The Student Tablet PC

Tips

30 July 2006 at 4:06 pm

Posted By: Tracy
Posted in: Blog Related

Tablet PCs

Don’t be afraid to change the configurations of your hardware tablet buttons. Go into the tablet properties in control panel and try changing the buttons to suit your needs.
A lot of us like working with our tablets in the landscape orientation, but find that Windows will automatically switch to portrait whenever we convert to tablet mode. To bypass this, go into Display Properties in the Control Panel. Click on the settings tab and then click Advanced. Now, click the screen rotation tab, and then uncheck the automatic rotation option.
Many tablets have old, manufacturer-specific wireless drivers, which can cause drop-outs. Visit http://intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/index.htm and find the most recent drivers for your tablet’s wireless miniPCI card.
If you’re buying a new tablet, be sure to order it at the last possible minute because of upgrades. However, get it at least a month before school starts so you can get it fully set up and used to it before school begins.
Get used to your pen. A computer screen will probably NEVER feel exactly like paper, and a digital pen will never write exactly like a regular pen, but give it some time to get used to it. After a while, you won’t even notice the slickness.
Get a good, long, extended warranty on your tablet and, if they have it, the accidental damage protection. The $300-$500 extra may seem like a lot now, but when one of your friends who got a new computer around the same time as you has something break and aren’t covered by warranty anymore, you’ll understand.
Unless you’re going to be carrying your tablet around in your arms for an extended period of time (think doctors or engineers on site), size and weight don’t really matter that much. since your tablet will become your main everything, you’ll find you’re carrying less stuff in your bag, and a 6lb tablet (if you utilize it right) can replace notebooks, folders, textbooks, calculator and many other things you’d normally carry around that add to it’s weight.
At least have an idea of what you want. It’s easy to post on a message board asking what tablet to get, but it’s even better if you have some comprehension of what you want/need. You will get better suggestions (or be able to find things that better suit you) if you know you need x, y and z, but a, b and c you don’t want or could live without.
Shop around. Don’t buy the tablet you want at the first vendor you find that has it. Shop around for a while; you may be able to find a better price.
If something happens, take care of it ASAP. Call customer care, take it to the geek squad or some other computer place, but if there’s a huge problem and you can’t fix it, get it taken care of sooner than later. It takes some time to send a comp in, have it repaired, and sent back to you. Those days without it will suck, but you can minimize the time by taking care of it with expediency.
Find out about your company if you’ve never heard of them. The interesting thing about tablets is that a lot of “off brands” make them as well. Sometimes an “off brand” may have exactly what you want at a lower price than the same computer from a different company. Research the company, post on boards, find out user opinions.
Rubber feet on tablets are infamous for falling off. Check them once in a while. If one has fallen off and you’ve happened to find it, try hot gluing them on. Better yet, take them all off and reglue them with hot glue, to ensure they stay on.
Don’t let your CD/DVD drive spoil you. Disc activity will waste battery life, in addition to the churning hard drive. Instead, copy the needed disc to a drive image on the hard drive with a program such as Nero, and then mount the image as a virtual drive. This will help you conserve battery life.
Take advantage of your Tablet PCs microphone. Many Tablet PCs have high quality built in microphones compared to standalone desktop microphones you buy at the store. You should be able to get great results from voice recognition software. I did!
Plug your tablet in whenever you get the chance. Never overestimate your battery life. If you see an accessible plug-in, go for it. This will also allow you to increase screen brightness and CPU speed.
If you find yourself putting more and more of your life into your Tablet PC (like I do) consider investing in a second Tablet PC as a backup. Try to get the same model (or at least the same model family) - that way you can swap batteries and have programs more or less compatible between the systems. Heaven forbid if you drop your tablet pc or if some oaf sits on it, it’d be much better to just reach for your backup unit instead of being waylaid for weeks waiting for the unit to be repaired (or replaced).
During concerts or auditions where I’m using my tablet pc, I try to have my backup unit with me, turned on with page-turning footswitch attached and desktop open to the folder where I’m accessing my music files. Worst-case scenario, I can just quickly walk backstage and pick up my backup unit instantly ready to go.
Be careful when opening the top of your computer on a desk or table. If your machine suddenly slams down, you could shake loose a screw or two from the bottom of the computer. Check the bottom of your laptop regularly to make sure you’re “all there”.
Recertified computers are the same brand new computers you can buy retail, but without the hefty price tag. In actual fact, recertified machines go through a more rigorous testing process than assembly-line units. Don’t confuse recertified with refurbished, which are machines that were returned because of defects. Recertified units may be brand new machines that for some reason were returned to the manufacturer.
Flip that screen around! Most tablets have function buttons at the bottom of the screen when in tablet mode. I bump these and they get in my way- so I have my screen rotation set up so that all I have to do to go from Laptop mode to tablet mode is swivel my screen and close it. Those buttons are at the top now, and out of my way. Plus, I don’t have to re-position the bottom half (With keyboard) when I switch modes.

