your style better, make you more safe and secure, help you cooperate with multiple users, and improve performance when you're on the go with a laptop.

Although the jury's still out on whether an Internet browser can be considered an integral part of an operating system, there's no doubt that it's an integral part of our lives. You'll find tips and workarounds for Microsoft's ubiquitous and controversial browser, Internet Explorer, followed by tips for using Mozilla's popular upstart, Firefox. For those accustomed to using IE, Firefox's many settings and options may seem blinding at first, but the browser's impressive market share shows that it's caught the eyes of quite a few users.

But whichever browser you use to surf the Internet, whether you use a desktop or a laptop, whether it's just you or a whole family using your system, don't forget: These machines were made to work for you. Consider the following 120 tips our little reminders to you of that.

Tipsters PC Magazine Labs lead analyst Neil J. Rubenking is our tipster extraordinaire. Additional tips were contributed by editorial intern and resident Firefox expert David Murphy, and PC Magazine Labs' Richard Fisco and M. David Stone.

The more prominent and irreplaceable computers become in our lives, the more the bad guys seek to compromise PCs and networks for their own nefarious purposes. Don't be a chump; learn how to protect yourself from hackers who want to control your system, steal your data or identity, or simply take you down for the fun of it.

Carry a Big Stick

Lest anyone come away from this story with the idea that you can be safe without a panoply of security products, we'll take this opportunity to remind you: Every PC needs effective and up-to-date antivirus, personal firewall, antispyware, and antispam. You'll find our latest reviews of these security utilities, alone and bundled into suites, plus loads more tips for keeping your computing on the safe side, at http://go.pcmag.com/security .

Give Windows Firewall Its Moment in the Sun

One of the first things you'll want to do with a new system is download updates to the operating system and applications, activate any security software that came with your system, and install any security software that didn't.

Hold on. To do most of this, you'll have to get online—sans adequate security. Windows XP does come with a personal firewall, although it does only half the job. Still, before you even plug in the cable that will connect your PC to the Internet, go to the Control Panel, double-click on Windows Firewall, and switch it on. Later, when you've got a full personal firewall installed and updated—along with the rest of the security canon—you'll want to disable the Windows one and simply use the Security Center to confirm that your security apps are functional and up to date.

Update Automatically

Reading about a new virus outbreak or Windows security hole every few weeks—or every few days, at times—is worrying. Keeping the operating system patched with the latest security fixes is critical. During setup of Windows XP Service Pack 2, either with a new machine or an update, you're asked whether to turn on automatic updating. If you spazzed and clicked No, find the option in Windows Security Center and make the change.

Toughen Passwords

We've said it before, and we're gonna just keep on saying it: Any word in the dictionary is not a strong password, no matter how many syllables it has. A password should consist of at least eight characters, including letters, numbers, and symbols. We urge you to check out our story on password crackers (go.pcmag.com/passwords)—these clever little programs aren't getting any slower. You may also want to consider long, easy-to-remember passphrases instead—see http://go.pcmag.com/passphrase for more on this.

Lock Your Windows

Get in the habit of locking your system before you walk away. It couldn't be easier: Just press the Windows key plus the L key and the system will immediately lock, requiring your log-on password (or an administrator's) to function again.

If your keyboard is missing the Windows key (IBM PCs, for example, lack them), pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del, then Enter, will accomplish the same (although some will hit a snag here; for more details, see this User to User tip).

Use Wpa for Wireless Network Security—Or Make the Best of Wep

We recommend using WPA-ready wireless equipment, but many of us are stuck with WEP-only wireless cards or access points. Neither security protocol is particularly intuitive to set up, but if you leave your wireless connection unsecured, the very least you can expect is a hitchhiker or two on your connection.

We've put together a comprehensive guide to setting up a WPA-encrypted connection; you'll find it at http://go.pcmag.com/wpa .

For those using WEP—which isn't weak, exactly, although it can be broken—make the best of it. As sure as any lock can be picked, someone who's determined enough will get through WEP encryption. But most people aren't determined. You want to bolster your WEP connection with as many of the following steps as your hardware will allow:

Make sure the firmware is up to date with the latest security patches, which should be downloadable from the manufacturer's Web site.

Set the WEP to the highest level of encryption that both the access point and the wireless card(s) will allow.

