continued from part 1
31. Mute shortcut Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Right-click the desktop and choose New > Shortcut. Enter the following for the shortcut location: "C:\Path\To\nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 2". Name the shortcut "mute_unmute". Doubleclick it to mute your speakers and do so again to turn them back on.
32. Pin the Recycle Bin to the TaskbarWorks with: Windows 7
Right-click on the desktop and choose New > Shortcut. Enter this as the shortcut location: "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe shell:RecycleBinFolder".
Click Next and enter "Recycle Bin" as the name. Complete the wizard, then right-click the shortcut and choose Properties > Change Icon. Select the rubbish bin icon from the list provided and drag your new shortcut to the Windows 7 Taskbar.
33. Add Windows Update to the TaskbarWorks with: Windows 7
Choose Start > All Programs, and right-click and drag Windows Update to the desktop. Release the right mouse button and choose "Create shortcuts here".
Right-click this shortcut and choose Properties, then change the contents of the Target box to: "cmd/cwuapp.exe".
To prevent a Command Prompt box appearing when you click the shortcut, change the list next to Run to Minimised. Then drag your edited shortcut to the Taskbar for quick access.
34. Disable Jump Lists Works with: Windows 7
For enhanced privacy on your PC, rightclick the Taskbar and choose Properties > Start Menu. Untick the box that's marked "Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar".
35. Tweak Bubbles screensaver Works with: Vista, Windows 7
You can tweak the Vista and Windows 7 Bubbles screensaver by editing the Registry.
Open the Registry editor and browse to
HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Screensavers\Bubbles.
Create the DWORD value "ShowShadows" and set it to "1" to enable a shadow effect or set it to "0" to remove it.
Make the bubbles opaque by creating the DWORD value "MaterialGlass" and setting it to "0." To make the bubbles transparent, set it to "1".
You can also change the speed at which the bubbles change colour by creating the DWORD value "TurbulenceNumOctaves". You can set its value to anything between 0 and 255.
36. Schedule a task Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
1. Create a basic task
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Task Scheduler. Give your permission to continue when prompted. Under Actions, choose "Create Basic Task" to launch a wizard that guides you through setting up a task.
2. Set the trigger
Provide a name and a brief description of your task, so that you can identify and edit it later. Click Next and specify when you want the task to run. If you choose Daily, you'll need to supply a time for the event on the next screen.
3. Determine the action
Choose from the actions offered, such as starting a program or sending an email. In the case of running a program, click Next and browse to the executable fi le concerned. Provide any additional arguments if necessary.
37. Disable Vista's User Account Control (UAC)Works with: Vista
UAC in Vista can be frustrating, because it appears for many configuration changes. To turn it off, open Control Panel and type "UAC" into the search bar. Follow the link marked "Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off". Uncheck "Use User Account Control" and click OK.
38. Fake a high Windows Experience Index Works with: Vista, Windows 7
This hack won't actually improve your PC's performance, but you can use it to make it look like you have the most cutting-edge hardware.
Ensure you're logged in as an administrator and browse to the following location on your hard drive: C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\ DataStore. Check the files are sorted by date and that you have write permission. Open the most recent one in Notepad (right-click and choose Open with… > Notepad), then choose Edit > Find and search for "<winSPR>".
Select the text between this and "</winSPR>". You can now enter your scores in this section, starting with "<SystemScore>9.9</ SystemScore>". You can do the same for each of the sub-scores. Set them to any number up to 9.9. Save the file to fake your score until you next rate your system.
39. Speed up USB drives Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
How fast your PC can access data from a USB drive obviously depends on the USB stick itself, but you can actually make your USB drives a little bit faster by choosing "Optimize for Performance" from the Policies tab found when you click on the device in Device Manager.
40. Alter power buttons Works with: Vista, Windows 7
Change the behaviour of the power buttons by clicking Start and entering "Power Options" in the search bar. Press [Enter]. Now click "Choose what power buttons do" and select the new behaviour in from the drop-down lists available.
Windows tweaking tips 41-60
41. Clear the clipboard Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
When you cut or copy something, it's stored on the clipboard, but you can clear it off by creating a new shortcut. In the Location bar for the shortcut, type "cmd/c" and then "echo off | clip". Call the shortcut "Clear clipboard".
42. Tweak start menu searches Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
1. Start menu settings
Right-click Start and select Properties. Now choose Customize, to enable or disable different items on the Start menu. You'll need to scroll down in the resulting dialog to get to the options for the search bar.
2. Vista search options
To speed up searches, untick the boxes marked "Search communications" and "Search favorites and history". If you only want to use the Start menu search to find programs, select "Don't search for files". This will speed things up a lot.
3. Windows 7 searches
Options are slightly different in Windows 7. To turn off file searching, opt for "Don't search" under "Search other files and libraries". You can also disable searching for programs and Control Panel applets here.