Accessories

For anyone who sketches on a tablet- wedge something under it so it’s at a better angle to draw on (like a drawing table). I also typically set the whole tablet on top of a large piece of 11×17 paper so that I can easily “rotate” the tablet like I would a piece of paper when I am sketching.
A good way to use your convertible tablet at home is to “dock” it without a docking station. Do this by turning the screen 180 degrees titled upright, placing an external keyboard and mouse in front of it, and using a 7-port USB hub to connect all your other devices. You are limited to using only your tablet’s display, unless you want to take the extra step to plug in an extra monitor, but with only two things to plug-in (USB, power) this is a good way to “dock” the tablet without any major costs.
Have you lost your tablet pen? Before purchasing the same one again, consider the Wacom Cross Executive, HP TC1100, and Motion LE1600 pens (you can go the each manufacturer’s website or Google them to find out more).
If you’ve gotten your pen wet (hopefully with just water), do not fear. Simply let your pen dry out over the next couple of days, or put it somewhere where the moisture can evaporate. You may lose some “springiness,” but it will still work, unless the liquid was something sugary or corrosive.
If your convertible tablet is your first touchpad device, the touchpad can be a difficult transition from a standard mouse. This is why it is always good to keep an external mouse on hand, preferably a wireless one with a snap-in receiver, while you’re transitioning.
If there’s one available for your tablet, get a dock. It’s great to be able to plug all your stuff in and leave it, and only have to undo one connection to go to school. Plus, most docks come with a separate power supply, so you don’t have to continually run your power cord around your desk.
If you can, get an external monitor. You can extend the desktop, use your computer in tablet mode (or laptop mode), and have the other screen have websites, research, digital books, whatever you need to be reading to get your work done.
If you have the money, consider a portable pen-type scanner, like the DocuPen. This can be extremely useful if you tend to lose papers because you can immediately scan handouts from class into the pen, and connect it to your tablet.
Look into a screen protector. You’re writing directly on your screen, and it can’t hurt to have some protection there. Even glass screens can scratch.
Get a good laptop bag. Nothing could be worse then having your bag break, tablet fall out, or water leak in and destroy your computer.
Look into a secondary/backup battery that can fit into the media bay slot of your tablet. You most likely don’t need or use your cd/dvd player during the day, so swapping it out for an additional few hours of battery life may be well worth it.
Use your tablet as an MP3 player! Many don’t realize that they have a fully-fledged music solution right built right into their note-taking device. Just bring along a pair of earbuds or headphones!
Buy as much as you can at once. I don’t think anything could be worse than having a tablet, but no software to use on it, no way to dock it (if that’s your preference), no extra pen in case yours goes missing, etc. If you can’t buy it all at the same time, make sure you have a plan as to when to order things so they will arrive in a timely fashion, and allow you to install, test, and get used to before you NEED to use them.
Set up your desk area so it’s good to go. Leave a spot open for your new gadget, right where you want it to be. Make sure your workstation will actually let you get some work done.
Consider a cooling pad for while at home. Some computers have overheating problems when running CPU intensive programs for long periods of time. A cooling pad can solve all the problems. They are relatively inexpensive (~$20), considering how much good they do.
If you live in colder parts of the world, be sure to let your tablet cool down before you stuff it in the case to prevent moisture condensation. In addition, if you’re tablet is going to be spending time outdoors in temperatures colder than -15 degrees, line the inside of the case with a good thick blanket. However, you could just prevent this problem entirely and NOT let your tabby spend time outdoors too long.
Another good tablet “stand” setup: some people like a fair slant when writing, and so it’s good to have something like a binder to prop the tablet up when in landscape mode. In addition, when you are using your tablet on “full blast” and it gets very hot/uncomfortable either when holding or placing on your lap, a sturdy binder prevents the heat from directly radiating onto you.
If you are a big “number cruncher,” it may be a good idea to keep a mobile numeric keypad on hand, which allows you to use the tablet in tablet mode without need of the Num Lock feature on the keyboard.
Bringing along a webcam to record visual presentations can be very helpful, especially when the presentation isn’t posted on the website. Try a USB “snake cam,” or one from Creative. This will also make studying with peers over IM easier.
If you’re keeping a spare pen, never put it in the same place as your other. If your tablet has a pen storage area in the battery compartment put it there. Otherwise, it is best to leave it at the back of a drawer at home (but make sure you remember where it is!)
Upgrade to a hard drive that spins at 5400 or 7200 RPM. Upgrading RAM greatly improves performance but hard drive speed is also a HUGE factor. Today’s hard drives also use little power so upgrading from your 4200RPM drive will only increase temperatures by a couple degrees and reduce battery life by 5-10 minutes.
Watch out for the USB bug. There’s a mysterious bug in new tablet pcs with Intel’s core duo chips. Basically, leaving USB devices plugged in will suck 50% more battery life. The problem has not been resolved. Check it out here: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/01/28/toms_hardware_uncovers_power_drain_issue/index.html.
Certain tablets have very poor mics. Try plugging in an external USB mic to get more coverage. (e.g. http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-USB-EXTND )
If you have a pen that does not have a clip or a tether, and cannot fit in the manufacturer’s pen slot, then make a tether (e.g. with tape and string: it is not too hard; after all, you won’t be losing it as often)! http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11776&whichpage=2#70398 )
For musicians looking for foot pedals, one great option is the PowerMate by Griffin Technology, basically a programmable click/rotate knob. Click here to go to a review, or go directly to Griffin Technology. You can program it to send the “Page Down” keystroke to any application and then use your foot to turn pages without having to remove your hands from your instrument!
For musicians who want to be able to go forwards AND backwards while using a footswitch to turn pages, consider using P.I. Engineering’s X-Keys 3 button programmable foot pedal - use assign one pedal the “Page Down” key, another pedal the “Page Up” key” - and whatever you’d like for the middle pedal (try leaving it unassigned to avoid accidental “miss-clicks”).
Tired of having a tangle of power cables in your bag? Try using those hair ties that look like two balls attached to an elastic loop - makes for a super fast way to wrap up your cables (got this from an old woodworking magazine!).
If you need to run around from office to office all the time, or if you’re just tired of plugging/unplugging your tablet pc for power at work and at home, consider buying extra batteries and an extra charger for your tablet pc. Also consider extended life batteries if your model offers them. Some models offer “hot swap” options when you put your tablet pc in ’standby’ mode, making for super fast battery changes without any data loss.
For portable power, you might want to try Motion Computing’s AC Power Pack. They have a mini plug adapter that was compatible with my Electrovaya Tablet PC, as well as my Toshiba Tablet PC, so it may work for other models as well (no guarantee on that, though…) - it’s nice not to have to have that extra cable when you’re trying to travel light.
For those who use tablets in wet conditions, try a thick clear plastic covering (good for checking your e-mail under an umbrella on the way home, or for those who can’t spend a minute without their tablet). Most digitizers will still recognize the pen through the covering. However, this does block the heat vent, so it’s only good for 5-10 minutes of use. If you need to, you can take a look at the OtterBox http://www.otterbox.com/products/pc_cases/ .
Consider getting a ‘wearable’ tablet pc pen. Fujitsu Stylistic ST series’ Tablet PC replacement pen comes with a hole that you could thread a string (or a bling bling necklace) through and have it around your neck at all times.
Classical musician using tablet pc, going on tour? Use a redundancy approach to carrying your music on the road (this works for business travelers too with valuable docs): Bring a portable USB drive with all your scores (or documents) copied into the drive and bring a wearable flash drive and have the same scores copied onto that. If the data is security sensitive, look into flash drives with biometric security features, like the BioDisk Biometric USB Flash Drive.
Don’t upgrade memory from the manufacturer. Replacing memory is the #1 easiest possible upgrade to make to any machine. Order your new tablet with the minimum amount of RAM, and go through crucial.com or newegg.com to max it out for half the cost.
Get yourself an external microphone for best recording results. A omni-directional boundary mic is most likely your best choice. These are designed to be set on a flat, hard surface (like a desk or a table) and pick up sound from all around you. A directional mic is great if your professor just lectures and never moves - but if your professors, like mine, like to move around and have class discussions, directional mics won’t cut it. RadioShack has a good boundary mic for about $40.

