Despite initial appearances, it's not very hard to master Windows and, once you have, you'll find it surprisingly simple to make it work the way you want it to. The key to doing this is learning the tips and tricks that advanced users take for granted. Once you have done so, you will find that you can work and play faster and more efficiently than before.

Over the next few pages, we will take a look at 30 of the most useful tips and skills that, with a bit of practice, will transform a novice into an experienced computer user. And that's not to say that they are hard to pick up; in many cases it is just a case of digging out a feature that has been carefully hidden by the designers of Windows.

Take a look and see if there are any ways in which you can polish up your PC skills. You won't regret it.

1. Move and copy files
Once you have created or received a file (a word processing document such as a letter, for example) you can move or copy it to new places. Dragging and dropping is the easiest way - place your mouse cursor over the file and hold down the left mouse button. If you move the mouse while holding down the button, the file will move. Release the mouse button to 'drop' the file. Try moving some files between open windows and the Desktop. To copy a file, hold down the Ctrl key and repeat the process. When you release the mouse, the original file will remain and a copy will appear in the place you dragged the file to.

2. Navigate using keyboard shortcuts
Although the mouse is the norm for controlling Windows, there are some tasks that can be performed quicker using the keyboard and of course they're handy to know if your mouse stops working. Press the Alt key to move to the menu bar when you are in a window. If you see a menu name with a letter underlined, pressing that letter will take you to that menu item. Then if an item contained in that menu has an underlined letter, you can press that letter to select the item. Press the Tab key to move between buttons, boxes or text areas, and press Enter to 'click' on a button. If you want to close down, Alt+F4 will close the current application, or if there are no programs open, the keys will close Windows down.

3. Use shortcuts in Word
Windows isn't the only thing you can control using the keyboard. When you're typing away in Word, it might be easier to use a keyboard shortcut than make a command using the mouse. As before, Alt and the corresponding underlined letter will take you to the menu bar. Press the menu key on the keyboard (the one to the right of the space bar between Alt Gr and the right Control key) to get a menu with some formatting and thesaurus options. Use Ctrl and C to copy, Ctrl and V to paste, and Ctrl then X to cut. Hold down shift and use the cursor keys to select text, and use Ctrl and Z to undo the last thing you did.

4. Install and remove new hardware
When you plug a new piece of hardware into a PC, Windows XP should automatically recognise what it is. Simple devices such as USB keys, and even some cameras, require no software or drivers and can be used straight away. If not, a box will pop up saying Windows needs to install the device. If you are lucky, Windows will already have a driver installed and you won't have to do anything. Otherwise you will need to insert the CD that came with the new hardware and follow the instructions. If you have no CD, XP will offer to look for the driver on the internet if you are connected. To remove USB hardware, click the green arrow icon in the System Tray and select the hardware you want to disconnect.

5. Send image files as attachments
You can attach any file to an email message by right-clicking on it in Windows Explorer and selecting 'Send To', then 'Mail Recipient'. This will open a new email message with your file attached. If you want to attach a picture, you can do the same thing, but you might want to edit it first - right-click on it and select 'Open With' then select your picture editor from the list. When you have made the changes, save it under another name using the 'Save As' command in the File menu, and attach the new file to your message. If the image you want to send is on a CD, copy it to your Desktop first, as XP can't send directly from CDs.

6. Search your hard disk
There are plenty of places you might store a document, a music file or a picture on your computer. To help you find them later, Windows has a built-in search tool. Go to the Start menu, click on Search and follow the instructions. This can take a long time, though. A better idea might be a Desktop search program such as Copernic or Google Desktop, both of which are free. Install them and they will index your hard disk, which may take a couple of hours, but you can then search for documents at lightning speed.

7. Hard disk maintenance (including disk cleanup and defragmenter)
Windows comes with a couple of tools to keep your hard disk in tip-top condition. To use Disk Cleanup, click on Start, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Cleanup. This will find all the old or outdated files on your PC that can be thrown away to save space. Another tool is the defragmenter, which will rearrange the files on the disk to speed up the working of the computer. Close all open programs, then click on Start, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and Disk Defragmenter. Choose which disk to work on, if you have more than one, and follow the prompts. Be warned, though, that this is a lengthy process.