Define the MAC addresses allowed: Go to each machine you want to allow on your wireless network, open a command prompt, and type ipconfig /all. Copy down the physical addresses, then use the access point's configuration options to limit connection to only these addresses.

Never use the default SSID, administrator password, or WEP key, and set all of these using criteria for tough passwords ("Password Dos and Don'ts," http://go.pcmag.com/passworddosanddonts ).

Disable SSID broadcasting.

Be Spyware-Aware

Spyware is like the common cold. You didn't do anything risky—it seems as if you must've gotten it by touching a doorknob or something similarly innocuous. Your system starts to drag a little, and then a lot… and then things start getting weird, with loads of pop-ups, maybe a changed browser home page. Of course, your immune system will wipe out your cold eventually, whereas spyware tends to get worse and worse, often inviting its spyware buddies to little parasite parties on your system.

So, how do you pick up spyware? About as easily as a cold—all you have to do is browse the Web for a while. Not all freeware is really free—in some cases, you pay by getting spyware along with it. If you use a peer-to-peer file-sharing program, you almost certainly have spyware, either directly bundled with the sharing program or from an infected fellow file sharer.

There are steps you can take to minimize your risks, but we recommend purchasing a good antispyware utility and keeping it up to date (for reviews of antispyware utilities, visit http://go.pcmag.com/security ) and following safe computing practices:

Don't take candy from strangers: If you didn't specifically request a download, don't click on the OK button to tell your browser that you want the download.

If it's spam, don't click: It won't enhance your love life or your hairline, but it may load malicious code on your system.

Don't invite anyone in: Set Internet Explorer to prompt you when sites attempt to push ActiveX controls onto your machine—and to reject unsigned ActiveX controls automatically (Tools | Internet Options | Security | Custom Settings).

Don't give it all up: If you must use a file-sharing app, at least set it not to share your entire hard drive. In fact, consider keeping any files you might want to share in one specific folder, and then setting the app to share only that folder. At the very least, exclude all system folders (anything within C:\Windows) from sharing.

Reader: I keep my system pretty well locked down, with a strong Windows log-on password and personal firewall, but occasionally I work with sensitive information and want to add an extra layer of security. How can I encrypt individual files or folders?

PC MAG: In Windows XP Pro, right-click the file and choose Properties. Click the Advanced button in the Attributes area of the General tab. Check the box titled Encrypt contents to secure data and click OK, then OK again. You won't notice a difference, but any other logged-on user will be unable to view the file. Note, though, that unless you go through a complex process to export your account's digital certificate and private key information, you too will be unable to access the files if you lose access to your account by, for example, reinstalling Windows.

Another option, available in Windows XP Home as well as Pro, is to encrypt a compressed folder. Right-click the file and choose Send To | Compressed (zipped) Folder. Open the resulting folder and choose Add a Password from the File menu.

PC MAG: When we noticed that the familiar Ctrl-Alt-Del followed by Enter no longer worked to lock our computers, we offered a workaround—and then quite a few readers wrote in, puzzled because they found the key combination still worked for them just as it did under Windows 2000. Why would it work on some systems and not others? The difference turned out to involve the use of the Welcome screen. If you configure Windows XP to use the Welcome screen, Ctrl-Alt-Del brings up the Task Manager. If you configure it to log on using the Windows 2000 style, Ctrl-Alt-Del brings up Windows Security, and pressing Enter at that point locks the computer.

To enable or disable the Welcome screen, launch the User Accounts applet from the Control Panel and click the link Change the way users log on or off. The box titled Use the welcome screen for fast and easy logon controls whether the Welcome screen is displayed.

When several people regularly use one computer, they'll probably want to set up multiple profiles to keep everyone's preferences straight, including bookmarks, screen settings, and My Documents folders. And when several people in the same house use their own computers, they'll probably end up networking the machines. Whether you're sharing one PC or connecting several, these tips will help you coexist peaceably.

Switch Users—Fast

It takes at least a few tedious seconds to log one user off and another one on. Windows XP has an option to speed that up: Fast User Switching (FUS) lets you switch without logging off. To enable it, open User Accounts in the Control Panel, click on Change the way users log on or off, and check the Use Fast User Switching box. Now, when you select Log Off, a Switch User option appears that lets you quickly change to another account without making any users close their programs. When FUS is enabled, holding down the Windows key and typing the letter L zips you to the Welcome screen.