Tablet Software / Tweaks

Did you know that you could control your external display with your tablet pen? Download the External Desktop PowerToy and try it out.
If the wallpaper you have in one orientation looks horrible in the other, try Wallpaper Gyro.
Use your tablet pen interface to control another system, say, your desktop. Just get started with LogMeIn (www.logmein.com)
Windows Sticky Notes (already included in your all programs menu) or Ink Desktop in the Experience Pack are good ways to jot down reminders that you will easily see when working on your tablet.
ArtRage 2 (the newer version of the more well known InkArt) by Ambient Design is a good upgrade which includes a better interface and more features than version 1, despite the nag screens. If you want a better experience, you can purchase the full version. www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html
If you haven’t done so in a while, calibrating your screen in both landscape and portrait is a good way to keep your pen in line with the cursor. Right click the tablet icon in your tray, click properties, and then calibrate the display in each of the two orientations.
Using ink when presenting PowerPoints adds impact to your presentations. Just simply use your pen to click the pen icon on the translucent toolbar and ink away on each slide. Or, you can ink before presenting to save time.
If you want to send ink e-mails in Outlook 2003, follow these steps. Click Tools>Options, and then select the Mail Format tab. Check “Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages” and click OK. Now, open up a new message and enable the ink toolbar. This is a good way to make e-mail more personal and creative.
Do you long for pressure sensitivity in applications such as Adobe PhotoShop? Do you wish to have more control over pen functionality? Then download the Wacom Penabled driver at http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/driver.cfm
BACKUP! Many people use their tablet PCs to store their entire life, and find backup methods such as external hard drives and DVDs cumbersome and expensive. Here is a good way to back things up:
a) Use the SyncToy to transfer and keep your Desktop and My Documents folder in sync with your PC over the network
b) Be sure to transfer your Outlook PST file (usually located in C:\Documents and Settings\(USERNAME)\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook) to the PC as well, regularly
c) Use the Microsoft Office Settings Wizard (in All Programs>Microsoft Office>Office Tools>Save my Settings Wizard) to keep your toolbar configurations backed up, and save the resulting file on the PC as well
d) Take a day to create a CD full of installation files for all of your programs (name the files accordingly).
Now, you won’t have to spend as much money or time backing up.
Sharing InkArt paintings: If you want to send an InkArt or ArtRage painting to someone else to brighten up their day, just right tap/click to hide the panels, and press the print screen button on the keyboard. Now, you can paste it into Paint and save it as a BMP or JPG to send via e-mail or put on a CD. (Note: you can crop out the “right-click to show panels” text if you wish to do so).
Annotating pictures is a good way to add cute and clever comments to precious photos before sharing them. Just open them up in Paint and draw/write anything you want. Tip: use the paint brush tool instead of the pencil, as it tends to be less jagged
If you use Firefox (and you really should) be sure to download the GeckoTIP extension. Firefox has some problems with TIP, so you NEED this extension. here’s a link: http://geckotip.mozdev.org/
Rearrange stuff. Rearrange desktop icons, start bar, toolbars in programs, EVERYWHERE so it’s more natural for you while in tablet mode and using a pen. You can move things all over the place in most programs, and just because you’re used to the normal things, doesn’t mean they need to stay that way if they seem awkward with a pen.
CLEAN UP STARTUP PROCESSES. Tablets tend to have a LOT more start up processes then a normal laptop. this will slow down boot times, and can get annoying. Do a bit of research and turn off any start up processes that aren’t necessary, or that you don’t want.
USE A CALENDAR. I don’t care if it’s Outlook or the one built into GoBinder, or something else. You’re carrying around an ultra-PDA; use its power to help keep you organized. If you get into the habit of putting EVERYTHING down into your calendar, and checking it often, you’ll set yourself up for success (haha, that sounded so cheesy).
If there’s something you don’t like in a program that you think is great otherwise, say something about it. For example, people were pointing out problems and making suggestions for OneNote, and many of those were taken care of for the 2007 edition. You may have to wait a while, but it’s better to give your input and possibly get something done, then to say nothing at all.
There is almost nothing more potentially distracting than having a tablet while you’re trying to take notes in class. Do what you need to do to stay focused. If you need a program to block things, if you need to make a new user account that is locked to JUST what you need, do it.
Set your power settings so that when you’re running on battery power your screen brightness is down, and the processor is running at partial speed. This alone will increase battery life.
PDF! PDF! PDF! Many non-tableteers do not use Office 2003, and other tablet programs. Therefore, you should print your inked-up documents with a PDF printer such as PrimoPDF or CutePDF before sending them. If you are sending Journal files, you can also advise the person to install the Windows Journal Viewer from Microsoft.
Most tableteers want one-touch access to their favorite programs, but don’t like to navigate through the Start menu or put the Quick Launch in taskbar to waste space. To solve this, enable a toolbar (Quick Launch, or create a new toolbar from a folder full of shortcuts) by right clicking on the taskbar when it is unlocked. Now, drag the toolbar onto the desktop, and then onto one of the sides of the screen. You can now right click on this new bar, click Always on Top, and customize it to your liking (e.g. auto-hide, small icons, etc.).
Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger (if you have an invite) all have ink capabilities. This is a good reason to switch services if you’re using a different IM service such as Yahoo!
Many people like the flexibility of screen views in Adobe Reader. Therefore, sometimes it is good to print some documents to PDF so that you can take advantage of Adobe’s toolbar-free or Full Screen views.
InkPad and ActiveWords combined can speed up common tasks you do on your tablet. Look at James Kendrick’s demonstration to see it in action.
If you ever need to introduce a friend to tablet PCs, these demos from Microsoft are a good starter http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/tabletpc/evaluation/tours/default.mspx
Make use of tablet gestures that save you time: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/tabletpc/learnmore/gestures.mspx
If you’re using your tablet at your desk in conjunction with a desktop computer, you can easily share your desktop’s mouse and keyboard with your tablet via Synergy. (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/)
When setup correctly, you can move your cursor past the edge of the desktop screen, and you will suddenly be in control of your tablet. Use your desktop’s mouse and keyboard as per normal.
This is extremely useful when you are using a pure slate or a convertible in tablet mode. It also helps to clear clutter off your desk, as only one set of mouse and keyboard are needed for your desktop and tablet (or as many other computers as you have).
The mouse and keyboard focus behavior is similar to having dual displays. Best of all, Synergy will cost you nothing but the bandwidth to download the small installer. It’s also worth mentioning that it will work across your Windows, Mac or Linux computer.
In addition, it creates a common clipboard across these platforms/computers. So you copy a URL on your desktop, and move your mouse over to the tablet, and paste it there! There are also some other special features such as synchronizing your screensavers.
Learning Chinese:
If you’re studying Chinese, these tools will be invaluable for you:
InkLearn
zdt (zdt.sourceforge.net)
Microsoft Tablet PC Recognizer Packs
InkLearn takes advantage of the recognizer packs, letting you slowly write a character. Once you’re written it, hit the recognize button, and it tells you the meaning, and the PinYin for that character!
zdt is not tablet specific, but it is a great learning tool for Chinese. Use it in conjunction with InkLearn and the TIP with recognizer packs in order to quickly look up phrases and multiple characters.
