How To Disable Control Panel in Windows 7
If you have a shared computer that your family and friends can access, you might not want them to mess around in the Control Panel, and luckily with a simple tweak you can disable it.
Microsoft : Windows 7
Start using your PC the way you want — with less waiting, less clicking and fewer hassles. Experience it yourself. Windows 7 is an Operating System of Microsoft Windows, produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers.
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Microsoft Windows 7
Windows 7 is the latest release of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers.
Microsoft Windows 7
Windows 7 is the latest release of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs.
Microsoft Windows 7
Windows 7 changes the Vista user interface; most notably, a new taskbar, called the "Superbar," is similar to the Dock in the Mac.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Windows 7 Tips
How To Delete a VHD in Windows 7
Windows 7 has a neat feature where you can create Virtual Hard Drives and even encrypt them. Today we show you how to delete it if you no longer need the drive and regain local hard drive space.
Virtual Hard Drive
In a previous post we showed you the steps for creating a VHD. Remember when creating a VHD it’s using the space on the volume where you create it.
When you no longer have a use for it, you can go into Computer Management by right-clicking Computer then Manage.
In Computer Management go under Disk Management, right-click on the VHD you want to get rid of and select Delete Volume.
Agree to the warning message that appears. You probably want to make sure and head its advice and make sure there is no data you need on it.
Windows 7 Tips
How to Delete a System File in Windows 7 or Vista
If you need to delete or overwrite a system file in Windows 7 or Vista, you’ll quickly notice that you cannot delete system files, even as administrator. This is because Windows system files are owned by the Trusted Installer service by default, and Windows File Protection will keep them from being overwritten.
Thankfully, there’s a way that you can get around this. You need to take ownership of the files, and then assign yourself rights to delete or modify the file. For this, we’ll use the command line.
Open an administrator command prompt by typing cmd into the start menu search box, and hit the Ctrl+Shift+Enter key combination.
To take ownership of the file, you’ll need to use the takeown command.
Here’s an example:
takeown /f C:\Windows\System32\en-US\winload.exe.mui
That will give you ownership of the file, but you still have no rights to delete it. Now you can run the cacls command to give yourself full control rights to the file:
cacls C:\Windows\System32\en-US\winload.exe.mui /G username:F
Windows 7 Tips
How To Add Recycle Bin to “My Computer” in Windows 7 or Vista
Have you ever wanted to add the Recycle Bin to your My Computer screen? Yeah, it’s probably not the most common request, but here’s how to do it anyway with a simple registry hack.
To make this tweak, we’ll be doing a quick registry hack, but there’s a downloadable version provided as well.
Manual Registry Tweak to Add Recycle Bin
Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace
Now that you’re there, you’ll need to right-click and create a new key.
Name the key with the following text:
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Once you are done, it should look like this:
Windows 7 Tips
Hidden Trick to Close Windows Explorer in Windows 7 or Vista
If you want to test an explorer shell plugin or registry hack without having to log off, more technical users will usually just kill the explorer.exe process in Task Manager. Windows Vista has another way to do the same thing that you might not be aware of.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Windows 7 Tips
Enable Military Time in Windows 7 or Vista
It’s really very simple to enable the system clock to show military time in Windows 7 or Vista, but the setting is not in an obvious place, so you might not have found it.
To change this setting, we’ll need to get to the Regional and Language Options screen. The easiest way to do so is just enter intl.cpl into the Start menu search box and hit enter. Otherwise, type region into the Control Panel.
From the Regional and Language Options dialog, click the “Customize this format” button, and then select the Time tab.
Change the time format dropdown as shown:
You’ll notice from the key that the capital letter H means 24 hour time, and a single letter means that it won’t display the leading zero.
Windows 7 Military Time
It’s even easier in Windows 7 – just change the drop-down as shown:
Windows 7 Tips
Disable System Restore in Windows 7
If you need a way to save some hard drive space one trick is to decrease the size or completely disable the System Restore feature. We like to share all options on how to take control of your operating system, so for readers living on the edge this tip is for you.
Note: Keep in mind Windows 7 is just being released and there could be bugs, crashes, etc., and you won’t be able to restore your system if disaster strikes!
Windows 7 Tips
Disable Sidebar / Desktop Gadgets on Windows 7
If you just can’t see the point of the desktop Gadgets included in Windows 7, or even the Sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista, you’ll be happy to know that you can easily disable them with a simple configuration change.
Windows 7 Tips
Disable Scan and Fix for Removable Drives in Windows
Sometimes you’ll be prompted to scan and fix a removable disk before using it in Windows. The proper way to fix this is to scan for file system errors, but here is how you can make the prompt go away permanently.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Windows 7 Tips
Change the Default Save Folder for Windows 7 Libraries to Something Else
Have you ever noticed that when you save a file into a Windows 7 library through the common “Save As” dialog, that it ends up in just one of the folders that make up that library? Here’s how to customize the default save location for any library.
Windows 7 Tips
Automatically Lock Your Computer When You’re Away
Would you like your computer to automatically lock and require you to enter your password when you exit the screensaver? Here’s how to quickly change your screensaver settings to keep your computer secure when you’re away.
