All About windows 7, Installation Configuration setup guide And Hacking Or Tweak

Windows 7 News Christmas Themepack For Windows 7

2009-12-08T03:40:00.000-08:00

The new theme is a red Christmas theme for Windows 7 featuring both photos and drawn pictures of scenery related to Christmas.

The Christmas themepack has a size of less than nine Megabytes and comes with a total of nine different background images suited for all audiences. Take a look at the images below to see if this could be a nice theme for your desktop.

Windows 7 users simply need to unpack the themepack and double-click the .themepack file to automatically load it as a new theme.

DOWNLOAD

How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc

2009-11-22T02:05:00.000-08:00

This will show you how to create a Windows 7 system repair disc to use to boot to the system recovery options if you don't have a Windows installation disc, can't find your Windows installation disc, or can't access the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer.

1. Open the Start Menu.

A) In the search line, type recdisc.exe and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

B) Go to step 3.

OR

2. Open the Control Panel (All Items view), and click on the Backup and Restore icon.

A) Click on the Create a System recovery disc link in the left blue pane. (See screenshot below)

3. Insert a blank CD or DVD into your CD/DVD drive and click on the Create disc button. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: If you are prompted to insert a Windows installation disc, it means that the files needed to create the system repair disc cannot be found on your computer. Insert a Windows 7 installation disc.

4. It will now start creating the System Repair Disc. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: If a AutoPlay window pops up, just close it.

5. When it's finished, click on the Close button. (See screenshot below)

6. Click on OK. (See screenshot below)

7. Remove and label your new Windows 7 System Repair Disc from the CD/DVD drive.

How to Run the Memory Diagnostics Tool in Windows 7

2009-11-22T01:31:00.000-08:00

This will show you how to run the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool to test the Random Access Memory (RAM) on your computer for errors in Windows 7. The diagnostic includes a comprehensive set of memory tests. If you are experiencing problems while running Windows, you can use the diagnostic to determine whether the problems are caused by failing hardware, such as RAM or the memory system of your motherboard.

Tip (windows7park.blogspot.com)

If you suspect memory issues, then you may also want to consider using and running Memtest86+ at boot. Memtest86+ is a comprehensive stand-alone memory diagnostic program that you boot from at startup to test your RAM. You can download a ISO file to burn to DVD to boot with, or a floppy disk package installable from Windows to a USB flash drive or floppy disk to boot with.

1. To Start from within Windows 7

-A) Open the Control Panel (All Items View).

B) Click on the Administrative Tools icon, and click on Memory Diagnostics Tool.

C) Go to step 1F below.

OR

D) Open the Start menu.

E) In the Start Menu search box, type mdsched and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

F) Select the Restart now and check for problems option. (See screenshot below)

2. To Start from Windows Boot Manager - A) Boot into the Advanced Boot Options (press F8 while restarting) screen.

B) While in the Advanced Boot Options screen, press the Escape (Esc) key. (See screenshot below)

C) While in the Windows Boot Manager screen, press the Tab key. (See screenshot below)

D) With Windows Memory Diagnostics selected, press Enter. (See screenshot below)

E) Go to step 4.
3. To Start from System Recovery Options -

A) Boot into the System Recovery Options screen.

B) Select the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool option. (See screenshot below)

C) Select the Restart now and check for problems option. (See screenshot below)

4. The computer will now restart, and you will see this screen next. (See screenshot below.
NOTE: Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool will run the Standard test by default.

A) Go to step 6.

5. To Change the Memory Diagnostic Tool Options -

A) Press F1. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: If you have a multimedia keyboard, then you may need to press the Function (F-Lock) key for F1 to work.

B) Press the TAB key to switch between the option categories, and use the arrow keys to select the option. (See screenshot below)

C) When finished, press F10 to apply any changes you made to the options. (See screenshot above)
NOTE: Press the Escape (Esc) key if you do not wish to make any changes to the options and return to the screen below step 4.

6. When the test is finished running, it will automatically restart the computer.

NOTE: If errors are found, the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool will attempt to determine which particular memory module in your computer is causing these errors. If that information is available, it will be stated in the results after you log on from the restart. If bad memory is found then you will need to remove that memory and replace it.

Firefox Windows 7 Theme

2009-11-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

As per my choice, Firefox is the No 1 Browser in the world and millions of users are using it since more than 3years. In firefox out of the box has a very grey and boring theme, that doesn’t sit well with Windows 7, but this can be improved by installing this Firefox theme for Windows 7. The Windows 7 theme currently only works with Firefox 3.5, but full 3.6 support will probably be added once its beta is over.

To install just download the file and copy the userChrome.css in this archive to %appdata%/Mozilla/Firefox/Profiles//and reopen Firefox. To get the Aero Glass effect you also need to install the Firefox Addon Glasser.

Windows 7 Cheat Sheet

2009-11-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Here’s a little cheat sheet I made up for some of the handy new hot key combination, many of which I’ve become quite dependent on!

From Desktop

Windows Key + Tab : Aero [press Tab to cycle between Windows]
Windows Key + E : Windows Explorer is launched.
Windows Key + R : Run Command is launched.
Windows Key + F : Search (which is there in previous Windows versions too)
Windows Key + X : Mobility Center
Windows Key + L : Lock Computer (It is there from the earlier versions as well)
Windows Key + U : Launches Ease of Access
Windows Key + P : Projector
Windows Key + T : Cycle Super Taskbar Items
Windows Key + S : OneNote Screen Clipping Tool [requires OneNote]
Windows Key + M : Minimize All Windows
Windows Key + D : Show/Hide Desktop
Windows Key + Up : Maximize Current Window
Windows Key + Down : Restore Down / Minimize Current Windows
Windows Key + Left : Tile Current Window to the Left
Windows Key + Right : Tile Current Windows to the Right
[Continue pressing the Left and Right keys to rotate the window as well]
Windows Key + # (# is any number) : Quickly Launch a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar. Example Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Windows Key + = : Launches the Magnifier
Windows Key + Plus : Zoom in
Windows Key + Minus : Zooms out
Windows Key + Space : Peek at the desktop

From Windows Explorer

22. Alt + Up : Go up one level
23. Alt + Left/ Right : Back/ Forward
24. Alt + P : Show/hide Preview Pane

Taskbar modifiers

25. Shift + Click on icon : Open a new instance
26. Middle click on icon : Open a new instance
27. Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon : Open a new instance with Admin privileges
28. Shift + Right-click on icon : Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc). Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu.
29. Shift + Right-click on grouped icon : Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
30. Ctrl + Click on grouped icon : Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group

Windows 7 Manager v1.1.5

2009-11-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 Manager is a system utility that helps you optimize, tweak, and clean up Windows 7. It will increase your system speed, improve system security, and meet all of your expectations.

Why Should I use Windows 7 Manager?
Windows 7 is the newest Operating System for home users and professionals alike. Windows 7 brings clarity to your world, so you can more safely and easily accomplish everyday tasks and instantly find what you want on your PC.

Windows 7 Manager is the powerful software tool to tweak and optimize your Windows 7, it bundles more than 30 different utilities in one and help your system faster and more stable, secure and personal!

Features and Benefits of Windows 7 Manager:
* Information
Get detailed system and all hardware information on your system; help you find out the installation key of Windows, Office products; show all detailed information of running processes and threads on your machine; Windows 7 Manager offers 1-clicking cleans your system automatically.

* Optimizer
Tweak your system to improve windows startup and shutdown speed; tweak your hardware to increase system speed and performance; Optimize Task Schedule to turn off unnecessary system tasks.

* Cleaner
Find out which files or folders engross your disk space and shown with chart; Find and clean junk files to increase Hard Disk space; Duplicate Files Finder can scan your computer for files with the same size, name and modification time; Registry Cleaner can easily checks your registry and repair incorrectly linked registry entries, automatically remove invalid entries; Registry Defrag rebuilds and re-indexs your registry to reduce application response time and registry access time.

* Customization
Control what is started on Windows startup; tune up Windows 7 boot menu; edit context menus of mouse Right-Clicking; customize system desktop, menus, toolbar and notifications settings; automatically change your desktop wallpaper on background.