Write your assignments on your Tablet PC. This can be tricky, as if you forget to print out your assignment, you may not have anything to turn in.. However: writing your assignments (eg math, chemistry, physics) on your tablet allows you to keep a copy of it when you submit it. This is useful if you don’t get your assignment back in time for studying or reference.
Make sure you know what you’re doing. Don’t delete, uninstall, disable or muck around with anything you’re not sure what it does. Win XP Tablet has a bunch of stuff that home/pro don’t have.
Get everything ready BEFORE it arrives. Have all your install disks, your copied files, etc. all ready to put on your new tablet and then install everything in one sitting. You might get tired or bored, but sit down and do it all at once. You’ll be glad you did. It sucks to try to break it up into multiple time periods only to realize you forgot to install something or copy something over. Break it up into groups so you can take little breaks. Maybe do security/virus/spyware stuff first, then important applications (i’m thinking office suite, adobe, etc.), then “fun” applications (music, video, games, etc.) then your files.
For those of you using Firefox, a really nifty extension that I heard about, and now use is called Grab and Drag. You can find it here: http://grabanddrag.mozdev.org/
What this does for you, is allow you to scroll in Firefox like you do in Acrobat Reader. To me, this is more intuitive than reaching over to the far edge of the screen and groping for the scroll bar. It’s a really natural way to scroll through your webpages.
If you’re using Firefox and haven’t installed one of the mouse gestures plugins, do it now! The mouse gesture mentality is really intuitive when using a pen. For example, to open a link in a tab, just right drag it upwards. There are many other gestures as well.
When you do first get your tablet, make your way into Add/Remove Programs too uninstall all the bundled bloatware that you are SURE you don’t need (don’t touch drivers). Then, if you’re comfortable with it, go into the Program Files folder and delete any of the software companies’ folders that have been left behind. Or, you could take the alternate route, and make a clean edition of Tablet PC Edition 2005, as indicated in the Buzz (be sure to get the instructions for your manufacturer). Now, reinstall the necessary drivers, and you have yourself the ideal image.
If you need your tablet to be ready whenever you need it (say, jotting down a telephone number) be sure to either ALWAYS keep it in Hibernation mode, or Standby if you can risk the battery life. You would not believe the situations in which you’d need near-instant access.
You may not have time to spend your morning visiting websites, and may not have access to the Internet wherever you are. To compensate, make use of Windows’ Offline Files and Synchronize features, which can be used to sync both files over a Network and web pages for reading at a leisurely pace at a later time (e.g. while on the bus, etc.)
Keep your tablet as fast-loading and quick as possible. Do not make anything autostart or install any programs that you know you won’t always need. Save the bloat for your desktop, or create a script that can launch these programs for you when you’re at home. For the road, however, keep the load as light as possible. This will also prevent you from having to increase CPU power, which in turn drains the battery.
Explore Adobe Reader. If it does one thing very well, it is reading. Features such as “readaloud,” customizable zoom, etc. make studying with a tablet very convenient.
If you haven’t already done so, try the My Font Tool for Tablet PC PowerToy from Microsoft. This allows you to handwrite your own font, which you can make use of in assignments, cards, etc. You can also make a font out of a person who you think has neater handwriting
If you need to ink in other languages, try the Tablet PC Recognizer Pack.
If you haven’t done so, visit tabletpcpost.com. This is a website which is the host of a vast amount of software specifically designed for the Tablet PC.
“The handwriting recognition panel interferes with the wacom tablet driver. They compete for priority. The problem? Laggy pen behavior in most vector based drawing applications. http://www.cartoonmonkey.com/mt2/2006/03/tabtipexe_major_tablet_pc_issu.html
“Temporary solution: Run tabtip-tamer, available at Tabletpcpost.com
“Also all tablet pc’s come with “click and hold” turned on (right click on holding down the pen). Having this on results in laggy behavior in flash and other drawing apps as well when starting a brush-stroke or line. (The system pauses when trying to execute the right click function) Turn this OFF and use the side switch for right click for best operation!”
If you want to see more information about how your tablet is operating, and want to *gasp* try undervolting the CPU to increase battery life, try the Notebook Hardware Control http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm
For those without manufacturer-provided power-management tools, try SpeedSwitchXP http://www.diefer.de/speedswitchxp/
For the best antivirus and one that uses the least amount of resources, use NOD32.
Your tablet can become your ultimate road trip companion. Just connect a GPS locator (included with Streets and Trips), a mobile power adapter (or a power inverter which can convert DC current to AC current), a CD-car tape adapter, and you’re set! You can ink, get directions, listen to music, watch DVDs, work on homework etc. all during the ride.
If you like to, or want to, watch DVDs on your tablet while away from an outlet, but you still need the battery life, try the following. When at home, plugged in, pop your DVD into your DVD drive and use dvddecrypter to copy it to your hard drive. Then you can replace your optical drive with a secondary battery. You’ll get the extra hours of battery life, plus you can watch a DVD from your hard drive. Most DVD-playing programs have an option to load from a file, so figure yours out and load it. This is helpful even if you don’t have a backup battery. The spinning of the drive for reading uses a lot more battery life than reading from the hard drive.
Unclutter the desktop by right clicking and selecting arrange icons, unselect show desktop icons. Then use ink desktop to write in reminders.
Try Konfabulator or Yahoo widgets to add extra information to your desktop. I recently downloaded zoomy bar which is a floating icon bar like object desktop. Very nice, especially for those who like a clean desktop.
If you like to arrange your icons to help you locate them, and if you use a program that you like to have in a certain place, be sure to arrange your icons in portrait mode. If you arrange them in landscape, there’s a good chance that when you flip the screen to portrait, they will be all muddled up, and won’t go back when you go back to landscape.
Also, using the TIP that is accessible from the taskbar can mess your icons up, so make sure they sit above where that would appear.
Tablet runs too hot? Cool it down by limiting the amount of CPU any one program can hog. http://bednorz.uni2.net/anyland/threadmaster/threadmaster.htm. When a graphics intensive game needs more, you can turn the Process off. Not for the faint of heart.
One feature that people ignore in InkArt is the Load Tracing Paper option, which is a very good way to create stunning, life-like, yet artistic paintings all on your own! http://winsupersite.com/images/reviews/tpc_exp_20.jpg
A good tip in Word is that ink strokes are treated like AutoShapes. This enables you to double-click on them and thicken them, change the color, or adjust other options. This is perfect for changing inked drawings and annotations (i.e. use the select multiple objects feature and change the color/thickness of all the ink on the page)
If you like to dock your TIP, and have many maximized windows open, you may find that it takes a fairly long time for each window to refresh (when docking/undocking), just to enter a simple piece of text. Therefore, it is good idea to keep the On-Screen Keyboard pinned to the start menu, (found at All Programs>Accessories>Accessibility)
If you have a T1 calculator, make sure that you take a look at Virtual TI.
Be sure to take a look at xThink’s software, MathJournal and Calculator, if you want a good ink-based number-cruncher.
For an excellent piece of study software, consider RecallPlus. It works as a sort of super flash-card system with inking/graphic and audio capabilities. It has auto-testing features and really helps you organize your notes and remember almost everything you put into it!
Did you know that TabletFlash, a free flash card program for the Tablet PC, can also record audio? Click on the little microphone icon to record a clip, and the little speaker icon to hear it played back - I use this to say spelling words out loud for kids, then flip the card with the answer.