43. Screensaver shortcut Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Launch your favourite screensaver from a shortcut, with location: "%systemroot%\system32\Bubbles.scr/s".
Replace Bubbles.scr with any screensaver in the C:\Windows\System32 folder with the SCR extension.
44. Close all Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Quickly close all your open windows in one operation by using the utility called Close All Windows, available from here.
Download and unzip the file to a suitable place on your hard drive. Launch CloseAll.exe to close all windows. Create a shortcut to this, which you can dock on the Taskbar.
45. Delay the Live Preview Works with: Windows 7
Change the delay before seeing a Taskbar preview. Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, and create a DWORD value called "ThumbnailLive PreviewHoverTime". Set the value in milliseconds and restart your PC.
46. Open with Notepad Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Add the option to open any document with Notepad to the menu that appears when you right-click the fi le's icon. Open Regedit and browse to
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell. Rightclick Shell and choose New > Key. Call the new key "Open with Notepad".
Create another new key under this key called "Command". Doubleclick the Default Value in the right-hand pane, and modify it to "notepad.exe %1".
47. Change the defrag schedule Works with: Vista, Windows 7
In Vista and Windows 7, Disk Defragmenter is scheduled to run weekly on Wednesdays at 1am by default. If your PC isn't on and idle at that time, you can change the time it kicks in, so as not to disrupt your routine. Click Start, type "Defrag" into the search bar, and press [Enter].
Now click Modify Schedule if you're using Vista, or Confi gure Schedule > Modify Schedule in Windows 7. In this dialog, you can select the frequency of defragmentation, although weekly is probably fine for general use.
You can also set the day and time that it runs. To avoid a slowdown, opt for a time you're likely to have your PC running but won't be using it for work.
48. See more recent itemsWorks with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Open the Registry editor and browse to HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Create the key if it doesn't exist.
Right-click in the righthand pane, make a new DWORD value called "MaxRecentDocs". Right-click and choose Modify. Select Decimal, and enter the number you want.
49. Get Priorities right Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
By altering the priority of the programs you're running, you can ensure that more important tasks get a bigger share of the available resources.
To alter a priority, open Task Manager by pressing [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete]. On the Applications tab, select the program you want and rightclick it. Choose "Go To Process", which moves you to the corresponding process on the Processes tab. Right-click the process and select Set Priority.
You have six different levels to choose from: Low, Below Normal, Normal, Above Normal, High and Realtime. You can safely set any process to anything up to High, but setting anything to Realtime can disrupt the workings of essential Windows processes.
Changing priorities merely alters the relative importance Windows places on each process. If you set everything to High, everything's at the same level, which has the same effect as setting everything to Low, so keep this in mind as you change settings.
50. Taskbar quicklaunchesWorks with: Windows 7
In Windows 7, launch any of the programs pinned to the Taskbar by pressing the [Windows] key and the number one to nine that corresponds to the program's position along the Taskbar.
51. Quickly open Explorer Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Press [Windows] + [E] to open up Windows Explorer at My Computer. Press it again to open a new Explorer window.
52. Multiple displays Works with: Windows 7
In Windows 7, you can quickly manage multiple display setups by pressing [Windows] + [P]. This opens a little overlay that toggles through the various basic options.
53. Move to the other monitor Works with: Windows 7
If you have multiple displays and run Windows 7, move the active window to the left or right display by pressing [Windows] + [Shift] + the left or right arrow key.
54. Taskbar thumbnails Works with: Windows 7
You can examine the thumbnails of open windows on the Windows 7 Taskbar without having to use the mouse. Press [Windows] + [T] to scroll through each Taskbar position from left to right.
55. Administrator rights Works with: Windows 7
To launch a Windows 7 Taskbar program with full administrator rights, click on its icon while holding down [Ctrl] + [Shift].
56. Quick magnifier Works with: Windows 7
Zoom in to the current window with the magnifi er in Windows 7 by pressing [Windows] + (+). Return to the normal view using [Windows] + [-].
57. Older Taskbar Works with: Windows 7
You can get the Windows 7 Taskbar to look more like Vista's. Right-click Start and choose Properties > Taskbar > Use small icons > OK.
58. Wake up your PC with the mouse or keyboard Works with: Windows 7
In the Control Panel, browse to Human Interface Device and right-click an HID-compliant piece of hardware, such as the mouse or keyboard. Select "Allow this device to wake up the computer".
59. Fast transparencyWorks with: Windows 7
Press [Windows] + [Space] to get the same effect as you would when hovering the mouse over the bottom-right corner in Windows 7. It renders all open windows transparent.
60. Half screen Works with: Windows 7
For an easy way to snap the active window to the side of the screen without dragging it, press the [Windows] key plus the left or right arrow.
source:techradar end