* Security
You can improve desktop, menus, Windows logon securities, and enable numerous hidden performance options of system, disable system updates and error reports; hide and restrict to access drives, specify which applications are not allowed to be executed on your computer; encrypt/decrypt and shred files, change the location of system folders; Privacy Protector can maintain your personal privacy by eliminating the tracks that you leave behind; create lots of randomization password once.

* Network
Optimize your Internet connection speed, manage all shares items; tweak your Internet Explorer easily.

* Misc. Utilities
Show the collection of Windows utilities; split and merge any file.

What's new in Windows 7 Manager 1.1.5:
· Junk File Cleaner updated to v1.4, fix the bug for multi-OS.
· Privacy Protector updated to v1.5
· System Information updated to v1.2
· Logon Background Changer updated to v2.0
· Visual Customizer updated to v2.0

x86 Download

x64 Download

Windows 7 ReadyBoost: What is it, How to use it ?

2009-11-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

What is ReadyBoost?

A feature first introduced in Windows Vista, ReadyBoost is a way to use most kinds of flash memory (USB drive, SD Card, Compact Flash) to help speed up your system by using it in addition to your physical memory as disk cache. Basically, it is almost like adding more RAM on-the-go without having to crack open your PC case and install it. The feature uses a technology called Superfetch which basically pre-loads information for applications enabling them to start-up more quickly than usual. This is capable because it frees up physical memory and because flash memory can read-write faster than a hard drive.

Can I use ReadyBoost & what are the minimum system requirments?

The requirements for ReadyBoost are fairly basic and should apply to almost any PC made within the last 10 years:

The computer must have USB 2.0 compatibility
The USB drive or flash must be USB 2.0 capable
The removable media’s capacity must be at least 256 MB—250 MB after formatting.
Vista only allowed less than 4GB of memory for ReadyBoost, but Windows 7 allows up to eight devices for a maximum of 256 GB of additional memory.

How do I use ReadyBoost?

Plug in your USB flash drive or flash memory card into your computer.
The computer should detect the device and AutoPlay should pop-up, click on Speed up my system.
If AutoPlay is not enabled, click on Computer, then right-click on the USB flash drive or flash memory card, and click on Properties then the ReadyBoost tab. Click the Use this device option and choose how much space you would like to associate with this device by moving the slider. You can allocate all of the memory on the device by checking the Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost, then Click OK.

Note: Any space that is allocated for use with ReadyBoost will not be usable space for saving files with this device.
If at any time you would like to revert the device back for normal use, right-click on the Properties option, then the ReadyBoost tab and check Do not use this device.

Fix for Windows 7 v 4.0

2009-11-16T23:25:00.000-08:00

Fix for Windows 7 - the universal collection of fixes and patches for the operating system Microsoft Windows 7. Recommended to install these fixes only on a freshly installed system, to avoid problems of compatibility with the installed programs and corrected!

From this assembly have been removed all the old fixes, correcting problems in assemblies up to 7100. All remote fixes can be found in the Fix for Windows 7 v.3.5 The program is compatible with all builds of Windows 7 x86 and x64! Most of the patches applied only after restarting the computer.

Components:

Boot Speed:

Boot Optimize (xalex) - Optimize system files at boot time (default is off). Performing necessary, in a few days (after optimization) is accelerated to boot.
Scandisk (xalex) - Reduce the time to start the disk check at system startup (Scandisk) to 5 seconds. By default, 10 seconds.
Prefetch (xalex) - Cache files at boot time (optimal). By default, everything is cached.

Desktop:

Fix for RU lang (decepticon_bot and xalex) - Fixes a problem with the encoding, converts the Cancel button, Apply, and solves problems with the launch of help.
Hide Blur (Angel of Despair) - Disable blyura in the windows (in the style of Aero). Works only in assemblies comprising the main development branch winmain!
Aero Shake (Angel of Despair) - Disabling Aero Shake (feature that lets you close all inactive applications by mouse movement. For its activation is sufficient to capture the title bar and a little "shake" left-right).
Hover Time speed (Kuzya Marinin) - Accelerating the opening menus and windows preview applications.
Thumbnail Cache (xalex) - Disable caching of images (thumbnails).
No Shortcut (xalex) - Do not add "Shortcut to ..." when creating new shortcuts.
Disk Space Check (xalex) - Disable checking free disk space (will not be yelling "little space on the disk!"Image.
Auto Restart Shell (xalex) - Avtoperezapusk conductor on error.
Screen Rotator (luke_smily_face) - A small program that will change the logon screen each time you start the system to a new image.
No Arrow (loginvovchyk) - Removes the arrows on shortcuts.
Logon Changer (Tweaks.com) - Changes the background of the login.
Theme Patcher (deepxw) - Allows the use of unsigned third-party Theme Windows.
Watermark off (deepxw) - Removes the inscription in the lower right corner of the desktop.
WMP12 Changer (tauqu33r husa! N) - Allows you to change the background image of Windows Media Player 12 in the mode library.
Icon Streams clear (Kuzya Marinin) - Remove obsolete elements in the system tray.
Ctfmon fix (Kuzya Marinin) - Restore the Language bar.

System speed:

Last Access (xalex) - Start recording the last access to the files (default off). Need to see the last time they access the file.
Dr. Watson Disable (xalex) - Disable kernel debugger Dr.Watson. Frees system resources, slightly faster system performance.
IRQ8 Priority (xalex) - Increase the priority of interrupts IRQ8 (increases the speed of the system).
Large System Cache (xalex) - Streamline (increase) system cache. Include only if volume more than 1GB of memory!
Paging Executive (xalex) - Leaving the system kernel in memory (not to throw in the paging file is disabled by default). Speeds up the system, reduces the number of disk accesses.
Hiber off (Kuzya Marinin) - Turn off hibernation, thus osvabozhdaet on the hard drive up to 2 GB.
UAC off (Kuzya Marinin) - Disabling UAC (User Account Control) without having to reboot.
No Report (xalex) - Do not send to Microsoft error reporting.

LAN:

Up and Download (xalex) - Accelerate Download and Upload. It speeds up the network and the Internet (especially on high-speed connections).
Disable IPv6 (xalex) - Disabling protocol IPv6. It can speed up the network and the Internet.
DisableTeredo (xalex) - Disable proxy Teredo. It can speed up the network and the Internet.
Half-open limit fix Half-open limit fix (patch) for Windows - Home[/URL]) - designed to change the maximum number of concurrent half-open connections in the system file tcpip.sys.
Connect Fix (xalex) - Program for Internet connection (solves the problem with the login and password for Internet connection)
LanLight for Win7 (7sh3) - The program for those who lack an indicator of network activity in the system tray a la XP. It only works if the system is installed on drive C.
Termsrv.dll Patch (deepxw) - Allows to run two or more remote desktops.

Other:

Disable DEP (xalex) - Function DEP is disabled for the entire system, regardless of hardware support for DEP. Can prevent departures in BSOD (blue screen of death).
Super Hidden (xalex) - Show hidden files.
Fix for games (xalex) - Allows you to install games require SP1, SP2 or SP3.
Touch Fix (Angel of Despair) - Builds brencha Windows 7 RC was discovered defect, which was not corrected in the final RC. Multi-touch after certain actions quits. Restoration work took place only after a reboot. We recommend that you install this fix to resolve this problem. News for all builds of Windows 7 RC, since 7070.
Aero CMD (Komalo) - Makes the command prompt window (CMD) "Fiberglass".
Aero PowerShell (CompuGeek Software) - Makes the window PowerShell "Fiberglass".
Become owner * (???) - Allows you to become the owner and ask the full access to the object.
Empty folder (Domovou) - Allows you to delete all the contents of the folder.
WMP x64 Fix (Kristan Kenney) - Makes WMP x64 in Windows 7 x64 player by default.
Taskbar Jumplist (Hedgehog) - Allows you to create your own dzhamplisty with any content on superbare.
Windows Mail (Microsoft, finalized Kuzya Marinin) - Allows you to run Windows Mail in Windows 7.
Windows Calendar (Microsoft, finalized Kuzya Marinin) - Calendar from the Windows Vista, fully working in Windows 7.
W7Mount (xalex) - The program for the integration of language packs in the distribution of Windows 7. More here.
VHDMount (???) - Allows you to connect and disconnect virtual VHD-drives.
WST Place Fan (Kuzya Marinin) - Allows you to quickly jump to the site WST-Place - through the context menu).
Slmgr.vbs (Microsoft, finalized xalex and Kuzya Marinin) - A set of commands to extend the trial period of Windows 7. You can use only 3 times.

