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.1.Right-click any neutral area on the desktop and choose Properties.2.Click the Desktop tab.3.Click the Customize Desktop button.4.Click the Web tab to get to the options shown in Figure 7-11.page 116Windows XP BibleFigure 7-11: The Web tab enables you to find and add active items to your desktop.5.Click the New button.6.To find Active Desktop items available from Microsoft, click the Visit Gallery button.InternetExplorer opens and you are taken to the Microsoft Desktop Gallery page.7.Choose a desktop item to add by clicking the Add to Active Desktop button that appears witheach example.For the current example, I am using the Microsoft Investor item.8.Follow the onscreen instructions.(If in doubt, just choose the default answer to any questionsthat appear.)You need to wait as the item downloads to your computer.After the download has finished, closeInternet Explorer to see your desktop item.Although there may be some differences among desktopitems, most items can be positioned on the desktop by pointing to them to display a small title bar.Youcan then drag that title bar to place the item anywhere on your desktop.You also can customize most desktop items to suit your own needs.To customize the MicrosoftInvestment stock ticker, for example, click the Custom option on the ticker.A dialog box appears.Makeyour selections from the options provided.In Figure 7-12, for example, I ve selected a list of stocks totrack in Microsoft Investor.Figure 7-12: Microsoft Investor stock ticker, and the dialog box for customizing itDifferent desktop items offer different options.As a general rule, however, most enable you to decidehow often the information in the ticker is updated.If you find that a desktop item is eating up too muchbandwidth (that is, slowing down your other Internet access), you can close it by pointing to it and thenclicking its Close button.When you want to bring the item back to the desktop, return to the Web tabshown back in Figure 7-11.Then choose the item by clicking its check box.Tip If you prefer not to have the ticker right on your desktop, you can add it to the Webpage at http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor instead.page 117Windows XP BibleAutomatic UpdatesThe Windows Update feature provides quick access to changes, enhancements, and bug fixes inWindows XP, without your making an effort to find them.This feature, of course, requires a connectionto the Internet, because that s where the updates are stored.You may already be aware of this feature from the notifications that pop up from the Automatic Updatesicon in the Notifications area of the taskbar, like the example shown in Figure 7-13.Figure 7-13: A sample Automatic Updates notificationWhen you see such a message, you just need to click it.A wizard displays to help you decide what todo.For example, the first time you click the option, you might come to a wizard that enables you tochoose how updates are handled.The second page of that wizard, shown in Figure 7-14, enables youto choose how you want automatic updates to be handled.Figure 7-14: This wizard enables you to decide how automatic updates are handled.Although the explanations are pretty self-explanatory, here s what the options mean:" Download the updates automatically: This first option downloads updates as they becomeavailable to you.You might not even be aware of the download.However, the downloadwon t be installed automatically.Instead, you see a notification message that you can clickto install the downloaded files." Notify me before downloading: Updates are not downloaded to your computer behind thescenes.Instead, you are notified when a download is ready.You can then choose when youwant to start the download." Turn off automatic updating: Choosing this option disables automatic updating altogether.But you can update manually at any time using Windows Update, described in Chapter 18.If you choose the first option (which is probably the most convenient), you receive notification after anyupdates have been downloaded to your computer and are ready to be installed.Click the notification toopen a simple wizard, like the example shown in Figure 7-15.As instructed by the wizard, if you plan oninstalling the update now, you would do well to close all open programs and save any work in progresspage 118Windows XP Biblefirst.That s because the update might require restarting your computer.If you restart while you haveunsaved documents open on the desktop, you ll lose all unsaved work [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]