1.
I am trying to change my Windows XP settings so that -- instead of "My
Pictures" appearing as the target file when saving an image -- an
image is saved to a file on my peripheral hard drive.  Any way I can
set this up to automatically happen?

2.
When I save any Office file (either "Save" or "Save As", the
"Save In" column on the left-side of the window restricts me to the
following files: History, My Documents, Desktop, Favorites and My
Network Places.  Can this be tweaked to delete some of these targets
and add new ones, such as specific client files?

3.
My system is not "remembering" my username or passwords; how can I
remedy this?  Also, any recommendations for software to store
passwords, et al, so they can be stored and auto-retrieved as needed
as I surf the Web?

Hi there,

Here's the answers to your questions.

1.) To change this setting requires a knowledge of how to edit your
registry. If you have no idea what the registry is or how to edit it,
please see the WinGuides.com tutorial at
http://www.winguides.com/article.php?id=1&guide=registry. Make sure
you watch what you're doing. Even the smallest change to the wrong
entry could cause quite the problem for your computer. If you'd rather
not mess with the registry directly I suggest that you download Xteq's
X-Setup program from http://www.xteq.com. Using the included plugins
you'll be able to fix your first two problems. If you'd like help
using X-Setup to solve these problems feel free to ask for
clarification.

Anyway, if you know how to edit the registry here's what to do. First,
navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell
Folders. In that folder you'll entries for most of the data folders on
your system. You can edit any of them including the My Pictures folder
to whatever you please.

2.) This article at Annoyances.org describes how to add your own
custom entries to the places bar, as well as removing the predefined
ones. Due to copyright restrictions, I can't paste it here, but you
can hop on over to http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article08-804
to find out how.

3.) The solution to this problem lies in your IE options dialog. To
get there click Tools\Internet Options in any IE window. Next, click
the Content tab and then the AutoComplete button. Checking the "User
names and passwords on forms" and "Prompt me to save passwords" boxes
should solve the problem.

As for 3rd party programs to remember your passwords for you, I have a
bit of advice. You might run across a program called Gator. If so,
stay FAR FAR AWAY! Gator may have this password remembering feature,
but it also contains spyware (http://www.cexx.org/gator.htm). However,
I've found a free program that claims to do the password remembering
without the spying. It's called RoboForm
(http://www.roboform.com/index.html) and is a free program that seems
to offer the features that you're looking for.

I hope that solves your problems! If not, please feel free to ask for
clarification.
Deadlychiapet-ga

Google search terms used:
changing "my pictures"
places bar
automatically fill in passwords
X-Setup

WOW!  Perfect answers and great guidance!  Thanks for the thorough
response, plus alternatives.  This exceeded my expectations in both
timeliness AND completeness.  Will post another notice if I runn into
any snags.  Thank you so much!