Security:

VirusTotal Uploader VirusTotal - Free Online Virus and Malware Scan - Allows you to send files to a known resource VirusTotal - Free Online Virus and Malware Scan using the context menu when you click "Send". You can send a suspicious file for review, 41 anti-virus and get a full report on the results of verification.
SFC Scan (Angel of Despair) - Starts the test maintain the integrity of system files and possibly corrects damaged or modified files.

Activators:

****** activator v.1.0.1 (****** user Ru-board) - Emulate OEM SLIC marker through the boot of Windows 7 - bootmgr (only for Window 7 Ultimate x86 - x64).

AktKMS v.2 (xalex) - Utility for activating volume editions of Windows 7, through the CCM server.

On comp time must coincide with the time MMR server (where indicated, Greenwich)!

1) Select the Editor

2) Select IMR server

3) Set the key (button 1)

4) Sedin server (button 2)

5) Enable (button 3)

6) Check the status of the activation button 4 (works on any version of Windows).

Slmgr.vbs (Microsoft, finalized xalex and Kuzya Marinin) - A set of commands to extend the trial period of Windows 7. Reset can be used only 3 times.

Info:

RC Release Notes (Microsoft) - The official list of problems and bugs in Windows 7 RC and methods for their removal (English).
Super-Admin (??? With modification Kuzya Marinin) - Instructions for obtaining the rights of a super-administrator.
VHD to ISO (Lexodey) - How to Create ISO-image of Windows 7 VHD-file.

Added:

+ Full support for Windows 7 build 7600.

+ Added module automatically checks for new versions of the product.

+ Added module "RunWga 2.1".

+ Added module "Disable Libraries".

+ Added module "SmartClick".

+ Added module "Windows 7 Loader".

+ Added module "Aero Controller".

+ Added module "VirtualPC Install".

+ Added module "VirtualPC Releasenote".

Deleted:

- Module "Hide Blur".

- Module "Connect Fix".

- Module "Windows Mail".

- Module "RC Release Notes".

- Module "****** act * vator v.1.0.1".

- Module "Half-open limit Fix".

Corrected:

+ Changed interface.

+ Fixed module "No Arrow".

+ Fixed module "Flip3D".

+ Fixed module "Logon Changer".

+ Fixed module "W7Mount".

+ Fixed bugs in the program.

+ Fixed bugs and typos in the Help.

DOWNLOAD

Download great 90 Windows 7 Themes

2009-11-16T03:57:00.000-08:00

Super collections of 90Windows 7 Themes

Download

How to Reduce Firefox Memory Usage in Windows 7

2009-11-15T23:20:00.000-08:00

Information

When you use the computer, probably running many software, each of them needs ram memory. RAM is very important , because the faster the frequency of the RAM the faster the software runs. In this tutorial we will move Firefox to your hard drive instead of memory when you minimize it. When we do that, firefox will take up much less ram memory.

1. Open a new tab in Firefox, then type in about:config in the address bar and press enter.

2. After this, a warning message will appear. Click on I´ll be careful, I promise !.

3. In about:config settings, right click anywhere and select New and Boolean as shown below.

4. In New boolean value, type config.trim_on_minimize and click on OK.

5. Select true and click on OK.

6. Close and restart Firefox for these settings to take effect.

How to Change the Start Menu Button in Windows 7

2009-11-15T22:58:00.000-08:00

This will show you how to change the Start Menu button orb in Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit.

WARNING

REMEMBER TO BACK UP EXPLORER.EXE!

Information

The explorer.exe you want to edit is:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe

and not C:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe (for those running x64)

And for those who use the larger DPI's i.e 125% , 150% you need to change:

6806 - 66 x 198
6807 - 81 x 243
6808 - 106 x 318

NOTE: The start orb replacement always HAS to look like this:

1 orb: Orb when not in use (when not clicked or mouseover'ed)
2 orb: mouseover
3 orb: When start orb is clicked

1. Download Restorator (Shareware) (Restorator 2007 Resource Editor - Restorator - Bome Software)

2. Take ownership of the whole Windows folder (see these links for more info: Take Ownership of file - Vista Forums and Take Ownership Shortcut)

3. Open explorer.exe with restorator

4. Go to the folder called "Bitmap"

5. Replace 6801.bmp, 6805.bmp, and 6809.bmp (as seen on the picture, you will need to right click and click assign, and then click assign to, then select your file.)

6. Go to "file" and Save as explorer.exe on your desktop

7. Go to the windows folder and rename explorer.exe to explorer.exe.bak and then copy-paste the new explorer, Kill the process in task manager and start it again.

Now you have a new start button!

How to Speed Up Windows 7 Desktop and Shutdown

2009-11-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

METHOD ONE: Through a Download

1. Click on Save, and save the .zip file to the desktop.

2. Open the .zip file and extract the .reg file to the desktop.

3. Right click the .reg file (On Desktop) and click on Merge.

4. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.

5. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply the changes.

6. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg and .zip files on the desktop if you like.

METHOD TWO: Through a registry script

Here is a registry script that you can paste into notepad and save as a .REG file. Then follow step three above. (details are given at the end of the code to explain what each registry command does)

Please save your registry before you make these changes. To do so, type in start menu ''regedit''. Select file and export. (Name the file Full registry around 35 megs). You may also write down original settings and reset.


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000001
"NoResolveSearch"=dword:00000001
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001
"NoInternetOpenWith"=dword:00000001
 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"
 
[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"
 
[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"
 
 
NoLowDiskSpaceChecks = Low Disk Notification 
deactivated
 
LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo = Determines whether Windows traces shortcuts back 
to their sources when it cannot find the target on the user's system.
 
NoResolveSearch = Prevents the system from conducting a comprehensive search 
of the target drive to resolve a shortcut.
 
NoResolveTrack = Prevents the system from using NTFS tracking features to
resolve a shortcut.
 
NoInternetOpenWith = Specifies whether to use the Microsoft Web service
for finding an application to open a file with an unhandled file association. 
 
AutoEndTasks = Specifies whether user processes end automatically when 
the user either logs off or shuts down Windows .
 
HungAppTimeout = Specifies how long the system waits for user 
processes to end after the user clicks the End Task command button in 
Task Manager. 
 
MenuShowDelay = Specifies the interval from the time the cursor is 
pointed at a menu until the menu items are displayed.
 
WaitToKillAppTimeout = Specifies how long the system waits for user 
processes to end after the user attempts to log off or to shut down 
Windows. When the time specified in this entry expires, the End 
Task dialog box appears, stating that the process did not respond. 
If the value of AutoEndTasks is 1, the system ends the process
automatically.
 
LowLevelHooksTimeout = This tweak changes the time to wait to kill 
a service, which is not responding
 
WaitToKillServiceTimeout = Determines how long the system waits 
for services to stop after notifying the service that the system is 
shutting down.

WARNING

Please use at your own risk!!

How to Add Quick Launch In Windows 7

2009-11-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

One of the first things I noticed after installing Win7 was there wasn't an option for the Quick Launch Bar that we all had become accustomed to in XP and Vista. So, this tutorial is to show you how to get the Quick Launch Bar back in Win7.

Right click on an empty space on the Task Bar (it's the bar at the bottom of the screen where the clock is) and remove the check out of 'Lock the task bar'. Right click once again and select 'New tool bar.

Copy and paste the following code into the location bar. see pic below

%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

Click the blue arrow in the location bar to make sure the address looks like the one below.

Now click the 'Select Folder' button.

Now you can see the Quick Launch bar in the task bar, but it is all the way to the right, near the clock. If you remembered to unlock the task bar, then all you do is mouse over the dotted line beside QL bar until the mouse pointer turns into a double pointed arrows, left click once and hold and drag it all the way to the left next to what used to be the Start Button (it is now a button with the Windows Logo on it). Now, do the same thing to the other side to bring the end all the way over to the left. (remember to click on the dotted lines)

One step left to go. Right click on the dotted lines and remove the check marks from "Show text" and "Show title.

