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• The desktop is an integral component of the Windows operating system and cannot be removed. However, you do have the option of disabling the resource-hungry Active Desktop and using the classic user interface instead. The biggest advantage of doing this is that your PC will feel much snappier. Unfortunately, it is much harder to disable the Active Desktop in Windows XP than it was in previous versions of the operating system - it requires a change to the registry. To open the registry editor, go to "Start, Run", type regedit and hit "OK". Find the entry "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" and create the DWORD values ForceActiveDesktopOn and NoActiveDesktop . To do so, right-click into the right-hand window and select "New, DWORD". Then change the binary value of the registry key called "ForceActiveDesktopOn" to 0 and that of "NoActiveDesktop" to 1. Now quit the program and restart your computer. Warning: Manipulating the registry can easily damage your installation of Windows. It is crucial that you create a backup copy of your registry before making any changes to the Windows registry. Once again, open the registry editor as described above and go to "File, Export". Choose a memorable name for your backup file, select a suitable destination on your hard drive and click "Save". Windows Explorer Windows Explorer, also known as the File Explorer, is one of Windows's central elements. For this reason, it can't be easily replaced, only supplemented or optimized. The better Explorer: There are a number of shareware and freeware programs such as Freecommander (freeware) that attempt to replace Windows Explorer. However, we aren't aware that a real alternative exists among the open-source programs. If you're partial to Norton Commander clones, you may want to take a look at a program called Mucommander (freeware). Drawbacks: it requires Java and is not licensed under the GPL. Finding hard disk hogs with Win Dir Stat: The tool shows a graphical representation of the used disk space. Nonetheless, many open source programmers have added features and functionality that the Windows Explorer does not offer. For example, Explore2fs (freeware) allows the user to directly access Linux partitions. Win Dir Stat (gratis) on the other hand, uses color-coded graphical representations to show how much space files or directories take up on a drive. The larger a file or a directory is, the bigger the corresponding field. This way, you can find disk-space wasters at a glance. The colors represent different file types. Here's how: Open the Win-Dir-Stat archive and launch the setup routine with a double-click on the installer. The first time you run the program, you get to choose whether to analyze only certain hard disks or all of them. Confirm your selection by pressing "OK". The program will then determine how much space each of the directories takes up. The time required for this depends on the size and the fragmentation level of the hard drive; a progress bar with little "Pacman" symbols keeps you informed about the time remaining. When the analysis is complete, the top left-hand part of the window shows the partitions of the selected hard drive. The two columns "subtree percentage" and "percentage" show disk usage, once as a graphical representation and once as a percentage. Next to it are statistics, including the overall size of the directory, the number of files and subfolders it contains, as well as their total sum, under "Items". Additionally, pressing the F6 key will show or hide the amount of free disk space. The upper right-hand window displays the extension list. As the name implies, this is a list of all file types, ordered by disk usage. At the top of the list are those files that, taken together, take up the most space on the hard drive. The entire lower part of the window is filled with the so called treemap, which is quite colorful. It uses the same colors introduced in the extension list, with each rectangle representing an individual file. The size of these elements directly corresponds to the file's size in relation to the overall disk space. This makes it possible to quickly track down wastefully huge files that may be hiding in some forgotten subfolder, such as DivX movies. Note: The [F7] key toggles the option to display "unknown file types" on and off. Under Windows XP, that includes files such as system restore points, which can easily take up a full GB or more. Window Cleaning: Even if you try to renounce the Windows Explorer completely, you still won't be able to get around using it every once in a while. Have you ever noticed the dialog you get when you click on "Open..." in a program? Yep, that's the Explorer.

• A very special version of Linux has been appearing as a supplement in many PC magazines for some time. "Knoppix" is a Debian-based Linux distribution by Klaus Knopper, who gave the system its name. As this is open-source software distributed under a GPL license, it can be adapted by anyone; this has given rise to many different editions of the software. The special thing about it: the Linux distribution can be started directly from a CD and does not require any special partitions on the hard drive - in fact, it does not require a hard drive at all. This makes this Linux platform a favorite for simply trying out Linux. It also makes it ideal for backing up data. Insert the CD and we're off Knoppix has all sorts of tools on board to back up data. The software can be downloaded from knopper.net/knoppix . Reading NTFS file systems is no problem for Knoppix: the partitions are recognized at startup and displayed on the desktop. Clicking them automatically mounts them and displays them in the "Conqueror". Write access is not possible, but if you have a FAT partition on your hard disk, Knoppix can write to it. Reading NTFS files systems is no problem... ... writing to them is not possible, however Samba does not need to be set up under Knoppix as it can be accessed directly on another computer in the network. Data backups via the local network are fast and convenient. The remote computer is accessed with the syntax "smb://rechnername/above-ground". Network connections to Windows PCs work from the get-go New folders and files can be created via the network, as long as permissions are set properly Like almost all Linux distributions, Knoppix also has a web browser and OpenOffice on board. This makes it possible to quickly download a driver from the internet or to edit and print out a text file if needed to help the Windows PC "play ball".

• As we’ve already noted, you can create a complete file backup using the drag-and-drop approach without necessarily using any backup software per se. But by taking this approach, you’ll quickly push the limits on what’s feasible if you want to include only new or changed files in your second backup file set. That’s probably why so many makers of external hard disks routinely include backup software with their products, knowing how likely it is that they’ll be put to good use. Samsung AutoBackup On the Samsung Story Station, the bundled backup program is called “Samsung AutoBackup.” This application is designed for simplicity, which makes its backup process both easy and efficient. In addition to its ability to make a manual backup at any time, Samsung AutoBackup also provides a backup scheduling tool. This software supports access to different versions of the same files, along with a file-comparison tool to help you pick exactly the version you might want or need.It’s also possible to password-protect backup file sets so that users without a password cannot access their contents. When restoring a backup file set, users can even specify file filters or directory paths so that only specific subsets of the backup file set will be affected. Thus, users can easily restore only music or document files if they choose. The Built-in Windows Backup Utility Just because there is backup software bundled with an external hard disk doesn’t mean there are not other alternatives. Most Windows Vista versions include a built-in backup program, although it’s not available in Windows Vista Starter and is only offered in limited form with Windows Vista Home Basic editions. Still, Windows Vista’s built-in backup is easy to use and bypasses user selection of directory paths for specific backup file sets. Instead, users choose what kinds of files they want to back up, such as videos or pictures. The backup file set may be stored on a network drive, on an external hard disk, or even burned to CDs or DVDs. The software also allows entire file sets, folders, or individual files to be restored upon demand. A Powerful Tool: Robocopy Robocopy is another backup program that offers excellent backup functionality. The software is part of Microsoft’s Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools (which can be downloaded for free) and works with Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Robocopy is also included as a command-line tool with Windows Vista. Among Robocopy’s many capabilities, it can create incremental backups on external hard disks or network drives. To make working with its sometimes cryptic command-line syntax easier, Microsoft offers a graphical interface for this tool called the Robocopy GUI. It uses .NET Framework 2.0 to offer users a multi-tabbed control center to run many Robocopy commands, such as Path, Copy Options, Drive Mapping, or Filters. Also, you can download other free programs (such as RoboGUI), which add functionality that is not available with the Microsoft GUI.