Try FITALY for a great text input alternative to the Tablet PC TIP keyboard. It’s more compact and boasts a significant speed increase (if you can get used to the interface) - the Tablet PC version appears to still be in beta, but it’s worth a try!
Virtual CD by H+H software is a fantastic program for creating copies of CD’s as virtual images, instead of lugging around an extra CD-RW unit.
Resist the urge to do anything but study on your tablet. Sometimes, with a million doo-dads blinking away in your tray and a folder full of games in your start menu, it’s hard to keep focused. If you find it difficult to study or properly take notes in class, try Temptation Blocker.
Use MindMaps to study! Even if you don’t have a program such as MindManager, Mind-mapping with programs that you may already have are not too hard. If you’re using Word, try autoshapes, and most other ink-ready programs do have a shapes feature. If you can be neat enough, just ink lines and shapes. Almost all topics can be easily MindMapped for organization
Understand that your tablet will only work as fast as you take care of it. Every two weeks, take the time to defragment the hard drive, use a tool such as CCleaner or Disk Cleanup to wipe away all junk, and clean up all the restore points except the last (unless you suspect that something fishy is going on). Some even go as far to reformat every 4-6 months to keep the install “fresh.” This will keep your tablet performing at its quickest, and in most situations, you won’t even notice processing time, which is good to simulate the “quickness” of paper. You never want a machine which pauses every five minutes when you’re desperately trying to take notes.
Here’s a great tip for folks who want to get started mind mapping FOR FREE! FreeMind is a free Java-based mind mapping application. Functions are pretty basic, but it works perfectly fine if you’re new to mindmapping (no ink support, though).
Ditch your paper magazines and subscribe to Zinio, an electronic magazine distributor. US News and World report makes a great weekly Zinio version - the reader application works great on the tablet pc, and simulates a paper-like ‘page turn’ - even has the ability to highlight, search and annotate.
Classical musicians need multi-lingual dictionaries, so why not download some freebies for your tablet pc? English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish Microsoft Reader Dictionaries can be found for free at this link.
Want to make your own Microsoft Reader compatible ebooks? Use ReaderWorks Standard by OverDrive, Inc. It’s a freebie version of a basic Microsoft Reader publisher, great for converting documents and html pages. The Publisher version (about $119) allows for more advanced formatting and distribution/copy protection features.
Get your own website and FTP digital copies of your files. That way, no matter where you are, you can download your files just in case your tablet pc crashes and you have to print out backup copies on paper. Many ISP’s (like Comast) provide space for creating your own web pages included in the cost of your subscription.
If you happen to be a concert pianist, and you happen to be preparing a piano concerto for performance, you can be your own accompanist by sending the score to OneNote, then using OneNote’s audio recorder to record the orchestra reduction part (play a high note for metronome ‘beats’ between large sections of rests to keep track of where you are).
If you’re performing on stage with a Tablet PC, be sure to turn off your screen saver, or at least set it to activate after 2 hours or so - last thing you want to have happen is for your music to suddenly display the Windows XP logo in the middle of a performance!
Another “onstage with a tablet pc for the musician” tip: turn off your wireless antenna! Last thing you want on stage is to have a friend sending you IM messages that pop up while you’re trying to read a music score!
If you’re a concert pianist using a Tablet PC for music on tour, consider investing in the Reyburn CyberTuner for Windows. This is a professional piano tuning program used by piano technicians around the world. If you’re stuck in a hall in Brazil when there’s no professional tuner for hundreds of miles around, you’ll be glad you can tune your own piano with this program and your Tablet PC…(yes i’ve been there - and really wished I had this program when this happened…)
If you print your music scores into Windows Journal, be sure to turn on the ‘page bar’ view so that you can use flags to mark your movement headings (and trouble spots for future practicing!)
If you’re using a Tablet PC for reading music, use the Snippet program (included in the Microsoft Experience Pack for Tablet PC) to copy and paste small sections of measures for pages that you need to read ahead. Works great within Windows Journal!
I know there are a lot of tablet users who want to share how they use software, Camtasia is a great program, but it costs $$. If you want a free program that does the same check out wink. http://www.debugmode.com/wink/
If you can’t wait for Vista, a program like StrokeIt is for you. StrokeIt can let you assign certain gestures to commands that you activate with your pen/mouse. It can be disabled when it’s in the way, and is a great tool for quickly initiating commands. http://tcbmi.com/strokeit/
If performance is one of your top concerns, this topic at the Buzz is an invaluable resource. http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12114
If you haven’t developed a good method for backing up yet, read this topic at the Buzz: http://tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12386
If your tablet does not recognize certain handwritten words, it may be time to take a look at the Dictionary Tool. http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/3/c/93c19abf-affa-4aac-a0f7-1b454573f89d/DictionaryTool (you need to add .exe to that link to make it work)
I’ve been using the free Allwaysync since November, so much so that the program is telling me my usage indicates I should upgrade to the Pro version of the software (in the works). The program is so customizable I managed to set up multiple jobs to synch different files and folders on three networked computers. Because of its XML database it knows the last modified file, even if the computer clocks differ. Read the site to get its full detail list. I’m mondo impressed. http://www.allwaysync.com
My brother showed me PC Phone Home from Brigadoon Software. There’s a testimony on the site that speaks of a computer’s hard drive contacting the network even after it had been removed from one computer and placed in another!
http://www.brigadoonsoftware.com/
I use Rick Meyers’ E-Sword Bible software on both my tablet and pocket PC. On my tablet I copy relevant portions of scripture from E-Sword into OneNote and highlight, annotate, diagram, and otherwise mark up the scripture, integrating it with handwritten notes. (Note: there is a small cost to buy the license some Bible translations). http://www.e-sword.net/
Impromptu presentation? Plug your tablet into the projector and ink your way through some slides. (used once this semester =))
The Tablet PC Input Panel likes to interpret “print character L”-s as the numeral “1″ (one). To avoid this, write your “L”’s as a cursive “L”.
For those who have tendency to multitask and get distracted often, you can create a set of windows users. Each user will be associated to a context you use your PC, as example, Study, Class, Entertainment, Work, Research. And set those users only the software and the files you use in that context whiteout share information that are not related or deny Internet connection to those contexts were you need concentration. As example get all the IM and emails and RSS in a user, as a “street” context, so you can go there and view your Mailbox, or chat with your neighbors, or get the newspaper, you go there only 2 or 3 times a day, not every time. Imagine your Computer as a department of many rooms were you do specific things in each room. You can still switch to the others rooms without closing everything and helps to feel better when you decide to do something. You can even “decorate” every user/room with different colors, images and UIs (even widgets) according to the things you do there. It works great to me.
Microsoft offers a tablet PC composition tool as a powertoy. Through a series of gestures I can enter notes into a staff and create a chart instantly playable by MIDI file. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx
If you’re using the music stationary within Windows Journal and want to print your musical masterpiece onto - gasp - PAPER (you know, that mashed plant pulp rolled into flat sheets?), you’ll need to click on the ‘options’ tab within the ‘print’ dialogue box and select within the ‘include’ box, “Background colors and images” - otherwise, you’ll have black dots suspended in blank space!
Enable the one-click opening of files. It is much more natural to be able to tap once on a file or short-cut to launch it.