Once you have the QL bar where you want it, right click on the task bar once again and put a check next to 'Lock the task bar.'

There! you have a Quick Launch bar once again.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 7

2009-11-15T06:44:00.000-08:00

For managing the Windows was and is always an easy task. Using keyboard shortcuts makes it more easier and can help you to get around Windows really fast. Using keyboard shortcuts also increases a user’s efficiency. Here I have compiled a list of over 340 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts which might come in handy for you, or atleast some of them. These are not everything, but they should keep you busy for a while. If we missed some, we appreciate a heads up.

Note: Many of these will work in Vista and Xp.

Ease of Access keyboard shortcuts

* Right Shift for eight seconds: Turn Filter Keys on and off
* Left Alt + Left Shift + PrtScn (or PrtScn): Turn High Contrast on or off
* Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock: Turn Mouse Keys on or off
* Shift five times: Turn Sticky Keys on or off
* Num Lock for five seconds: Turn Toggle Keys on or off
* Windows logo key + U: Open the Ease of Access Center

General keyboard shortcuts

* F1: Display Help
* Ctrl + C (or Ctrl + Insert): Copy the selected item
* Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
* Ctrl + V (or Shift + Insert): Paste the selected item
* Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
* Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
* Delete (or Ctrl + D): Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
* Shift + Delete: Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
* F2: Rename the selected item
* Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
* Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
* Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
* Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
* Ctrl + Shift with an arrow key: Select a block of text
* Shift + any arrow key: Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
* Ctrl + any arrow key + Spacebar: Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
* Ctrl + A: Select all items in a document or window
* F3: Search for a file or folder
* Alt + Enter: Display properties for the selected item
* Alt + F4: Close the active item, or exit the active program
* Alt + Spacebar: Open the shortcut menu for the active window
* Ctrl + F4: Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
* Alt + Tab: Switch between open items
* Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
* Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size of icons on the desktop
* Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
* Ctrl+ Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
* Alt + Esc: Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
* F6: Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
* F4: Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer
* Shift + F10: Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
* Ctrl + Esc: Open the Start menu
* Alt + underlined letter: Display the corresponding menu
* Alt + underlined letter: Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
* F10: Activate the menu bar in the active program
* Right Arrow: Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
* Left Arrow: Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
* F5 (or Ctrl + R): Refresh the active window
* Alt + Up Arrow: View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
* Esc: Cancel the current task
* Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open Task Manager
* Shift when you insert a CD: Prevent the CD from automatically playing
* Left Alt + Shift: Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled
* Ctrl + ShiftL: Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled
* Right or Left Ctrl + Shift: Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + Tab: Move forward through tabs
* Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move back through tabs
* Tab: Move forward through options
* Shift + Tab: Move back through options
* Alt + underlined letter: Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter
* Enter: Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands
* Spacebar: Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
* Arrow keys: Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
* F1: Display Help
* F4: Display the items in the active list
* Backspace: Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

Windows logo key keyboard shortcuts

* Windows logo key: Open or close the Start menu.
* Windows logo key + Pause: Display the System Properties dialog box.
* Windows logo key + D: Display the desktop.
* Windows logo key + M: Minimize all windows.
* Windows logo key + Shift + M: Restore minimized windows to the desktop.
* Windows logo key + E: Open Computer.
* Windows logo key + F: Search for a file or folder.
* Ctrl + Windows logo key + F: Search for computers (if you’re on a network).
* Windows logo key + L: Lock your computer or switch users.
* Windows logo key + R: Open the Run dialog box.
* Windows logo key + T: Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
* Windows logo key + number: Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
* Shift + Windows logo key + number: Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Ctrl + Windows logo key + number: Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Alt + Windows logo key + number: Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
* Windows logo key + Tab: Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
* Ctrl+Windows logo key + Tab: Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
* Ctrl+Windows logo key + B: Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
* Windows logo key + Spacebar: Preview the desktop.
* Windows logo key + Up Arrow: Maximize the window.
* Windows logo key + Left Arrow: Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Right Arrow: Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Down Arrow: Minimize the window.
* Windows logo key + Home: Minimize all but the active window.
* Windows logo key + Shift + Up Arrow: Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
* Windows logo key + Shift+ Left Arrow or Right Arrow: Move a window from one monitor to another.
* Windows logo key + P: Choose a presentation display mode.
* Windows logo key + G: Cycle through gadgets.
* Windows logo key + U: Open Ease of Access Center.
* Windows logo key + X: Open Windows Mobility Center.

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Open a new window
* Ctrl + W: Close the current window
* Ctrl + Shift + N: Create a new folder
* End: Display the bottom of the active window
* Home: Display the top of the active window
* F11: Maximize or minimize the active window
* Ctrl + Period (.): Rotate a picture clockwise
* Ctrl + Comma (,): Rotate a picture counter-clockwise
* Num Lock + Asterisk (*) on numeric keypad: Display all subfolders under the selected folder
* Num Lock + Plus Sign (+) on numeric keypad: Display the contents of the selected folder
* Num Lock + Minus Sign (-) on numeric keypad: Collapse the selected folder
* Left Arrow: Collapse the current selection (if it’s expanded), or select the parent folder
* Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box for the selected item
* Alt + P: Display the preview pane
* Alt + Left Arrow: View the previous folder
* Backspace: View the previous folder
* Right Arrow: Display the current selection (if it’s collapsed), or select the first subfolder
* Alt + Right Arrow: View the next folder
* Alt + Up Arrow: View the parent folder
* Ctrl + Shift + E: Display all folders above the selected folder
* Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons
* Alt + D: Select the address bar
* Ctrl + E: Select the search box
* Ctrl + F: Select the search box

Taskbar keyboard shortcuts

* Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program
* Ctrl + Shift + Click on a taskbar button: Open a program as an administrator
* Shift + Right-click on a taskbar button: Show the window menu for the program
* Shift + Right-click on a grouped taskbar button: Show the window menu for the group
* Ctrl + Click on a grouped taskbar button: Cycle through the windows of the group

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

* Windows logo key + Plus Sign or Minus Sign: Zoom in or out
* Ctrl + Alt + Spacebar: Preview the desktop in full-screen mode
* Ctrl + Alt + F: Switch to full-screen mode
* Ctrl + Alt + L: Switch to lens mode
* Ctrl + Alt + D: Switch to docked mode
* Ctrl + Alt + I: Invert colors
* Ctrl + Alt + arrow keys: Pan in the direction of the arrow keys
* Ctrl + Alt + R: Resize the lens
* Windows logo key + Esc: Exit Magnifier

Remote Desktop Connection keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + Page Up: Move between programs from left to right.
* Alt + Page Down: Move between programs from right to left.
* Alt + Insert: Cycle through programs in the order that they were started in.
* Alt + Home: Display the Start menu.
* Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch between a window and full screen.
* Ctrl + Alt + End: Display the Windows Security dialog box.
* Alt + Delete: Display the system menu.
* Ctrl + Alt + Minus Sign (-) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the active window, within the client, on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrtScn on a local computer).
* Ctrl + Alt + Plus Sign (+) on the numeric keypad: Place a copy of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PrtScn on a local computer).
* Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.
* Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow: “Tab” out of the Remote Desktop controls to a control in the host program (for example, a button or a text box). Useful when the Remote Desktop controls are embedded in another (host) program.

