The Annoyance: In XP Pro, you access recently opened documents by choosing Start, My Recent Documents (or Start, Documents in the Start menu's Classic view)--but the list shows only 15 files from all the many programs you may have used recently.
The Fix: Click Start, Run, type gpedit.msc, and press . In the tree pane on the left, navigate to and select User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer. Double-click Maximum number of recent documents in the right pane. Select Enabled, and then set the 'Maximum number of recent documents' to something higher than the default of 15 (see FIGURE 4).
In versions of Windows other than XP Pro or 2000, you'll have to settle for a slightly less elegant solution. See instructions from Steve Bass's "50 Fixes for the Biggest PC Annoyances" feature from the October 2003 issue (you'll need to scroll down a bit to the "Show All Recent Docs" section).
The Annoyance: Every couple of months, Windows XP pops up a message stating that you haven't used some of your desktop icons in a while. The OS even offers to put these icons in a separate desktop folder for you.
The Fix: I have news for Microsoft: If I'm not using shortcuts that are in plain sight on my desktop, sticking them in a folder sure isn't going to make me any more likely to click them. If they're really useless, I'd rather just delete them. Either way, maybe Windows should mind its own business, good intentions aside. To turn off the unused-icons nag, right-click the desktop and click Properties. Select the Desktop tab and click Customize Desktop. At the bottom of that dialog box, uncheck Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days and click OK twice.
The Annoyance: As soon as you begin to type something online -- a Web site address in Internet Explorer, for instance, or a name into an online form -- Windows XP often races in to help. It sends down a little box, listing items you've typed previously. A quick point and click lets you retrieve a word or phrase from Windows XP's handy AutoComplete list, sparing you the effort of typing it in yet again.
The Fix: Some people, however, don't like Windows XP looking over their shoulder as they type. And it's especially annoying when Windows XP keeps listing your typographical errors.
To delete a word or phrase from most AutoComplete drop-down lists, press the down-arrow key to highlight the entry and then press the Delete key. Unfortunately, this trick doesn't delete individual Web addresses you type into Internet Explorer. You must delete Internet Explorer's History to remove those.
To make Internet Explorer stop listing your previous entries, follow these steps:
1. Open Internet Explorer and choose Internet Options from the Tools menu.
2. Click the Content tab and click the AutoComplete button. The AutoComplete Settings dialog box opens.
3. Click to remove check marks from Web Addresses, Forms, User Names and Passwords on Forms, and Prompt Me to Save Passwords.
4. Click the Clear Forms button and the Clear Passwords button and then click OK. Those two final buttons delete previously stored AutoComplete entries.
It's convenient for Internet Explorer to store the passwords you use for your Web site. But that makes it convenient for anybody who sits at your computer to log on to password-protected sites. Even if you enjoy AutoComplete, consider removing the check mark from the User Names and Passwords on Forms box in Step 3.