Note-taking

Put the toolbars for stuff you use often so they’re out in the open. The only two extra ones I have out right now are note flags and pens. It’s amazing how much quicker it is to just go to one side of the screen and be able to change pens without a drop down, and add note flags without a drop down.
Use noteflags. If you’ve seen the bit on Chris Pratley’s blog about note flogs, it puts then into perspective and explains a lot. Customize them to make them more useful for your needs. If you use the note flag summary you can get all your important notes in one place. This is extremely helpful if you have a professor who likes to strongly suggest important materials for a test. Slap on a note flag, study your notes, and the morning before the test, and create a summary. That way you’ll have all the important things right there as kind of a “cramming cheat sheet.”
I also have a red marking pen that I made larger so it’s noticeable, and I made a white out pen. I haven’t had much use for it yet, but I have a feeling it will be helpful for classes where I import images or power point so I can white out certain bits and write over them.
It’s wonderful that OneNote syncs up your notes with the audio recording - but it can’t read minds and sometimes you just can’t get your notes to sync up perfectly, making to difficult to track down that section of audio-notes later. To help with this: first, use some type of non-dot bullet (OneNote gets rid of dots for some reason) like a dash, as soon as the professor starts talking about something. Now the line is marked for the audio, now you can listen to what the professor is talking about before having to write anything. If you do miss something, use certain symbols to tell yourself later how far back you need to track in the audio to find the topic. I use arrows: one backwards arrow if I miss the first 30 secs or so of a topic, more little arrows if I miss more… anything consistent should work.
Taking audio-notes AND handwriting notes is different than normal notes. Don’t write down everything the professor says - you have it recorded! Instead, listen intently (you’ll learn better, even if you aren’t an auditory learner)and write only enough to mark what the audio notes for this section will say so you can find them later. For a three-hour class I end up with less than two pages of notes - without missing anything. This is especially effective because it forces you to summarize (a higher-order skill than copying) the topic at hand.
If you use audio notes, make sure to capture diagrams or otherwise visual-only information presented in class. Long quotes not read aloud are a good time to switch to the keyboard.
Going back and later listening to a lecture and re-organizing the notes is time-consuming, but will greatly increase your understanding of the material. You may not have time to do this for every class, but keep this in mind for particularly complex or confusing topics. Of course, feel free to annotate your previous notes at this time. You may discover that what you thought you understood in class you either don’t remember or no longer understand. This is a good time to email a professor and ask or take a note to ask in the next class. (This has a side benefit: professors tend to grade students who ask questions like this easier than those who take no interest in the class. This is one reason students on the front row score better than those on the back row.)
Keep in mind that some professors will NOT allow audio recordings of class. Their reasons are many and not without merit. You may want to ask (or not - forgiveness vs. permission and all that jazz) and/or assure the professor that your notes are YOUR notes and that you will not use them maliciously (e.g., to quote out of context.)
Choose a good capture program. While Journal is fine, also look at Evernote (http://www.evernote.com/). I love this program and use it daily for all of my note taking and work.
Customize your pens. It’s amazing how much better things can be with customized pens. I think some people underestimate the value of this. I honestly saw no point in having thick and thin pens of the same color, so I did a little customization. Right now I have black, blue, green, orange, purple and pink for regular note pens. I customized them even further, and all of my normal pens are 0.5mm, which is the same size lead and ink I used before my tablet. You can, obviously, use any colors you want. I had to get enough variety in mine because I’m colorblind and need to be able to tell a difference, but if you can easily distinguish between light blue or green and regular blue or green, you have a lot of choices for the variety of your pen colors.
Highlighters can be customized. Rearrange them in order of what colors you’d use and change the colors to your liking. I’m not sure if you can change highlighters to pens, or pens to highlighters, since they act differently (highlighters being opaque so you can see your text). You can mess around with it to see if it works.
USE ZOOM. A lot of people find this to be extremely helpful. You can zoom in or out on your page for writing. If you zoom in further, the rule lines will be further apart and you can write larger, and then if you zoom out or print, the writing will be relatively small. Personally, I like to have mine zoomed out so my college rule lines are about the size of real college rule lines on notebook paper. I guess there’s a way to make your own rule lines, so you could zoom in and have them look the size of college ruled paper, but I haven’t messed around with that yet. Either way you want to do it, zoom can be extremely helpful.
TYPE AND/OR WRITE. I have a convertible tablet, so I have the option of using as a laptop if I want. I’ve found that certain classes it makes more sense to handwrite notes, while others it makes more sense to type them. I get the feeling some people forget they still have the ability to type (if they have a convertible). Obviously handwriting is better for math, econ, etc. courses. Anything with equations, graphs, charts, etc. I’ve found typing to be better for history, English and other classes of that sort. You don’t need to type, and you don’t always need to handwrite.
A great way to do notes is how I take them for my philosophy class. Every night we have readings we have to do, take notes on, and then we have a quiz first thing in class, then go over it. I like to type out my notes on the reading, then during class, jot down any other notes in handwriting on top or, or below, my typed notes. You can do spacing however you like to let your handwritten notes fit in the best possible. This is really helpful for the quiz and when writing a paper on the subject. I think it’s easier to read over the typed notes about the reading during the short quizzes or when writing a paper, but having the handwritten things I’ve added in lets me remember what happened during the class and helps papers to be stronger.
The OneNote icon in your taskbar is a great resource and often overlooked. Double clicking it allows a “side note” to come up, that you can jot something down really quick. It saves the note into OneNote so you can access it later. It’s sort of like having a sticky note that’s always available.
