Spring Into Windows XP Service Pack 2

You now have many more weapons in your arsenal for using three very popular Internet-based applications: Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, and Windows (or MSN) Messenger.

In this chapter, I pointed out how you can utilize email identities to keep two users' contacts and emails completely separate. I outlined the method to integrate Outlook Express with Web-based email accounts such as those from Hotmail and America Online.

I also touched on methods to back up and restore email data. For many users, this can be the most important store of data on their system.

Additionally, I showed you tips that should improve your Web surfing experience. You learned how to clear the AutoComplete entries stored by default in IE. Your researching capacities have been much improved, I hope, now that you know how to quickly look for a relevant word on a Website with page after page of text. Special attention was paid to the integration of email and Web browsing, including the ability to email a Web page with just a few clicks of the mouse. If you've picked up this book mainly for Internet tips, you can go back to Chapters 9, 10, and especially ahead to Chapter 15.

I also spent a few chunks providing tips for better Messenger use. You don't have to accept the defaults offered by either Windows or MSN Messenger, and personally, I find that some of these defaults can be quite intrusive. I don't want to know who's logging on to their computer at 2 in the morning, nor do I want to have to respond to an IM while in the middle of a chapter revision (and believe me, there are many of these).

In the chapter that follows, I'll show you some backup and recovery techniques. With luck, you'll use the next chapter as a reference section only, and never actually have to read through the whole thing. In fact, I'd be pleased if you only thought of Chapter 13 as a fire extinguisher: hopefully you'll never need it, but it can sure save your skin in the event that something goes horribly wrong.