Windows 7 Tips
Always Show Playback Controls in Now Playing Mode on WMP 12
When your playing music or a video in Windows Media Player in Windows 7, you can toggle the playback controls on or off by hovering the mouse over the window. Here we show you how to always have the playback controls show in Now Playing mode.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Windows 7 Tips
Allow Users To Run Only Specified Programs in Windows 7
If you have a shared or public computer you might want to allow users to use only specified programs. Today we take a look at a setting in Local Group Policy that allows you to set only specified programs to run.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Windows 7 Tips
Add "Run as Administrator" to Any File Type in Windows 7
Have you ever tried to unzip a file to the Program Files directory in Windows 7? You’ll get all sorts of permission denied errors, and generally be unsuccessful. So how do we open up the zipfile as an administrator? For that matter, how do you open any file as administrator?
Windows 7 Tips
Add Defragment to the Right-Click Menu for a Drive
Normally when you want to access the Defragmenter tool, you usually have to either find it through the start menu, or open up the drive properties window. Instead of going through all that, we can use a simple registry hack to add a menu item to the drive right-click menu.
Windows 7 Tips
Add the Recycle Bin to the Taskbar in Windows 7
When you’re busy multi-tasking on your PC, sometimes getting to the Recycle Bin can a pain. Today we take a look at a couple of different methods for adding the Recycle Bin to your Taskbar for easier access.
Windows 7 Tips
Add the Recycle Bin to Start Menu in Windows 7
Have you ever tried to open the Recycle Bin by searching for “recycle bin” in the Start menu search, only to find nothing? Here’s a quick trick that will let you find the Recycle Bin directly from your Windows Start menu search.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Windows 7 Tips
Change What Windows Does When You Shut Your Laptop’s Lid
Now you can choose whether or not you want your computer to require the password when it wakes from sleep mode.
Are you tired of your laptop automatically going to sleep when you shut it’s lid? Here’s how you can make your laptop do what you want it to do when you’re ready to put it up.
By default, most laptops automatically go into sleep mode when you close the lid. This is usually great, as most of us shut our laptops, throw them into our bags, and then expect them to be running in an instant when we get them back out at the next stop. Sometimes, though, you might want to leave your laptop running while the lid is shut
Please Note: Do NOT put your laptop in its bag while its running, as it will almost certainly overheat. You have been warned.
Make Your Laptop Work Like You Want
Thankfully, it’s easy to change the settings. Simply click the battery icon in your system tray, and select More power options.
Alternately, you can open the Power Options window directly from your Start Menu search.
In the Power Options window that opens, click the Choose what closing the lid does link on the left sidebar.
Here you can choose what your power buttons do on your computer, as well as what happens when you shut the lid. You can select to Do nothing, Sleep, Hibernate, or Shut down. In general, Sleep is a good option, but if you want to leave your laptop running, select Do nothing.
Note that you can change the settings for both On battery and Plugged in, so your laptop will work differently when you’re using mobile versus when you’re plugged in at your desk. Since we usually would only want to leave our laptop running when it’s plugged in, we set ours to still go to sleep when it’s on battery power but to do nothing when you close the lid while it’s plugged in. Very handy.
Underneath you’ll notice a couple more settings, though they’re protected by default. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable to change them.
Windows 7 Tips
Share Digital Media With Other Computers on a Home Network with Windows 7
Windows Media Player 12 which is included with Windows 7 allows you to easily turn your machine into a media server to stream music, movies, and pictures to other computers and devices on your home network. Today we will show you how to set up streaming and how to use it.
Windows 7 Tips
Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and XP
If you have a home network and are running Windows 7 and have XP on other PC(s) you might want to share files between them. Today we will look at the steps to share files and hardware devices like a printer.
Sharing Files In Windows 7 and XP
Sharing folders between two Windows 7 machines with the new HomeGroup feature is an easy process, but the HomeGroup feature is not compatible with Vista or XP. For this tutorial we are using Windows 7 x64 RC1 and XP Professional SP3 connected through a basic Linksys home wireless router.
First make sure both machines are members of the same Workgroup which by default is named Workgroup.
On the Windows 7 machine go into Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \ Network and Sharing Center then click on Change advanced sharing settings.
You will want to verify the following settings under Advanced Sharing Settings for the Home or Work and Public profile.
If you want any user to have access the public shares turn off password protection. This is located in Advanced Sharing Settings toward the bottom of the list.
If you want to keep it enabled make sure there is a log in account for the other XP machines and they have a password.
Now if you go into Network in Windows 7 you should see your XP machine and the Windows 7 as well which in this case is Mysticgeek-PC.
To share the printer on the Windows 7 machine go into Devices and Printers from the Start menu and double click on the printer icon.
Next double click on “Customize your printer”.
In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share the printer and type in its share name.
If your XP machine is an x86 OS you can install Additional Drivers before setting up the XP machine.
To find the shared folders and devices double click on the Windows 7 machine icon under Network. Here you can see the printer connected to my Windows 7 machine is shared and also the Users Folder.
Continue into the Users folder and Public to see the shared folders, here I also created a folder called XP Share just to keep everything in central location.
Over on your XP machine open up My Network Places to find the Windows 7 (mysticgeek-pc) shared folder.
Double click on the Share folder to find a list of shared folders in the Public folder on Windows 7. If you have password protection enabled you will need to type in the username and password of the user account on the Windows 7 machine first.
Setup XP With Shared Printer
To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Printers and Faxes from the Start menu and kick off the Add Printer Wizard.
Now select “A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer” then hit Next.
Next select “Connect to this printer…” and type in the path for the printer connected to the Windows 7 machine and click next.
Now click Yes to the confirmation message.
Then click Finish the printer to install and complete the Wizard.
In some cases you will need to install the x86 XP drivers for the shared printer because the Windows 7 drivers are not compatible with XP. When everything is installed open up Printers and Faxes to find the shared printer.