Beware of the trade-offs of Fast User Switching, though. You should avoid running system-level utilities, such as defraggers or indexing utilities, when another user is logged on, and if you're looking for the best performance, you don't want to let idle accounts in the background tie up system resources. The feature is best for those times when you simply need to get in and out quickly. Also note that Fast User Switching does not work if your computer is a member of a network domain.

Limit Access to the Task Manager

To prevent users from killing important processes like antivirus scanning or usage monitoring, you can use the Group Policy Editor to disable the Task Manager. Log on as an administrator and launch Gpedit.msc using the Start menu's Run dialog. Navigate to User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Ctrl-Alt-Del Options. In the right-hand pane, double-click on Remove Task Manager and change its status to Enabled. You can still launch the Task Manager by right-clicking on C:\Windows\ System32\TaskMgr.exe, choosing Run As…, and using the Administrator password.

This works in Windows XP Pro; to accomplish something similar in Windows XP Home, which lacks the Group Policy Editor, log on to each user account and edit the Registry. In HKCU\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrenTVersion\Policies\System, create a DWORD value named DisableTaskMgr, and set its data to 1. Do the same in the key HKEY_USERS\ Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrenTVersion\Policies\System.

Network Multiple PCS

If instead of multiple users using one machine you've got several PCs in one dwelling, you'll probably end up networking them, even if only to share an Internet connection. And guess what? Windows has networking set-up and troubleshooting tools. They're in the Control Panel's Network Connections applet. Select Set up a home or small office network and Windows will walk you through network configuration, helping you choose sensible settings.

If you're trying to fix an existing network, try the Network Troubleshooter in Windows Help and Support. It's surprisingly effective.

Troubleshoot Your Network

When you encounter a network problem, some of these command line tools can help you narrow down the source. From the command prompt:

ping ipaddress (for example, ping 192.168.0.1) shows whether your PC can contact another computer or network device at a specific IP address. First ping your router to see if your LAN is working, then ping something on the Internet to see if the problem is outside.

tracert ip address (for example, tracert 192.168.0.101) reveals every router hop from your PC to another computer or network device. If you start seeing dropped responses, you may be able to tell whether the problem is local.

ipconfig /all shows all your computer's IP-related settings. If your PC is having trouble getting online, try ipconfig/renew to refresh your IP address or get a new one.

netstat gives you a list of all the active TCP/IP ports on your system—very useful in detecting whether a Trojan horse has commandeered your system.

A great many of Windows' settings can be tweaked to reflect your computing preferences in more relevant ways than, for example, changing the picture on the desktop.

Edit the Send To Menu

When you right-click on a file and choose Send To, a submenu appears with options to copy that file to the A: drive, the My Documents folder, or various other places. You can enhance this menu to copy files into the folder of your choice. Navigate to the folder C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo (replacing username with your username). If the SendTo folder isn't visible, select Folder Options from the Tools menu, click on the View tab, and check the box labeled Show hidden files and folders. Launch another instance of Windows Explorer and locate the desired destination folder. Right-drag it into the SendTo folder and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. Rename the new shortcut with the name you want to see in the Send To menu.

Edit the Places Bar

The Open and Save dialogs have a Places Bar at left with five buttons for folders like My Documents. You can actually replace one or more of these with your own choice of folder. The easiest way is to use the TweakUI PowerToy, a free download available at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/ pro/downloads/powertoys.asp. Launch it and click Common Dialogs in the list at left, then the Places Bar. Check the option titled Custom places bar. Now you can choose any of 11 system folders for each of the buttons, or type in a folder of your choice.

It's also possible to change the folders by tweaking values in the Registry key HKCU\ Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\comdlg32\placesbar. Each of the values named Place0 through Place4 holds either a numeric value representing one of the system folders or a string value representing a user-defined folder. To change from system to user-defined, you'll have to delete the numeric value and create a string value with the same name. Clearly, using TweakUI is a much easier solution.

Unwanted Network Neighbors

If you ever have to navigate to My Network Places, you've likely been hung up by the long list of network nodes. These nodes are folder shortcuts, created automatically by the system. They may even be shortcuts to network shares that no longer exist. You should be able to delete them without harm.