Paint keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Create a new picture
* Ctrl + O: Open an existing picture
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a picture
* F12: Save the picture as a new file
* Ctrl + P: Print a picture
* Alt + F4: Close a picture and its Paint window
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select the entire picture
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Right Arrow: Move the selection or active shape right by one pixel
* Left Arrow: Move the selection or active shape left by one pixel
* Down Arrow: Move the selection or active shape down by one pixel
* Up Arrow: Move the selection or active shape up by one pixel
* Esc: Cancel a selection
* Delete: Delete a selection
* Ctrl + B: Bold selected text
* Ctrl + +: Increase the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
* Ctrl + -: Decrease the width of a brush, line, or shape outline by one pixel
* Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
* Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
* Ctrl + E: Open the Properties dialog box
* Ctrl + W: Open the Resize and Skew dialog box
* Ctrl + Page Up: Zoom in
* Ctrl + Page Down: Zoom out
* F11: View a picture in full-screen mode
* Ctrl + R: Show or hide the ruler
* Ctrl + G: Show or hide gridlines
* F10 or Alt: Display keytips
* Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
* F1: Open Paint Help

WordPad keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Create a new document
* Ctrl + O: Open an existing document
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a document
* F12: Save the document as a new file
* Ctrl + P: Print a document
* Alt + F4: Close WordPad
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select the entire document
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Ctrl + B: Make selected text bold
* Ctrl + I: Italicize selected text
* Ctrl + U: Underline selected text
* Ctrl + =: Make selected text subscript
* Ctrl + Shift + =: Make selected text superscript
* Ctrl + L: Align text left
* Ctrl + E: Align text center
* Ctrl + R: Align text right
* Ctrl + J: Justify text
* Ctrl + 1: Set single line spacing
* Ctrl + 2: Set double line spacing
* Ctrl + 5: Set line spacing to 1.5
* Ctrl + Shift + >: Increase the font size
* Ctrl + Shift + <: Decrease the font size
* Ctrl + Shift + A: Change characters to all capitals
* Ctrl + Shift + L: Change the bullet style
* Ctrl + D: Insert a Microsoft Paint drawing
* Ctrl + F: Find text in a document
* F3: Find the next instance of the text in the Find dialog box
* Ctrl + H: Replace text in a document
* Ctrl + Left Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the left
* Ctrl + Right Arrow: Move the cursor one word to the right
* Ctrl + Up Arrow: Move the cursor to the line above
* Ctrl + Down Arrow: Move the cursor to the line below
* Ctrl + Home: Move to the beginning of the document
* Ctrl + End: Move to the end of the document
* Ctrl + Page Up: Move up one page
* Ctrl + Page Down: Move down one page
* Ctrl + Delete: Delete the next word
* F10: Display keytips
* Shift + F10: Show the current shortcut menu
* F1: Open WordPad Help

Calculator keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + 1: Switch to Standard mode
* Alt + 2: Switch to Scientific mode
* Alt + 3: Switch to Programmer mode
* Alt + 4: Switch to Statistics mode
* Ctrl + E: Open date calculations
* Ctrl + H: Turn calculation history on or off
* Ctrl + U: Open unit conversion
* Alt + C: Calculate or solve date calculations and worksheets
* F1: Open Calculator Help
* Ctrl + Q: Press the M- button
* Ctrl + P: Press the M+ button
* Ctrl + M: Press the MS button
* Ctrl + R: Press the MR button
* Ctrl + L: Press the MC button
* %: Press the % button
* F9: Press the +/– button
* /: Press the / button
* *: Press the * button
* +: Press the + button
* -: Press the – button
* R: Press the 1/× button
* @: Press the square root button
* 0-9: Press the number buttons (0-9)
* =: Press the = button
* .: Press the . (decimal point) button
* Backspace: Press the backspace button
* Esc: Press the C button
* Del: Press the CE button
* Ctrl + Shift + D: Clear the calculation history
* F2: Edit the calculation history
* Up Arrow key: Navigate up in the calculation history
* Down Arrow key: Navigate down in the calculation history
* Esc: Cancel editing the calculation history
* Enter: Recalculate the calculation history after editing
* F3: Select Degrees in Scientific mode
* F4: Select Radians in Scientific mode
* F5: Select Grads in Scientific mode
* I: Press the Inv button in Scientific mode
* D: Press the Mod button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + S: Press the sinh button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + O: Press the cosh button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + T: Press the tanh button in Scientific mode
* (: Press the ( button in Scientific mode
* ): Press the ) button in Scientific mode
* N: Press the ln button in Scientific mode
* ;: Press the Int button in Scientific mode
* S: Press the sin button in Scientific mode
* O: Press the cos button in Scientific mode
* T: Press the tan button in Scientific mode
* M: Press the dms button in Scientific mode
* P: Press the pi button in Scientific mode
* V: Press the F-E button in Scientific mode
* X: Press the Exp button in Scientific mode
* Q: Press the x^2 button in Scientific mode
* Y: Press the x^y button in Scientific mode
* #: Press the x^3 button in Scientific mode
* L: Press the log button in Scientific mode
* !: Press the n! button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + Y: Press the y?x button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + B: Press the 3?x button in Scientific mode
* Ctrl + G: Press the 10x button in Scientific mode
* F5: Select Hex in Programmer mode
* F6: Select Dec in Programmer mode
* F7: Select Oct in Programmer mode
* F8: Select Bin in Programmer mode
* F12: Select Qword in Programmer mode
* F2: Select Dword in Programmer mode
* F3: Select Word in Programmer mode
* F4: Select Byte in Programmer mode
* K: Press the RoR button in Programmer mode
* J: Press the RoL button in Programmer mode
* <: Press the Lsh button in Programmer mode
* >: Press the Rsh button in Programmer mode
* %: Press the Mod button in Programmer mode
* (: Press the ( button in Programmer mode
* ): Press the ) button in Programmer mode
* |: Press the Or button in Programmer mode
* ^: Press the Xor button in Programmer mode
* ~: Press the Not button in Programmer mode
* &: Press the And button in Programmer mode
* A-F: Press the A-F buttons in Programmer mode
* Spacebar: Toggles the bit value in Programmer mode
* A: Press the Average button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + A: Press the Average Sq button in Statistics mode
* S: Press the Sum button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + S: Press the Sum Sq button in Statistics mode
* T: Press the S.D. button in Statistics mode
* Ctrl + T: Press the Inv S.D. button in Statistics mode
* D: Press the CAD button in Statistics mode

Windows Journal keyboard shortcuts

* Ctrl + N: Start a new note
* Ctrl + O: Open a recently used note
* Ctrl + S: Save changes to a note
* Ctrl + Shift + V: Move a note to a specific folder
* Ctrl + P: Print a note
* Alt + F4: Close a note and its Journal window
* Ctrl + Z: Undo a change
* Ctrl + Y: Redo a change
* Ctrl + A: Select all items on a page
* Ctrl + X: Cut a selection
* Ctrl + C: Copy a selection to the Clipboard
* Ctrl + V: Paste a selection from the Clipboard
* Esc: Cancel a selection
* Delete: Delete a selection
* Ctrl + F: Start a basic find
* Ctrl + G: Go to a page
* F5: Refresh find results
* F5: Refresh the note list
* F6: Toggle between a note list and a note
* Ctrl + Shift + C: Display a shortcut menu for column headings in a note list
* F11: View a note in full-screen mode
* F1: Open Journal Help

Windows Help viewer keyboard shortcuts

* Alt + C: Display the Table of Contents
* Alt + N: Display the Connection Settings menu
* F10: Display the Options menu
* Alt + Left Arrow: Move back to the previously viewed topic
* Alt + Right Arrow: Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic
* Alt + A: Display the customer support page
* Alt + Home: Display the Help and Support home page
* Home: Move to the beginning of a topic
* End: Move to the end of a topic
* Ctrl + F: Search the current topic
* Ctrl + P: Print a topic
* F3: Move the cursor to the searchbox

How to install Windows 7 Themes

2009-11-15T01:09:00.000-08:00

This will be a guide how to install Windows 7 themes properly. You can install themepacks created on Windows 7 by double-clicking on it, but for 3rd party themes you will have to patch your uxtheme.dll and some other dll files first.

Before installing 3rd-party themes: Create a backup

Microsoft does not allow you to use themes that modify the shell of Windows 7 or other parts like the Start orb or the taskbar. In order to install those themes you will have to patch your uxtheme.dll, themeui.dll and themeservice.dll, which can be found “C:\Windows\system32\”.

Before you try to install any themes please make a backup of those files!! I won’t repeat this and you are doing any changes at your own risk, I don’t take any responsibility.

Method 1: Background Service UXStyle Core

The first and probably easiest way to install Windows 7 themes is to use the UXStyle Core tool (created by Rafael withinwindows.com).

The UXStyle Core tool can downloaded from http://uxstyle.com/ or from our own server: Download UXStyle Core

This tool will create a new process “UnsignedThemesSvc.exe” that is running in the background and will allow you to run 3rd-party themes properly.

