When you want to share a file or a folder with other users on a Windows XP refurbished laptop what you need to do is move the item or items into the Shared Documents folder which is setup for sharing by default. This is a nice and easy method of sharing but it is not really very customizable for instances where you would want to share files over the network with a bit more control.

You could create a folder on your XP laptop (or use an existing one) and right click the folder and choose Sharing and Security from the menu which will pop up. Next place a check mark in the box which says "Share this Folder on the Network" and then you can use the folder's name or create a customized name for the actual share. This may be a good idea if you intend to use some form of naming convention which you like or if you wanted to keep the share names at a certain length.

Below the "Share Name" dialog box is another check box which you can put a check mark in if you want to allow other users on the network to have the ability to change your files. Keep in mind that if other users change the files then you may not be aware of them being changed. In some instances this is OK for example if people are working on a group project and by design everyone simply uses the updated files as part of an ongoing structured plan.

In a business domain setting these configurations on your XP refurbished laptop as well as access to other settings such as Task Manager (which has to do with laptop performance) will most likely be controlled by specific user permissions and the level of detail will be much more granular by design.

Keep in mind also that Windows XP Home Edition is not a network client operating system and the level of control will be much less than with Windows XP Professional Edition. The XP Home Edition is for basic home computing scenarios and does just fine for most users who have no need or intentions of setting up more advanced networks with their laptop. Windows XP Professional is commonly found on refurbished laptops under 200 these days and has long since been the most widely used as well as appreciated client operating system ever, based on the feedback we still receive from clients long after Vista has been out.

Tags: laptop networking, laptop performance, laptops under 200, refurbished laptop, refurbished laptops, xp laptop

There are certain instances where it is necessary to partition the hard drive in one of the laptops under 200 dollars that someone has but they want to completely avoid having to format the drive. Of course this is not really something that too many folks are going to have a need for but the situation arises occasionally nonetheless.

One of the simple suggestions which seems to work out well for people with a little bit of knowledge about the process of working with laptop computer operating systems is to use a tool which will accomplish the task relatively easily as well as quickly. One such tool is part of the Ubuntu Linux operating system install disc. There is actually a utility which allows the user to shrink an existing partition which includes the installation of another operating system on the hard drive.

As an example you can run the utility on a laptop which already has Windows XP installed on it. When you need to avoid having to wipe the drive and start fresh you can simply use the Ubuntu Linux install disc to shrink the current partition which has the XP install on it. This is relatively easy and fast but if you plan to do these processes be sure that you back up your laptop hard drive before you do this just as a measure of security. After you have run the utility you can simply stop the Ubuntu installation if it is not wanted. This should accomplish your goal, but this may not be for everyone. You should only attempt this if you feel comfortable with working on laptops at this level.

Tags: laptop hard drive, laptop utility, laptops under 200, linux laptops, operating system, ubuntu laptops

Receiving an error regarding the copying of a file after it is has downloaded in Internet Explorer. This would read in effect: “Error copying file or folder – There is not enough free disk space” and will typically indicate an issue with available space on the target drive and not an issue with hard drive diagnostics needing to be performed.

This is not a very common issue today but it used to occur more frequently on much older used laptops which were running a FAT32 setup. This would generally be most likely to apply to laptops running a Windows operating system previous to Windows 2000 Professional on the consumer side. This would be even more unlikely on a Domain client in given business scenarios today.

In this scenario Internet Explorer first downloads the file to a temporary subdirectory and then will copy the file to the intended location. This obviously means that twice the file size is required in available hard drive space and when the temp directory and the destination location are on the same partition then this can be an issue if there is minimal available space on the partition.

Taking a look at just how much free space is available on the drive through the properties of My Computer will give you an indication of whether this is the obvious reason for the laptop error. If this is the case you may want to begin a thorough clean up process on the drive but always consider what data is important before you delete anything. You should always make backups of your data.

On much older used or refurbished laptops there may be the possibility that they are using the FAT32 file system which will have a file size limit of 4GB and would likely cause this exact error message. A 4GB file is a huge file even by today’s standards. This almost fills an entire standard DVD disc so keep in mind that this is still a very large file.

Typically the older computer operating system would be for example Windows ME, 98 or 95 as these were not designed to use NTFS. If you’re old laptop uses Windows NT, 2000, XP or above then you are more than likely running on the NTFS file system and not FAT32 so there is not a set 4GB file size limitation. In other words Win2k, XP and Vista laptops are most likely gong to be running on NTFS and this applies to Windows 7 as well.

If this is the case you could try using Firefox to download the file as it is designed to basically adjust to foregoing any temporary directory and DL straight to the destination if hard drive space is an issue.

If you had to DL a 4GB file with an old laptop computer using the FAT32 file system then you could attempt to change the IE Temporary Internet files location to a drive formatted with NTFS. You could also grab the file using FTP in DOS making sure that there was enough room on the destination drive.

Tags: hard drive diagnostics, laptop performance, Laptop Tech, old laptops, refurbished laptops, used laptops

Troubleshooting a new or refurbished laptops performance issue will often require taking a look at the system resources being used in the Windows Task Manager.

For example on an XP or Vista laptop the easiest way to open the Task Manager is to right click the Task Bar and choose Task Manager. The first tab which is called Applications is handy for discovering what actual applications are open at that specific point in time. This is useful because it can give an indication of what is causing the amount of Processes which are running. You can also see if any known spyware happens to be running as well.

The running processes are what you should really be interested in if it is a performance issue or there is suspected spyware infestation. Along the bottom of the Task Manager window you can see the number of processes running and you can also see the current CPU usage. If the system is basically idle your CPU usage should be very low as in basically zero.

If you just move your finger along the touchpad of your laptop computer then you will see the CPU Usage respond by going up a few percentage points. This is perfectly normal but if your processor is pegged at 100% then there is definitely a piece of software causing the performance issue. This is when I would look at the Processes running eating up the system resources in XP and other Windows operating systems.
If you click on the Processes tab next to the Applications tab you will then see the actual files and processes which are running as well as their PID, the amount of system memory they are using, and the percentage of the CPU they are using. This is where you can identify which file is using up system resources and 100% of the processor in this example.

You can sort the columns by clicking on the word CPU for example along the top of the Task Manager window. If you click on it once you will see it change from lowest to highest. System Idle Process will always show very high like 99% when no instructions are being sent to the processor.

However in this example if you were to find an application or file taking up a very large percentage of the new or refurbished laptops CPU power constantly, then you would be able to research and identify the file so that you could identify the application it is associated with. If it where spyware then you would know what you are dealing with and could progress accordingly. If it were an application which you intentionally use on your laptop computer then you would have to begin troubleshooting the particular application as to why it is eating up so much of the system resources and processing power.

There is a great deal more which can be done with the Task Manager when using it as a laptop troubleshooting tool. However this is just very basic information on how we use it when we are troubleshooting system resources on XP or Vista or basically any Microsoft operating system these days.

Tags: laptop computer, laptop performance, operating system, refurbished laptops, system resources, vista laptop