Before deleting one, however, right-click it, choose Properties, and verify that the Type field says Folder Shortcut. If so, go ahead and delete it. You can still access any node on the network through the Entire Network node or the Computers Near Me node. When you do, Windows will recreate the folder shortcut.

Don't Wait for a Welcome

Tired of the extra step the Windows XP Welcome screen represents? We don't recommend it, but you can make Windows XP boot directly into your main user account, bypassing the Welcome screen. It requires these precise conditions: exactly one user account, not password- protected, and no Guest account. But even if these criteria seem true, you may find that suddenly one day the Welcome screen starts appearing at start-up. This generally happens because of a Windows Update that adds a virtual user account called ASP .NET. This account is useful only to programmers—if you don't need the account, you can delete it from the Control Panel's User Accounts applet. Of course, the next Windows Update may well restore that account. And it's a really bad idea to configure your user account with no password.

Don't Wait for a Welcome: Multiuser Edition

You may want to boot directly to the default account, bypassing the Welcome screen, on a computer that has multiple user accounts defined. Select Run from the Start menu and enter control userpasswords2 to launch the User Accounts applet. Uncheck the box at the top whose title begins Users must enter a user name. (Note that if your computer is connected to a domain this box won't appear, and this solution does not apply.) Click OK and enter your username and password in the Automatically Log On dialog that appears. Click OK once more. Windows should now boot to the default account without requiring a password.

Whichever technique you used to bypass the Welcome screen, you won't lose access to the other user accounts. If you hold down the Shift key while Windows is starting, the Welcome screen will appear. You can also choose Log Off from the Start menu and then log on as another user.

No matter how you accomplish it, configuring Windows XP to boot without going through the Welcome screen leaves your system wide open to anybody with physical access to it. Unless the system in question is locked in a safe when not in use, you may be better off suffering through the drudgery of entering a password at start-up.

Reader: How can I make the Shift key turn off Caps Lock in Windows XP, the way it does on a typewriter?

PC Mag: Launch the Regional and Language Options applet from the Control Panel, click the Languages tab, then click the Details button. If the button called Key Settings is grayed out, click the Add button and add another keyboard definition, for example United States-International. Select the keyboard you normally use and click the Key Settings button. In the panel titled To turn off Caps Lock, select Press the SHIFT key. Click OK, OK, OK. Now you will turn off Caps Lock only by pressing one of the Shift keys—a second press of Caps Lock no longer turns it off.

Reader: On my machine running Windows XP Pro, when I did a Fast User Switch, my dial-up Internet connection would disconnect. I found a fix for the problem. It turns out that the Internet Connection Sharing option works even for multiple users on the same computer. Here's how to set it up: From the Control Panel, launch Network Connections. Select the connection you want to share and click Change settings of this connection in the bar at left. On the Advanced tab, check the boxes Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection and Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet. Now the connection will stay open through a Fast User Switch.

PC Mag: Microsoft's documentation verifies this. Always-on connections are unaffected by Fast User Switching. Dial-up connections will indeed be terminated unless Internet Connection Sharing is used. Other user-initiated connections, such as VPN connections, remain active while the Welcome screen is displayed. These will generally disconnect when a different user logs on, but may not do so in every case. If security is an issue, log out of any sensitive connections before allowing a Fast User Switch.

The world's most prevalent browser can generally be operated without much thought. It likes to remember your passwords and type ahead for you, assuming you'll retype the same terms and URLs over and over. And it particularly likes staying installed, even going so far as to be unremovable.

Manage Saved Passwords

When you enter a Web site username and password in Internet Explorer, it may ask if you want it to remember the password. If you click Yes, it will store the password and automatically add it the next time you enter the username. But if you check Don't offer to remember any more passwords, then it won't offer to help in the future, whether you click Yes or No.

To recover this feature, launch Internet Options from IE's Tools menu, click the Content tab, click the AutoComplete button, and check the Prompt me to save passwords box. But pause before you do so—if the machine is not physically secure, you may want to uncheck the User names and passwords in forms box and click the Clear Passwords button to remove the stored passwords instead. For more sophisticated password and form management, see our reviews of form fillers and password managers, at http://go.pcmag.com/utilityguide .