The “create screen clipping” option of the OneNote icon can be a pretty valuable resource if you have access to digital copies of your textbooks, or internet access in your classes. I like to take screen clippings of graphs and charts right out of my digital copy of the textbook and insert it in when the teacher mentions it, instead of having to reference it later, or even attempt to draw it in (which my teachers often do on the board). Also, if you have web access in class, you can easily look up something the teacher is talking about and get some extra information. You can copy/paste the text, or just take a screen clipping. Either way it’s pretty handy, even though you have to copy the image to where you want it after you clip it.
I took this tip from PCMag: “You can draw an imperfect square, circle, or line in Windows Journal and convert it to a perfect geometric shape. Highlight the drawing with the Selection tool, and select Change Shape To under the Actions menu. You can select the circle/ellipse, square, or line for the desired shape.”
Try out the trials of onenote and gobinder before you buy. You may realize you like one better than the other and could have made the wrong purchase.
If you get onenote, be sure to download SP1 and SP2, if they weren’t pre-installed on the disks. Some of the features are near necessities.
If you use Onenote AND Firefox, make firefox “onenote friendly” by following the directions here: http://www.mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=1202
If you have onenote, be sure to install and use print to onenote. It’s really helpful, especially if handouts or PowerPoint slides, etc. are put up online by your professors.
Don’t be afraid to try new and different note-taking formats. One of my favorites is Googgy TwoNote Free.
You can use the Wacom Penabled drive to reassign the functionality of both the side switch and eraser, in addition to “firmness.”
Linux users should check out Gournal at http://www.adebenham.com/gournal/
Should be self-explanatory once you get there!
Be sure to network your PDF, GoBinder, and OneNote printers. This way, if you find something on your PC, you can easily store it away into your Note-taking solution.
Did you know that Windows Journal includes Music Paper (”manuscript paper” in music-speak) as a template? In Journal, click on “File”, then “New Note from Template”, then select the “music” template file.
Have onenote automatically backup your notebook to a drive that’s not your main one. Tools -> Options -> “open and save” -> select “backup folder” and click “modify” then change where your backups are saved so if your hard drive crashes, you won’t lose it all. You can also backup your onenote notebook by simply copying “my notebook” in “my documents” to another drive.
To make a copy of your noteflags and I THINK pens if you customize them (though not 100% on this) copy the file “preferences.dat” from C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\OneNote
when you want to restore them, you’ll have to copy them back into that same location, but it’s easier to do that then to try to remember what all your noteflags were.
To quickly bring up a sidenote hit “windows”+n which can be quicker than double clicking if you’re a power user.
If you have ever desired to integrate Journal into Office 2003, follow the steps in this post: http://www.dolcetechnica.com/blogs/peter/archive/2004/03/31/1484.aspx Note that this is not supported in any manner.
Since OneNote converts handwriting to text and searches handwritten notes, the best thing for tablet users is to learn to write legibly. I’m a notorious offender, and my writing hardly converts properly. Practice, practice, practice.
Just because your tablet has handwriting to text conversion capabilities, doesn’t mean you should always use them. Some people believe that just because handwriting recognition is available, they should use it whenever possible. Handwriting recognition still has some flaws to be worked out, and can lose a lot of the formatting you do to your ink notes. In addition, studies have shown that the various curves and stylings of ink help facts to be remembered better. Therefore, recognition is almost only suitable for when you need to make your notes into a professional document, or, possibly, when sharing them with others. After all, if you wanted text, what’s the point in having a tablet at all? So, keep your ink the way it is - ink!
Record your lectures into OneNote. When reviewing your lecture notes, the play-back has an option to high-light the line you were inking when the professor made the comments it is replaying for you. Great way to re-live the lecture.
Print your professor’s PowerPoint slides and scanned-handouts into OneNote for easy note-taking on top of his slides. See the Microsoft Education Pack for a ‘Send to OneNote’ printer option.
When taking notes into OneNote, set the zoom percentage up to 150%. When reviewing notes, revert back to 100% for much clearer, neater hand-writing
Disable OneNote’s pressure sensitivity for smoother writing
Create a shortcut for the Snipping Tool 2.0 in your quick-launch bar for easy access to graphs and charts in your notes.

Study/Student Stuff

If you’re a student, don’t expect to go totally paperless. Teachers still give handouts, syllabi, readings, etc. in paper form. Keep a folder and probably a spiral notebook in your bag. You never know when you’ll get a hand out, or when there will be a pop-quiz that you need to turn in answering a question with your own paper.
Earphones/Headphones are good when you are in class and you’ve forgotten to mute the speakers before shutting down last. Just plug in the headphones when starting up, and the disruptive Windows Sounds won’t be heard. Another approach is to go into Sound Properties in the Control Panel, click the sounds tabs, and select the “No Sounds” scheme.
Learn to be outgoing. A tablet will get the attention of lots of people around you, be it in class or at work. If they ask, be polite and explain. If you sit in the front row of a class, be ready for a professor to pause class to ask you what you have. Don’t be embarrassed, just explain, and let it slide.
A scanner is your best friend. Be sure to scan handouts, etc. as soon as you get home the same day.
Paperless-ness is a personal preference. If you have the room in your basement/attic, why not file away handouts and printed assignments instead of throwing them away? Even if you have a backup, this will prevent a lot of headaches when you find that you need to ship your tablet away for repair for a week, and that you would have to print EVERYTHING out to study. Notes, however, can be kept digital until absolutely needed.
ALWAYS have a plan B. For example, know what to do if your tablet decides to fail during class. Do you have notes draft-printed from the last day? Do you have files on an online server that you can print out during a break? Do you have someone else who can “bail you out”? Consider everything that can go wrong and everything that you can do. Tablets are not fool-proof (yet )