8. System restore and backup
Windows XP (and Windows Me) comes with System Restore, which can help avoid nasty tangles when installing new programs. If something you install makes the computer behave oddly, you can use System Restore to reset the computer to how it was before. Go to Start, then All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click on System Restore. Don't just rely on that, though. Make sure you regularly back up all your documents, email, favourites and important files. You can simply copy these files to a CD (see tip 12).

9. Update software online
Once you buy a piece of software, that's not the end of it. Most software - especially Windows - now comes with online updates and it's important to get these if you use the internet. To turn on Automatic Updates, right-click on the My Computer icon (it's either on the Desktop or in the Start menu) and click on the Automatic Updates tab in the dialogue box that appears. Make sure the 'Automatic' setting is selected and click on OK. To do it manually, go to Windows Update in Internet Explorer (it won't work in other web browsers) and follow the instructions. To download updates for other software, such as spyware killers or virus checkers, look for a button or section marked 'update' or something similar. If it's not there, try the 'support' section of the maker's website.

10. Create desktop shortcuts
If you want to open a program, you go to the Start menu and find it, then click on it, right? There's an easier way - if you have commonly used programs that you want easy access to, make a Desktop shortcut for each of them. Just find the program in the Start menu and instead of left-clicking on it, right-click and hold down the mouse button. Drag it to the Desktop and let go, then select Copy from the menu that appears. You can also clean up your Desktop - simply drag to the Recycle Bin any shortcuts you are not using. You won't delete the programs themselves - they will still be available from the Start menu as before.

11. Use internet options tools in Internet Explorer
You can control how Internet Explorer works and make sure it cleans up after itself using Internet Options. Open Internet Explorer and click on the Tools menu, then Internet Options. Click on the Delete Files button to clear the cache - the web files stored on your computer - to save space. If you click on the Settings button, you can set how much hard disk space the cache uses by moving the slider. Back in the main options panel, use the Clear History button to remove the traces of websites you have visited - for example if you have used email or online banking on a public computer.

12. Create a CD
The latest version of Windows Media Player, version 10, makes it much easier to burn a CD than previous versions. At the top of the playlist panel at the right of the window is a button marked Now Playing List. Click on it and select Burn List from the menu. Then just drag and drop files from your library, other playlists or from Windows to the Burn List. When you are done, click on the Burn tab at the top of the window and click on the Start Burn button. You will, of course, need to insert a recordable CD. You can also drag other types of file to the Burn List and we recommend doing this with valuable documents now and then to make sure you have a backup in case of accidents or hard disk errors.

13. Remove spyware
There are two main programs we recommend for spyware and adware removal - SpyBot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware. Download and install both, then open Ad-Aware. The first thing to do is update it. To do this, click on the tick, then on Connect and follow the instructions. When it finishes, click on the Start button to begin the scan. When it's done, close it and launch Spybot, then click on the Search for Updates button. Tick all of the boxes that appear and click on Download Updates, then click on the Search & Destroy button on the left and select 'Check for problems', then follow the instructions.

14. Adding a trusted site to a firewall
Once you have set up your firewall, you need to tweak it every so often to make sure it is working correctly. If you have a home network, for example, you will need to add the other computers as 'trusted hosts' so that the PC can communicate with them. To do so, open the firewall's control panel or dashboard, and look for a section marked 'trusted hosts'. Choose the option to add a host, and then type in the IP address of the other computer. If you don't know the other PC's IP address, right-click on the network icon (the two screens) in the System Tray, and click on Status, then go to the Support tab, where the IP address will be listed.

15. Use the Google advanced search tool
Using Google isn't just a case of typing in words and clicking on Search. Well, it is, but it can do other things that will make your searches much more useful and effective. Open the Google home page and click the Advanced Search link to the right of the search box. Here you have several options for narrowing down your search - you can choose which words to include or exclude, choose a language in which to search, search by date and search one particular site.