After rebooting your PC, you should check if the service “Unisgned Themes” is started. To do that follow a few instructions:

1. Click on Start
2. Enter services.msc into the search field
3. Enter “U” and look for the service “Unsigned Themes”
4. Double-click it and click on “Start”
5. If it could not find the specified file, you should download

Troubleshooting Unsigned Themes service

Error:
Windows could not start the Unsigned Themes service on local computer.
Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.

Fix:
Download Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package
x32 Download
x64 Download

Sidenote: Before you use the UXStyle Core, you should deinstall any previously installed UXTheme.dll patches. The UXStyle Core is working on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

If you have problems installing unsigned themes after installing UXStyle Core, check if the service is started: Enter “sc start UnsignedThemes” into command line or follow the instructions above.

Reboot your PC after installing UXStyle Core!

Method 2: Universal Theme Patcher

Alternatively, you can download the Universal Theme Patcher created by deepxw that works with Windows XP SP2 SP3/2003/2008/Vista SP1 SP2/Windows 7, 32bit(x86)/64bit(x64). This won’t create another background process, instead it will patch your files.

Download Universal Theme Patcher.

This patcher will automatically patch the following files on Windows 7: uxtheme.dll, themeui.dll, themeservice.dll

In order to patch the files, you will to run this with administrator privileges. To provide admin rights, right-click on the file and select “Run as administrator”:

The tool will automatically create a backup of the file, so it’s totally safe, because you can always restore the original file:

Some Easy Ways to Make Windows 7 Faster

2009-11-14T22:36:00.000-08:00

If you’re looking for even more speed from your Windows 7 PC, then here are more ways to speed up Windows 7

Speedup External Hard Drives

Write caching is disabled for external drives by default in Windows, so that you can remove external drives without losing any data. Enabling write caching will provide a significant performance increase for external drives:

Click Start and type “Device Manager” and open Device Manager
Expand “Disk drives” and right-click your external hard drive and select Properties
click the “Policies” tab and click “Optimize for performance”
Check “Enable write caching on the device” and “Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device” then click Ok
Reboot to apply changes

Increase SATA Disk Performance

Enabling write caching will also improve SATA hard drive performance

Follow steps 1 to 3 above, but select your SATA drives
Only check “Enable write caching on the device” and then click Ok
Reboot to apply changes

Faster Menus & Mouse

Reduce the amount of time it takes for menus to appear:.

Click Start and type “regedit” and open the Registry Editor
Left-click on the expandable arrow next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER and expand the Control Panel folder, and then select “Desktop”
On the right hand side find “MenuShowDelay” and doubleclick it. Reduce the value to any number between 400 (default) and 1 – the lower the number the smaller the delay in ms between clicking on a menu and the action occuring
Now below Desktop on the left select “Mouse”. On the right hand side find “MouseHoverTime” and doubleclick and chose a low number for faster mouseovers
Reboot

Disable Thumbnail Previews

Windows 7’s thumbnail preview feature takes up a lot of resources just to show a few small images rather than folder icons. To disable the thumbnail previews:

Open Computer and click on “Organise” in the menu and select “Folder and Search” options
Click on the “View” tab and in the “Files and Folders” options check the “Always show icons, never thumbnails” option
Click “Apply” and then OK

Faster Windows 7 Taskbar

Another registry tweak that will reduce the amount of resources used to create your Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail previews:

Click Start and type “regedit” and open the Registry Editor
Left-click on the expandable arrow next to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” and then “Software” and expand until you get to the Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced folder
Right click on Advanced and select “New DWORD”, then enter the following value: “ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime”
Right click on “ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime” and select “Modify”. Choose “Decimal Base” and enter your new number in milliseconds. A good number to use is 200.
Select “Ok” and then reboot

If you’re looking for more Windows 7 tips then don’t forget to subscribe Windows 7 Park

Restrict Access to Programs with AppLocker in Windows 7

2009-11-14T00:29:00.000-08:00

If you share a computer and don’t want other users accessing certain applications, there is a new feature in Windows 7 that allows you to block them. Today we take a quick look at restricting what programs other users can access using AppLocker.

Note: AppLocker is only available in Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows 7.

Using AppLocker

To access Group Policy Editor and create rules in AppLocker you’ll need to be logged in as Administrator. Click on Start and type gpedit.msc into the search box and hit Enter.

Under Local Computer Policy go to Computer Configuration \ Windows Settings \ Security Settings \ Application Control Policies \ AppLocker.

Now you will see the overall controls for the applications.

Under Configure Rule Enforcement click on the Configure rule enforcement link.

Now under AppLocker Properties check the boxes next to Configured under Executable rules then click Ok.

Blocking Apps from Running

In this scenario, Jack wastes time playing games like Minesweeper and Solitaire when he should be doing his homework, so we are going to block all of the games. After completing the steps above, under the Overview section click on Executable Rules.

Since this is your first time accessing AppLocker, there will be no rules listed. Right-click and select Create New Rule…

This opens up the Create Executable Rules wizard and you can select not to show the introduction screen at start up for the next time you access it.

Select Permissions under Action select Deny.

Add the user you want to block, in this case it’s Jack.

After you’ve selected the deny action and selected the user continue to the next step.

In Conditions you can select from Publisher, Path or File hash. We don’t want Jack to have access to any of the games. so we will select Path.

Click on Browse Folders and select the Microsoft Games folder.

In the next screen you could add Exceptions like allowing certain files, but because we are blocking the entire games directory we’ll skip to the next screen.

Here you can add a description to the rule so you can keep track of them is there are several rules configured. When everything looks right click on Create.

A message pops up saying default rules haven’t been created yet. It is important to make sure they are created so click Yes to this message.

Now you will see the default rules and the new one you created showing Jack is denied access to the Microsoft Games directory.

After creating the rule make sure and go into services and make Application Identification is started and that it’s set to automatically start as well otherwise the rules won’t work. By default this service is not started so you will need to enable it.

Now, when Jack logs into his user account and tries to access the games he will only see the following message. Only an Administrator can go in and change the rule.

Conclusion

Use caution when configuring the rules and only start the Application Identity service after everything looks right. Otherwise you have the potential of locking yourself out of all applications including AppLocker.AppLocker is a powerful feature included in Windows 7 and we showed you a basic rule so you can get an idea of how it works. In the future we’ll take a look at more complex tasks to accomplish and gain tight control over what programs each user is able to access.

Disable User Account Control (UAC) the Easy Way on Win 7

2009-11-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 makes it much easier to deal with UAC settings, and in fact you don’t have to completely disable UAC if you don’t want to. Just type UAC into the start menu or Control Panel search box.

You can simply drag the slider up or down, depending on how often you want to be alerted.

If you drag it all the way down to the bottom, you’ll have disabled it entirely.

How to Create Move To And Copy To On Windows 7

2009-11-12T05:39:00.000-08:00

Here’s Windows 7 Tutorial the quick registry hack to get this working . As usual, back up your registry just in case. You will want to browse down to this key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Once you are at that key, right click and choose the New Key option:

Now you will double-click on the (Default) value and enter the following:

{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Click OK and continue.

If you want to enable Move To, you will repeat the same steps, except creating a new key named Move To, and using this value:

{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Now when you right click on a file or folder, you should see the options

How to Install Windows 7 On macintosh

2009-11-12T05:28:00.000-08:00

Before you start to install windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp you will need the following:

All firmware updates installed on your Mac (use Apple Button -> Software Update… to check)
A Windows 7 installation DVD
Your OS X Leopard installation DVD
At least 10GB of empty hard drive space on your Mac (you can probably get away with less but you’ll have almost no room to install anything other than the OS)
An hour if all goes well, up to 5 hours if not
Though not absolutely required, it’s a VERY good idea to have a complete and up to date Time Machine backup of OS X – it really came in handy for me. Because part of the process involves partitioning your drive, there’s always the distinct chance something will go wrong and everything will be wiped out.
Patience, possibly a great deal of it. Having a book handy will also help kill time during the partitioning, installing etc).

Installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp

Here goes. First thing – close absolutely every open program you can. That includes those things running in the Apple Menu that you always forget about. Don’t worry about killing the Dock or Dashboard – having those running is fine.
Now open a Finder and navigate to Applications -> Utilities and double-click Boot Camp Assistant.
Click Continue on the initial Introduction screen. Ignore the fact that it doesn’t mention Windows 7 as a possible OS to install.
Now you have to decide how much space you want to allocate to Windows 7. You might be able to get away with going as low as 6GB, but I would highly advise against it. You’ll have almost no space left over to install software, and your page file in Windows might cause frequent crashes. I opted for 20GB, which left me with just a bit over 16GB to use after installing Windows 7.To change the amount of space to dedicate to Windows 7, click the small divider between Mac OS X and Windows, and drag it to the left.
Once you’ve determined how much space you want to allocate to Windows 7, click the Partition button.
The partitioning itself doesn’t take particularly long. If you receive an error, proceed to step 10 of the “How to install Vista with Boot Camp” tutorial. It provides all the troubleshooting info you need to resolve partitioning issues. Once you’ve cleared up any problems, or if everything just goes smoothly, proceed with the next step in this tutorial.
Once completed you’ll notice a new BOOTCAMP drive on your desktop.
Now insert your Windows 7 DVD and click the Start Installation button.
Your Mac will restart, and Windows 7 will boot. You’ll be prompted with a window asking you which partition you want to install Windows on. Select the one with BOOTCAMP in the Name column. Selecting anything else may wipe out OS X or cause serious problems. Then select the Drive options (advanced) link.

BOOTCAMP

Format

Click OK.
And Windows 7 will begin to install. It’s a fairly boring process, so you may want to grab yourself a cup of coffee or your beverage of choice. But don’t go too far away, because when your system reboots, you’ll need to remove the Windows 7 DVD.
With the Windows 7 DVD removed, your Mac will automatically boot back into Windows 7, and the installation will complete. You’ll be prompted to select your language, keyboard layout etc. The rest of the Windows 7 installation process is very straight forward.
Once the installation has completed and your Mac has restarted again, you’ll be able to use Windows 7. WiFi will work immediately (no drivers to install) so connect to the Internet. Windows 7 will then begin to download updates, including the proper video card driver. Let it do its thing.
Once completed, you’ll be prompted to reboot yet again. Do so.
Once Windows 7 boots back up again, you’ll notice the resolution is much better, and you can enable the advanced graphics features.
But if you check for sound, you’ll notice there are no sound drivers installed.
Insert your OS X Leopard DVD. When prompted, select Run setup.exe.
The Boot Camp installer will launch. Click Next to begin.
Select I accept the terms in the license agreement and then click Next again.
Make sure that Apple Software Update for Windows is checked, and click Install.
The Boot Camp installer will do its thing, and install all the required drivers.
Notifications will pop up with each driver that gets installed.
Once completed, click Finish.
And yet again you’ll be prompted to reboot. Remove your OS X Leopard DVD from the drive, and click Yes to restart.
If you still have problems with sound not working, you’ll need to install the Realtek drivers. Windows 7 Tutorial will explain what to do.
That’s it, you’re done! When your Mac boots, hold down the Option key to select which Operating System you want to boot into Windows 7 tutorial.

Customize windows 7 with Win7Zilla (a Windows7 Utility Manager)

2009-11-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

Win7Zilla is an all-in-one utility software that can meet your system maintenance requirements. It is a utility manager where the settings can be applied to take effect immediately unlike other tweaking software. You can download the application from here

Once you download the software, install the application in your system.

After the application is installed, launch it; click Start =>Win7Zilla.

The Main Window: Allows Change to Windows7 Settings

There are six links that will allow you to customize the Windows7 settings.

One of the modifiers: TaskBar

Desktop And Personalization

The System And Security Settings

The Control Panel Settings Modifier has Four Links

Internet Explorer with four modifier links

The application’s links show that Win7Zilla has depth in it’s control settings. These settings offer a lot of modifying opportunity.

Create Custom Windows 7 Sound Schemes With iFX Seven Sound Creator

2009-11-12T04:38:00.000-08:00

Although Windows 7’s sounds are ‘ok’, personally I don’t think they are as good as the sounds in previous Windows versions. Microsoft seem to have given free reign to the Windows 7 wallpaper team, but restricted the windows 7 sound team.

If you’re looking for a way to jazz up your Window 7 sounds then check out iFX Seven Sound Creator. This free application allows you to create your own custom Windows 7 sound schemes:

System requirements:

Windows 7, Vista, XP
Intel Processor above 1.0mg’s
512mb or RAM
~20mb Of Hardrive
15” Screen above 800×600
Mouse, Keyboard, and Speakers/headphone
Windows Media Player 11 or 12 (12 is on Windows 7 only)

How to Keep Windows 7 from Slowing Down?

2009-11-12T04:07:00.000-08:00

I have been using Windows 7 for almost one month and I haven’t noticed a lag in speed since the first install. I have been installing and unistalling drivers and programs and currently I do not using any startup programs to speed things up. However, my parents, whose PC runs on older hardware has seen a slight slow down on boot and general program use. We certainly cannot expect Windows to take all of the abuse an average user throws at it and have it continue to speed up or stay the same, so I gave my parents some elementary, yet helpful tips for maintaing their PC’s performance, not just in Windows 7, but in any version of Windows. I thought this might be helpful for other users as well:

1. You’re running out of space – As is often the case with PC’s who have had a Windows installation for a while without reformatting, an at-capacity hard drive may slow down your Windows 7 installation. Most users will constantly install new software and never give a thought about removing previous installations or unused softwares titles. I can’t tell you how many times a friend has asked me to speed up their computer, only to find that they have a five-page list of programs on their PC that needs to be removed.

2. Time to run a disk defragmenter – When a user is constantly installing an uninstalling programs, a hard drive will leave pieces of those programs in different places throughout the drive. When the user goes to use a specific program, the hard drive will need to search different locations to access that information, creating a longer wait time. To remedy this, a hard drive should be defragmented fairly often. I would say every few months, at least, to keep everything running smoothly.

3. Garbage-ware and installing more and more and more programs – This point is almost directly related to point number 1 because new programs are the main reason for a hard drive being at capacity. It is worth mentioning that small programs and garbage-ware downloaded from the internet are often a huge cause of a PC slowing down. My rule of thumb is to only have programs installed that are going to be used on a daily basis or are a necessity. Anything else is just going to get in the way.

4. Startup programs kill boot times – I am always looking at speeding up boot times and usually this can be achieved by keeping those startup programs from loading everytime Windows does. Most garbage-ware comes with a small program that loads itself on Windows startup and stays running, in the background, slowing things down even more. For those not used to solving this problem, you can access a list of startup programs by clicking on Start then typing ‘msconfig’ into the search box (in earlier versions of Windows: Start->Run and type in ‘msconfig‘ and click OK). You will then click on the Startup tab and uncheck those programs that you’d prefer not to have run at startup. (Do some research on which programs to uncheck, because some may need to start up when Windows does)

5. Certain Security software is sometimes a drag – While a few security suites have slimmed down their software to keep from hogging resources, there are a few name suites that continue to slow PC’s down because they are constantly running. You may want to test a few out and see which ones are known to hog resources.

6. It may be time for a memory upgrade – While Windows 7 has made leaps and bounds in managing programs and memory, Microsoft’s new OS is certainly no miracle worker. It can only do so much with so little. If you are trying to run a million programs on only 1GB of Ram or less, then it might be time to pop open the wallet and invest in some more. After Windows has used up the allotted memory, it replaces actual Ram with a page file, which is much slower. If you have noticed your system slowing down after much use, you might want to do a memory check.

7. Shut down every now and then – There is great debate over whether it is better to shut down all the time or keep the system running. Personally, I subscribe to the belief that shutting the system down every night is best for my system. (Mostly because I like to refresh my Ram and start over) This may be a bit more often than necessary, but if I don’t plan to use my PC for a few hours, it is turned off. I have a very quick-booting Windows 7 installation, so I’m not bothered by the constant powering on and off.

Some users always argue that turning a computer on and off constantly is harder on the hard drive, but hard drive manufacturers note that this is not the case with modern hard drives and heat is usually the common denominator for hard drive failures.

8. Remove the crapware from a new PC – This is very common with store-bought PC’s, so I don’t believe that I need to go into much detail here. Navigate to add-remove programs and remove anything that is not necessary and any program trials that you will not be subscribing to.

Of course there are many reasons why a Windows installation could start to slow down, but these are the most common culprits that I have found. Hope it helps.