Productivity

PopTray, created by Renier Crause, is a small, free e-mail notifier that can be used with many popular account types with the power of plug-ins. http://www.poptray.org/
Make use of Outlook’s Tasks feature. Pop-up reminders in the morning are a great way to lay out your planned to-do’s.
Get some sleep, it’ll make the following day more productive.
Use your desktop as just that, desk space. When working with files, move them there for easy referencing. When done with that task, move them back into their respective folders.
Windows Desktop Search is a wonderful search agent which can index practically any file type you throw at it with the power of iFilters. You can even customize your own shortcuts to add the Windows Deskbar, which can be triggered by typing commands in or using the input panel to do so. http://desktop.msn.com/
Desktop Sidebar is an excellent way to manage all the information that comes your way. It includes an Outlook panel, RSS reader, system performance indicators, a downloadable virtual desktop panel, and many more plugins available at the “extension exchange.” It is fully customizable for your needs and is downloadable at http://www.desktopsidebar.com/
If you like a more graphical and eye-candy-fill alternative to docking your toolbars at the side, consider a *light* Mac-like dock, such as RocketDock. Again, this allows you to have one-tap access to all of you recently used programs, without filling up the taskbar.
Don’t answer your phone, let all your calls forward to voicemail. You can deal with the messages on your time, rather than being held captive to incoming calls. I only retrieve my voicemails via my Samsung i730 PDA phone during my train rides to work.
Don’t drive, take public transportation. This ‘down time’ can be the perfect way to catch up on tasks that you really hate to do in the middle of a busy day, like retrieving voicemails, filing documents, reviewing the day’s/week’s schedule, etc.
Subscribe to Audible.com’s monthly subscription plan. For $20 per month, you can download any 2 audio books each month! Listen to them on your tablet pc on the way to/from work each day on the train - a great way to catch up on reading!
If you are a “GTD” fan (GTD=”Getting Things Done” by David Allen), the $10 PDF on How to optimize Outlook for the GTD system is a worthwhile investment, compared to the $69.95 software app that does the same thing (automatically, of course). It’s a little tricky to do this manually, but you’ll actually understand the system much better if you get your hands “dirty” with that teeny bit of coding.

General Computers (Hardware&Software)

Many people ignore the full value of Word. With the power of autoshapes, documents that reflect the ability of full-fledged graphics/publishing programs can be created. Just enable the picture toolbar, insert autoshapes and double-click to format them, and soon, you’ll be on your way to beautiful-looking assignments.
This is probably better suited to wide screen notebooks, but one can tile their windows horizontally or vertically in Windows XP. This is especially handy if one needs to have their book open in class while taking notes.
Open the first application window.
Open the second application window.
Left Click the task bar tab for the first application.
Hold down the Control key and right click on the tab for the second application. A menu will appear, with the option to tile the windows either vertically or horizontally.
** Note **
This only works properly with Acrobat if Acrobat has one window open. If it has more than one, the menu will be grayed out. Exiting and relaunching Acrobat resolves the issue.
Do you need a quick and easy way to clean out all the junk on your computer? Try the ever-so-popular and FREE CCleaner. www.ccleaner.com/
Have you wanted to quickly lock your tablet/computer when stepping out? Just press the windows logo key and L simultaneously
If you are on a tight budget, and you need a free security solution, try a combination of ZoneAlarm Free (http://www.zonelabs.com), AVG Antivirus (http://grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/us/tpl/tpl01), and Spybot S&D (www.safer-networking.org)
JetAudio Free (www.jetaudio.com/download/) is an excellent media player that can play a variety of file formats, whether it be audio or video. It is a good solution for those who want to solely use one player.
When it comes to multiple picture formats, IrfanView (www.irfanview.com/) does the job nicely.
If you want an ergonomic keyboard, but aren’t ready to switch to a natural layout, try the Wireless Optical Desktop 3.0.
Many people do not know that they can be joined to their school/business Domain and still be able to connect to computers on their home workgroup. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/learnmore/domainjoined.mspx
If you want to know your exact wireless performance at any time, try this Wireless widget combined with the Yahoo Widget Engine (http://widgets.yahoo.com/gallery/view.php?widget=36566) and (http://widgets.yahoo.com)
If you have a computer with Windows XP and a modem, you can use your system as a fax machine. Just go to All Programs>Accessories>Communications>Fax.
SyncToy is a very good tool to keep files/folders between two different systems on a network in check
For a good offline dictionary to use, try WordWeb http://wordweb.info/free/
For a good (but very basic) offline second-language dictionary, try these for Microsoft Reader http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/dictionaries.asp
Just purchased that great new app for your tablet pc and received the registration/unlock key via email? Email a copy of it to your Gmail account and mark it with a star. Be sure to put a descriptive name in the message header. That way, if you ever have to re-load your software, you’ll have an easy way to retrieve the registration/unlock codes no matter where you are.
Repartition your drive into 3 separate ones (i.e. Cache file 2-4GB, Windows installation, Program Files for all your data).
IF YOU CAN’T FIND ELECTRONIC COPIES OF YOUR TEXTBOOK seriously consider an OpticBook 3600 scanner. You don’t even need to scan every page of your textbook in, just the pages you need for that day.
Next, redirect your My Documents to drive D:. Get the “how to” from this link :
http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_move_my_documents.htm

Digital Books

Be sure to look into electronic versions of your textbooks. It will save you weight when you’re carrying stuff around, and they are most likely cheaper.
When scanning in text books, scan in as a *.tiff file format. It’s a relatively loss-less way to get the best image possible for OCR-ing later in the process. You can down-sample the tiffs later.
Make use of Adobe Acrobat’s OCR-ing technology. Having text-searchable eBooks makes for easy retrieval of information.
Always “optimize” your PDFs. Advanced –> PDF Optimizer. My settings (to minimize HDD space) include Deskew: Automatic, Background removal: Off, Edge shadow removal: Off, Despeckle: Low, Descreen: Automatic, Halo Removal: On.
Carrying eBooks is about, infinitely easier than toting around your 6 lb calculus book for study sessions. Invest in a book scanner, you won’t be sorry.
Set up bookmarks for points of interest in your books. Chapter beginnings, appendices, tables of contents, etc.
Next, go to My Computer | Properties | Advance | Performance Setting | and change the paging file for virtual memory to C:\ and set the size to a fixed one, e.g. 4GB. By doing that, your hard drive will work less (as most frequently used/cached files will be in the inner part of the hard drive) and you will need to defrag less. Another good thing is that you can easily do clean install of your PC by just reformatting drive D: and all your data in drive E: will retain.

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