Windows XP moved around or buried some of the basic tools you need to setup a computer on a network. For example, the default configuration is very similar to what you would get if you purchased a computer for home use. This isn't what you want for either a workgroup or domain-based computer. (To return to the "standard" behavior of Windows 2000, go to Control Panel and select Switch to Classic View. Then select User Accounts, and click on Change the way users log on or off. De-select both of the options Use the Welcome Screen and Use Fast Switching, the click Apply Options. After you do this, you'll be able to login as the local Administrator to perform installation and maintenance tasks.)

Windows XP Configuration Tips

1. Turn on Cleartype font smoothing. You'll be amazed at how much better text looks on the screen. There are also stand-alone tools you can download like ClearTweak that will adjust Cleartype settings.
2. Disable System Standby. [Control Panel - Power Options - Select the Alway on power scheme and make sure that System Standy is set to Never.] If you tweak nothing else, be sure to do this one. It'll save a lot of grief later on when you're trying to figure out why a computer mysteriously appears to shut down.
3. Disable Hibernation on desktop computers. [Control Panel - Power Options - Hibernate]. If the system will be attached to a UPS, leave Hibernation enabled.
4. Change System Restore settings to use less disk space. [Right Click on My Computer - Properties - System Restore - Settings - reduce to 4% or 5%]. If this computer will have Deepfreeze security, System Restore should be disabled.
5. Configure Automatic Updates. If this PC will have Deepfreeze Standard, disable Automatic Updates in Control Panel - System - Automatic Updates. (Deep Freeze Professional and Enterprise manage Automatic Updates). If this is a staff computer, configure Automatic Updates to automatically download and install updates.
6. Disable Microsoft Error Reporting. [Control Panel - System - Advanced - error-reporting button - select Disable error reporting, but notify me when critical errors occur].
7. If the computer will be running Horizon Client, go to the Control Panel and create an exception in the Windows Firewall for port 2025.
8. Disable the Desktop Cleanup Wizard. [Control Panel - Display - Desktop - remove the check from Customize Desktop Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days.]

Windows XP has lots of interesting features that might be more appropriate for a home user. For example, a new PC running XP will automatically discover printers that are shared from other computers, but it won't find printers attached to dedicated print servers. You might not want a computer to have access to every shared staff or public computer in the building, so check the Printers folder for unwanted printers.

Windows XP and Symantec Ghost
If you are using Symantec Ghost to create and roll-out images of computers, there are a few important things to know.

1. For best results, use Ghost 8.0 or 8.2. Older versions have problems with SATA hard drives.
2. You must use the latest version of Sysprep for Windows XP to prepare the system before you ghost it. Get the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Deployment Tools.
3. Get a copy of SYSPREP.INF from CLAN Support. Don't use earlier versions for Windows 2000 or even XP SP1. The CLAN sysprep.inf is guaranteed to work properly with Dell computers.
4. If you don't want new user logins to get all of the settings (including Desktop and Favorites) that are in the local Administrator login, you'll need to patch XP. The patch is explained in Microsoft KB article 887816. You can request the patch from Microsoft (it isn't available for downloading directly), or you can download a copy of it from the CLAN Support FTP site.
5. When you use Sysprep, make sure that you select Don't reset grace period for activation and Use Mini-Setup.

Updated: 9/15/05