Your hard drive must be formatted with a file system such as FAT, FAT32 or NTFS so that Windows can be installed on to it. This system determines how files are named, organised and stored on the drive. If you’re not using it already, NTFS (New Technology File System) is recommended for Windows XP because of the additional functionality it offers. If your PC came with Windows XP pre-installed then there’s a chance that you’re already using NTFS. If you’ve upgraded from Windows 98 or Windows Me you may still be using FAT or FAT 32. The option to change over to NTFS would have been available during the upgrade process. Don’t worry if you skipped this as it’s possible to convert at any time from within Windows XP without losing any data.

The recommended option
There are a number of features in Windows XP that will only work if the NTFS file system is present, which is why it’s suggested you make use of it. File and folder permissions, encryption and privacy options are just some of those you’ll be able to access. In particular, those of you who have set up user accounts will find NTFS invaluable. For instance, if you continue to use FAT or FAT32 anyone with physical access to the drive will be able to access the files and folders that are stored there. However, with NTFS you’ll be able to use a level of encryption (Professional Edition only) that will enable you to protect your data.

You’ll also find NTFS more reliable in that it’s more able to recover from disk errors than its FAT or FAT32 counterparts. A log of all disk activity is kept so should a crash occur, Windows XP can use this information to repair the file system when your PC boots up again. To find out what file system you’re using, open My Computer, right-click your main hard drive and choose Properties. Take a look at the General tab to see confirmation of the file system that’s in use.

Convert now
You can use the convert tool in Windows XP to change the file system on your hard disk from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS. The whole process is safe and your existing data won’t be destroyed. To begin, click Start -> Run, type cmd and press [Return]. At the command prompt type convert c: /fs:ntfs and press [Return] (where ‘c’ is the letter of the drive you’re converting). When you try and run the convert utility, it’s likely that Windows XP will be using your paging file so the process won’t be completed immediately. Therefore, you’ll see a brief message on screen informing you that the conversion will take place instead the next time Windows starts up. Having restarted, the Check Disk utility will run, the conversion will be performed automatically and you may find that your PC will reboot twice more.

The benefits
With your drive now running NTFS, it’s time to take advantage of the new options that are available. Having created a number of different user accounts you can now control the level of access that’s granted to individual users. For example, there are going to be certain files and folders that you’ll want some users to be able to access but not others. If you have Windows XP Professional Edition you can do this immediately.

Right-click any file or folder, choose Properties and select the Security tab. A dialog will be displayed showing the names of all your users. Alongside will be two columns which enable you to select levels of access for each of them, the permissions include Full Control, Modify, Read and Write. You can then check the appropriate box to determine whether or not to Allow or Deny a particular permission. For Windows XP Home Edition users, the Security tab won’t be immediately available. To access this option you’ll need to restart your PC, pressing [F8] until a menu appears. Next select Safe Mode and wait for Windows XP to start up. You can then set your options in the same way.

Another feature is NTFS compression. It’s quick and seamless as your file or folder is decompressed automatically when you access it. (Don’t confuse this with a Zip compression utility where the files need to be extracted before they can be accessed.) Although you may have used NTFS compression on a file or folder, there’s no way of telling just by looking at it. To remedy this, open My Computer, click Tools -> Folder Options and select the View tab. Under Advanced settings, scroll down and check the option ‘Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color’, then click Apply and OK. Take a look at your compressed items in My Computer and you’ll see the text label has changed from black to blue. Something else that’s exclusive to Professional Edition users is the Encrypting File System (EFS). You can use this to protect your important data so that no one else can read it. Your encrypted files and folders will only be accessible when you have logged into your user account successfully.

The World Wide Web is home to a number of different types of websites. Virtually anything that someone is interested in can be found on a website, and there are a number of ways in which this information can be presented or displayed. Some individuals may be looking for websites that display a specific type of information, in the medium of video. Streaming video is a great form of video simply because it is very convenient and efficient for many people that are interested in seeing these videos. They take less time to begin playing than downloadable videos and they are easily located by the individual, since they simply have to go to a website and they do not need to be located in any obscure folders on the hard drive of your computer. When it comes to finding the best place for these videos, there are a number of places an individual can visit in order to find the best streaming video websites.

Considering where to find the best streaming video websites is not difficult, since the best ones are often the ones that more people know about. For example, You Tube is one website that many people are aware of, and it is very popular for being able to provide individuals with the videos that they would like to watch and embed on their own websites in some instances. It is very easily used and there are very few problems when it comes to new users being able to locate the specific files that they would be interested in viewing or using. There are a lot of different videos that are available on You Tube and this is one of the reasons that it is so popular. When places are able to offer high numbers of streaming videos for individuals, they are able to be more popular among different people, since the individuals are able to locate, all in one place, videos about different things. News websites and the like will often offer streaming videos, but the videos will be related to the website on which they are found. You Tube has all kinds of videos which will appeal to all different people.

Another great streaming video website would be the Google video section. This is a streaming video search that is an offshoot of the Google search engine. Many people are comfortable with this website, since many people have been familiar with Google for a number of years. Having familiarity with the name of the search engine, and it being a good search engine, allows people to connect the positive feelings that they have about the search engine Google with the video section of Google. For these reasons, many people are interested in using the Google video search when they are trying to find different sorts of streaming video clips to either view or link to other existing websites on the Internet so that more people can observe the video clip and obtain information or entertainment from the viewing of the clip.