It shouldn’t take you too long to find that the various options, switches, and adjustments that allow you to customize Windows are scattered throughout dozens of dialog boxes, property sheets, and add-on utilities. Understandably, this can turn a simple task into a monumental wild-goose chase. The following list contains more than 700 individual Windows XP settings and where to find them.

The settings are listed alphabetically and named in such a way that they should be easy to locate by context. For example, to find out how to turn off the Power Management icon in the Taskbar Notification Area, look under “Taskbar Notification Area, Power Icon.” Note that a few settings have been duplicated with different labels to make them easier to find.

Settings made in the Registry (see Chapter 3) are not included here because of their complexity. Most Registry settings can be found by using the Registry Editor’s Find tool or by looking through this book.

Of special note here is TweakUI, a special utility that Microsoft has made available to allow you to change some settings otherwise inaccessible in the Windows interface. TweakUI can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site or from http://www.annoyances.org.