Let us know if you have found any specific keys to keeping your Windows 7 installation running quickly and I will add it to this list and credit you accordingly.

Configuring System Restore In Windows 7

2009-11-12T03:49:00.000-08:00

System Restore is an undo function for the Windows operating system. It can be used to restore a previous version of the operating system easily which by default includes files but also system settings. This can come in handy in numerous occasions but especially if a recent change to the system, e.g. a driver or software installation, has made the computer system unstable.

The System Restore in Windows 7 allocates 4% of the drive space of the hard drive Windows is installed on automatically. While that does not sound like much it means a size of 40 Gigabytes on a 1 Terabyte hard drive. Depending on the size of the partition it is usually a good idea to either increase or decrease the allocated space for system restore. Here is how this is done:

One easy way to access the System Restore configuration is to open a Windows Explorer window, locate the Computer link in the left sidebar, right-click that link and select Properties from the context menu. This will open up the System information in the Control Panel. A click on the System Protection link in the left sidebar will open the System Properties configuration menu. A final click on System Protection will display the System Restore configuration menu.

This menu offers controls for System Restore in Windows 7. It will furthermore display the drives that are currently configured to use System Restore and those that are not. A selection of a drive and a click on the Configure button opens yet another menu that displays detailed configuration information about the hard drive. This includes the percentage that is currently allocated for System Restore, that size in Megabytes and the current usage.

The screenshot above shows the system protection settings for a drive 260 Gigabyte hard drive. System protection uses roughly 900 Megabytes on that drive currently and can allocate a maximum of 9,36 Gigabytes for restore points.

It is possible to change the percentage that Windows can allocate for system protection to free up disk space for other data. It is furthermore possible to delete previous system restore points and to change the restore settings. Windows 7 will by default save system settings and previous versions of files. This can be changed to only restore previous versions of files. Users who do not want to use system restore can also turn it off completely in the menu.

18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn't

2009-11-12T02:02:00.001-08:00

Well, yesterday i changed my PC operating system to Windows 7 and as per my experience , windows 7 is the best version of operating system Microsoft ever release. In fact, there aren't many changes to the overall look of Windows 7 when compared to Windows Vista. Instead, Microsoft seems to have paid attention to the feedback it received and created an OS that is not only stable, but also very capable.

So what is new in Windows 7? Here are 18 cool things Windows 7 does that Vista doesn't.

1. Shake 'em away

Ever had 10 Notepad, two Powerpoint and 50 Outlook windows open? Want to minimise all of them except the most important one? In Windows 7, you can grab the top of the window and shake it about to scare away all of the other open windows. Simple.

2. Jumplists

Jumplists are a new feature that give you the option to view a list of recently accessed files by application, even when the application isn't open, by right-clicking on the application's icon in the taskbar. It also allows you to quickly access a favourite playlist without opening your media player. Jumplists can also be found integrated into the Start Menu.

TIME-SAVER: The Jumplist for Windows Explorer – pretty useful

START HERE: A Jumplist integrated into the Start Menu

3. A step forward in previewing

In Vista, hovering over a minimised window on the taskbar would provide a preview of the window. In Windows 7, a similar preview pops up which also gives the option to close a window (within the preview), along with a full-size 'peek'. You can also press Win + T to scroll along previews in the taskbar.

PREVIEW PLUS: A smaller preview, along with a full-size 'peek' with the ability to close the window

4. Snap into place

Simply drag your window to the left or right edge of the desktop to snap and resize the window to one half of the screen. Drag the window to the top to maximise it. A pretty neat idea made neater by the use of the keyboard shortcuts (Win + respective arrow keys). No longer do you have to frustratingly position the mouse at the edge of the window to resize it.

5. XP Mode

This time, you do not have to slap your head that same way when Vista would not run an XP application. For those XP applications that do not work under Windows 7, you can download XP Mode free from the Microsoft website and run XP applications in an emulated XP environment in Windows 7. Imagine Parallels on Mac OS X without the need to fish out money on an extra OS.

6. An easier and quicker way to adjust multiple displays

Do you constantly connect your computer to different external monitors or projectors, especially at work? Try Win + P, and duplicating or extending your display to the other monitor takes just a second. Win + P presents you with an Alt + Tab style menu, which is ideal if you give a lot of presentations at work on your laptop.

7. A personalised Stage for your device

With the new 'Device and Printers' button on the Start Menu, devices which are connected to your computer can have their own Stage. This Device Stage presents supported devices with a photo-realistic render and a link to the vendor's website, along with other updates and useful information (such as firmware updates and manuals).

8. (Almost) eliminate the notification area!

What, I can even get rid of the clock and volume icons? Yes. Click the arrow that gives access to the overflow icons in the notification area and click 'customise'. Select each icon and click 'hide icon and notifications' to remove it. Clean.

QUIETER: Stop all those notifications – but you might want to keep the clock there

9. Problem Steps Recorder

The 'Problem Steps Recorder' lets you record a particular problem you are having with your PC so you can send it to someone who may be able to help. Click 'Record', and a screenshot is taken with every mouse click, allowing comments to be added in between if required. These screenshots (and comments, if any) are placed in a well-formatted HTML document that is placed inside a zipped folder on your desktop - ideal to be attached to an email.

A PROBLEM HALVED: Simple, yet so effective. Send this to tech savvy friends or even manufacturers

10. A brand new Magnifier tool

If you are, or someone you know, is visually impaired, then the Windows 7 Magnifier provides two options for providing a bigger display. One of which is using the traditional dock (which took up a lot of the screen) and the other being a rectangular lens that is stuck to the cursor (meaning there is no loss of workspace).

UP CLOSE: A sleek new magnifier that follows your cursor, without decreasing your workspace

11. A new way to preview your music files

Opening and listening to an MP3 is a lot more snappier with Windows 7 due to its new smaller preview player, presenting you with album art, basic music functionality and a link to the full-blown Windows Media Player. This is an obvious attempt to mimic the preview feature of Mac OS X, but it is very well executed.

MUSIC PREVIEW: The new preview is simple – and loads up very quickly

12. Homegroup Networking

In Vista (or, frankly, any Windows OS), creating a shared folder over a network at home could be a bit of a pain. In Windows 7, using the 'Homegroup' wizard, check the default folders you would like to share. This will give you a passcode that will have to be entered in another computer on the same network to share the files. Sounds too good to be true? There is a catch: only a Windows 7 computer can join a Homegroup.

13. Stream Music directly to another computer

If you do create a Homegroup, Windows Media Player allows you to stream music directly to another computer. So, instead of listening to music through your measly laptop speakers, you can wirelessly stream to the 7.1 Surround Sound Speakers of your PC in your living room, without stepping away from your laptop. Sweet.

14. Action Center

The Action Center is the new Security Center for Windows 7, along with other notifications such as updates and access to the improved troubleshooting and recovery using restore point facilities. Basically, it is everything windows usually annoys you with, rolled into one place with one icon in the notification bar. If you find the alerts irritating, you can check out this tip to make the Windows 7 Action Center less annoying.

15. Pin just about anything to the new Windows Taskbar

Imagine a blank Mac OS X Dock with the start menu, the notifications bar and the improved 'Show Desktop' button added to it. Drag just about anything on to it and the associated application will place itself on the translucent taskbar, with an option to open the file in the Jumplist.

16. Improved Touch Navigation

Windows 7 has much improved touch navigation. The larger taskbar with squarer icons makes it a lot easier to navigate with your fingers, and Macbook-like multi-touch gestures on various applications could change the way you interact with windows. Subtle enhancements such as a larger Start Menu appearing when Touchscreen hardware is detected also help.

17. Native ISO Burner

There are those times when you inevitably have to burn an ISO file (such as when you have to copy a downloaded Windows 7 beta or RC) to a DVD. With Windows 7 you do not need to download third-party software (some of which are pretty confusing to use). Double-clicking on an ISO file will take you to a window that allows you to change the disc burner drive. Click 'Burn'. After a while, your disc is ready. Simple.

FINALLY: Burning an ISO file has never been so easy

18. Native calibration tools

If you tend to hook up your computer to an HDTV or care about getting the highest quality from your monitor, then the in-built basic and easy-to-use calibration tools built into Windows 7 will please you.