Delete Items From Autocomplete Lists

When you start typing in a Web form, you may see a list of things you typed before—some of which may be private, inappropriate for work or family, or simply typed incorrectly. You can lose this baggage easily. While you're in the text box, use the down arrow (not the mouse) to scroll down and select that item. Then press the Del key to get rid of it. You can see all AutoComplete entries for a form field by clicking in the blank field and pressing the down arrow.

Pump Up the Address Bar Text

High-res screens are great—they fit much more information into the same amount of space—but when your display is set to a high resolution, reading the text in IE's Address Bar may be difficult. Here's the trick: The Address Bar uses the same font as the icon titles on the desktop. You can change these through Display Properties.

Right-click on the desktop, choose Properties, then click to the Appearance tab. Click on the Advanced button. In the pull-down Item list that appears, select Icon. Choose a more readable font and click on Apply. If the icon titles are now truncated, you can change Icon Spacing (Horizontal) and Icon Spacing (Vertical) to larger values.

Share IE Favorites

On multiuser machines, you may want to make all user accounts share the same bookmarks, so that any added bookmarks propagate to all users. To accomplish this, you'll have to tweak the Registry. First, select File | Import and Export and export your Favorites to a file. Then log on as each user and navigate to the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrenTVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders.

Locate the value named Favorites and change its data from the default of %USER

PROFILE%\Favorites to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Favorites. Then import the saved Favorites into any user account.

Cure IE's Window-Size Amnesia

It's a small problem but an annoying one: You may find Internet Explorer suddenly opening links in small windows. You can reset this easily.

Simply close all Internet Explorer windows. Open just one and Shift-click a link within it to open a secondary window. Adjust the secondary window to the size you want for all secondary windows. Then close it by holding Shift while clicking the X icon at top right. Size the primary window and close it in the same way. You may need to repeat this process if IE forgets after a while. Note that you can do the same for Windows Explorer, omitting the secondary window.

Block Internet Options

Unscrupulous Web sites or malicious programs can hijack your Internet Explorer home page, causing IE to start at a (usually) sleazy page. Anybody with access to your computer can do the same, or change other important settings. This dual Registry tweak offers some defense against unauthorized changes to your IE settings. Navigate to HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions and find or create a DWORD value named NoBrowserOptions. Double-click it and set its data to 1.

Now switch to the neighboring key HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel. Find or create a DWORD value named HomePage, and again set its data to 1. If you want to use Internet Options or change the home page yourself, you will need to change those two values temporarily to 0. Users of Spybot Search & Destroy, take note: "Immunize" options in this program set these values automatically.

Clean Up the Right-Click Menu

Internet Explorer's right-click context menu may contain items you don't need or ones that point to nonexistent programs. You can use the Registry Editor (regedit from Start | Run) to remove unwanted items from this menu.

In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKCU\ Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt. You'll see a number of subkeys, each of which represents one of IE's context menu items. Simply select and delete any you don't want to see anymore.

When it comes to computers, it's all about power, and notebook computers are no exception—it's just that power has a few more meanings on these PCs.

Set Power Options

On a desktop, power options are about convenience—how long should the system idle before starting the screen saver?—but they have a much more profound effect on laptops, namely on battery longevity.

You'll find Power Options in the Control Panel, and within it, several mobile-use–specific battery options, including Portable/Laptop, Super Power Saver, and Max. Battery. You can tweak these settings beyond the presets to determine how long the system waits to turn off monitors and hard drives, and when to stand by or hibernate (depending on whether it's plugged in or on battery power).

Use External Monitors

Laptop screens, especially on small, thin-and-light notebooks, can cause eyestrain with all-day, every-day use. You may want to connect a second monitor to your laptop to use instead of, or in conjunction with, the LCD screen that's already on the machine. As long as the graphics card can handle it—most laptops' can—Windows will make it very easy for you.

To start, plug the second monitor into the laptop's output port or docking station. Then find the hot key to send what's on screen to the external monitor. Depending on the notebook, pressing the hot key (typically, Fn plus an F-key) will either page through configurations much as Alt-Tab pages through your open windows, or simply activate the configurations, blanking the notebook display and activating the external monitor, then activating both.

You can also use the external display in concert with the internal display to extend your viewable display area. Right-click on the desktop and select Properties, then choose the Settings tab. You'll see both monitors represented in the dialog box. If the second monitor is grayed out, right click on it and select Attached. Set the screen resolution and color quality for this second display. Windows generally assumes that the external display is to the right, but if it's on the other side, just drag the on-screen representation to match your layout.

With that monitor still selected, make sure there's a check in the box labeled Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor. Choose Apply and your desktop will take advantage of the additional screen space. It's that simple. You can now drag applications back and forth between the two displays.

Split the Difference Between Standby and Powering Down

When you go through a normal shutdown (clicking on Start then Shut Down), you're given a set of options, including Shut down, Restart, Stand by, and, if you've enabled it on your Win XP system, Hibernate. Hibernation saves the current state of your system to disk, so the system can completely power down but be restored to the same state when restarted. The battery doesn't drain in this state, but restarting won't be as quick as from Standby mode.

If the Hibernate option doesn't appear in your shutdown options, launch Power Options from the Control Panel, click on the Hibernate tab, and check the box labeled Enable hibernation.

Go Straight to Hibernate

We told you in the General Tips section how to create a shortcut to shut down your Windows system automatically. But you can create a simple command-based shortcut to do the job. Right-click on the desktop and select New | Shortcut. Type this case-sensitive command into the dialog box: rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, Set

SuspendState.

Reader: I just bought a laptop that's supposed to run at 2.4 GHz, but when I checked the System Properties, the dialog indicated that it was a 2.4-GHz CPU and then said 957 MHz. I checked on several other computers. The same thing happened, though the speeds varied. One, for example, showed that it was a 2.4-GHz machine but running at 1.6 GHz. What's going on?

PC Mag: It's all about conserving battery life. Both mobile Pentium and mobile Athlon processors have power-saving capabilities that reduce the CPU's voltage and clock speed when running on battery power. And notebook vendors may customize these low-power settings to clock down the CPU to even lower voltages and CPU speeds.

For CPUs that support dynamically lowering speed and voltage on battery power, the power-management settings (Control Panel\Power Options) you choose will affect the processor speed. You can play around with these settings while on battery power to see whether they affect your CPU speed. Even on AC power, a CPU won't always run at its highest speed unless power management is set to Home/Office, Desktop, or Always On.

If your machine offers custom settings, your user guide should have specifics on what they do and how to set them. You can create a custom profile to fit your needs, but start with the Windows XP defaults and then vary them, so you know what effect each will have on the clock speed.

Reader: In Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6, I need to restrict the browser to one specific domain, so the user can browse only to pages in this domain.

PC Mag: This can be done without third-party software. Browsers and other programs check the Hosts file to resolve domain names into IP addresses before they attempt to get the same information from a DNS server. If you disable DNS lookup, the Hosts file becomes a whitelist—only domains listed there will be accessible.

Open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\Hosts in Notepad. Open a command prompt window and enter ping followed by the domain name you want to check, for example, ping www.ucdavis.edu. Append a line to the Hosts file consisting of the IP address revealed by the ping, a space, and the domain name, for instance, 169.237.104.199 www.ucdavis.edu . Add any more domains you want to allow (the POP3 or SMTP addresses used to access e-mail, for example). Save the Hosts file and close Notepad.

Launch Network and Dial-up Connections from the Control Panel, right-click the connection through which you access the Internet, and select Properties. Select TCP/IP in the components list and click the Properties button. On the General tab, note any existing DNS numbers and store them somewhere safe. Those numbers will be essential if you want to undo this modification. Check the box Use the following DNS connections and enter invalid DNS lookup addresses for Preferred DNS Server and Alternate DNS server—you can use 1.0.0.0 and 1.0.0.1. Restart the system. Any program that attempts to access a domain not listed in the Hosts file will fail. Truly determined users can log on to a "blocked" domain by entering its IP address instead of the domain name (though they won't be able to follow links). Still, this is a free solution and can be quite effective.

Reader: Is there any way to remove the saved username and password from a single Web site and keep all of my other saved password data? IE offers only to clear all the passwords from all sites.

PC Mag: To remove a stored username/password for a particular site, first navigate to the site. When Windows prompts you for the username and password, click in the username box and press the down arrow. This will show all the usernames stored for this particular site (usually just one). Press the down arrow until the name to be removed is highlighted and then press the Del key. Internet Explorer will ask whether you want to delete the username and password information. Click Yes and it's gone.