How to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone?

We can use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone. We can move videos, images, photos etc from desktop computer or a laptop to our cell phones. In order to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone we need a laptop and a cell phone which support this technology

If the laptop doesn't support it, we can use a USB Bluetooth dongle. Just plug it into the USB port of the desktop computer or laptop. Leave the rest to Microsoft Windows. It will find the driver and install it itself. If it is not supported, we can manually install it via the manufacturer's compact disk. Follow these simple steps in order to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone: (In this example, we are using Windows Vista.)
Turn on the Bluetooth feature on your cell phone.

Make this setting: my Phone's visibility -> Shown to all on the cell phone.

Open Bluetooth Devices by clicking on its icon in the Control Panel.



OR

Look for the Bluetooth driver in the Device Manager and double-click on its icon.

How To Hide Partitions Without Using Any Software

Here is a very cool and simple trick to hide any partition of our hard drive on computer. Many times we will think of hiding some confidential data form others.I have shown two easy methods to hide partitions without using any software.

Hide Partitions Using Command Prompt

1. Go to Start–>Run.
2. Type Diskpart and press Enter.
3. In the console type List volume to see all the drives available on your PC.
4. Now select the drive which you want to hide.

Note:

Here I have shown how to hide E drive.

5. In My PC it is volume 2 for drive E .
6. Now to hide drive E type Select volume 2 .



7. Then type remove letter e , this will hide your drive.
8. Now to get your drive back type Select volume 2 and then type assign letter e.

Hide Partitions Using Computer Management

1. Right click My Computer.
2. Click Manage or press letter G.
3. This will open Computer Management.
4. Under Storage, select Disk Management.
5. Right click on the drive which you wish to hide.
6. Select Change drive letters and paths...



7. Click Remove
8. Now can find your partition will be hidden.
9. To get back the partition Computer Management–>Select drive–> Change drive letters and paths
10. Now select Add option.
11. In that Assign the following drive letter.
12. Select ok.

That’s it….

Simple Trick to Lock Your Computer Using Mouse

Today lets see a simple trick on how to lock your PC using mouse click.We normally use Alt+Ctrl+Del or Windows+L to lock our PCs.Instead of trying those windows keyboard shortcut keys to lock Pc, lets now tryout something new icon wink Simple Trick to Lock Your Computer Using Mouse .

Some might have already know this trick already…

1. Just Right click on the desktop, point to New and click Shortcut.

2. In the Create Shortcut dialog box, copy the following into the ‘Type the location’ of the item text box:
“rundll32 user32.dll, LockWorkStation” remove quotes while typing.

3. Click Next.

4. In “Type a name for this shortcut”, type LOCK MY PC and Click Finish

5. Now just double click on the icon, your desktop will be locked.

Though this is a age old trick.It makes some difference to newbies icon smile Simple Trick to Lock Your Computer Using Mouse.

Windows XP Secrets

Notepad Secrets

Create a log

1. Open Notepad
2. On the very first line, type in ".LOG" (without quotes) then press Enter for a new line
3. Now you can type in some text if you want, then save the file.
4. Next time when you open the file, notice its contents. Notepad automatically adds a time/date log everytime you open the file.

Text becomes unreadable

1. Open Notepad
2. On the very first line, type in "dont eat the donut" (without quotes) then save and close the file. Note: the file should have only one line of the text above.
3. Now, open the same file. You'll notice the text becomes unreadable squares. (try this with different text with the same format and length).

Paint Secrets

Create a trail image

1. Open Paint, then open an image.
2. Right-click on the image and select "Select All"
3. Now hold the "Shift" key and move the image around. The image will be drawn with trail.

10x Zoom

1. Open Paint, then open a small image.
2. Select the zoom "Magnifier" tool.
3. Windows Paint lists out the zoom options from 1x to 8x, but there is a 10x...
4. After selecting the Magnifier tool, point the mouse right at the border line right under "8x" and left-click. There you go.. the hidden 10x.

Other Secrets

Where is the relaxing music that you've heard during Windows XP Installation?

1. The file is in:
   C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma

Game Secrets



Solitaire: Instant Win

1. Press Alt + Shift + 2 to instantly win
   

Solitaire: Draw only 1 card (instead of 3)

1. Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift then click on unopen cards to draw.
   

FreeCell: Instant Win

1. Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 while playing, then click Abort.
2. Now move one card.

FreeCell: Hidden Game Modes

1. Go to "Game" menu choose "Select Game"
2. Here you can choose from game mode 1 to 1,000,000. But -1 and -2 will also work (hidden modes)

Hearts: Show All Card

Warning! this requires a modification on your registry. Be sure you follow the steps carefully. Damage your registry might damage your Windows.
1. Open the "Registry Editor" by: "Start" >> "Run" then type "regedit" and press Enter
2. Expand to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Hearts
3. Right-click on the right panel and create a new String value with the name "ZB"
4. Double-click to open this key "ZB" to edit its value. Then enter "42" and close the Registry Editor.
5. Start Hearts and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F12 to show all the cards

Minesweeper: Stop The Timer

1. When you start to play a new game, the timer is ticking...
2. Press Windows Key + D to show desktop.
3. Now come back to the game by selecting it from the taskbar. The timer is stopped.

Pinball

1. Unlimited Balls: Type bmax at a new game to get unlimited balls (no notification).
2. Extra Balls: Type 1max at a new game to get extra balls.
3. Gravity Well: Type gmax at a new game to activate Gravity Well.
4. Promotion: Type rmax at a new game or while playing to get instant promotion and raising rank.
5. Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,...
6. Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,...
7. Test Mode: Type hidden test with a new ball or new game. Now you can use your mouse to drag and move the ball where you want.

Any Folder as Photo Folder

 

This tricks shows you how to setup any folder to display its contents as a photo folder. In many cases, you save your images/photos in a folder different than "My Pictures" (under "My Documents"). Since this folder you choose is just like any other normal folders, its contents displayed as a listing of files. You can temporary change it by just right-click and select "View" >> "Thumbnails". But if you want to change the folder so that everytime you come back, the folder itself, as well as all its subfolders, display the contents as photo thumbnails.

Here's How

Right-click on the folder you choose and select "Properties"




Select "Customize" Tab. Then under "Use this folder type as a template", select "Pictures (best for many files)"



Check on "Also apply this template to all subfolders" to apply the setting to subfoders as well



Click OK to exit

Internet Connection Sharing on Windows XP

 

This trick shows you how to share your internet connections on multiple computers within a workgroup with Windows XP. Windows XP has a built-in feature that called "Internet Connection Sharing" (ICS) that allows home users to share their internet connections on multiple computers.

If you are not familiar with the network configurations, the easiest way to share your internet connection is to purchase a router or hub. Use this trick only if you don't have a router, or don't want to use a router, or if you just want to try out the feature.

A simple way to understand this feature is, you are making your host computer (the computer directly connects to the internet) functioning as a router for other computers.

What do you need?

• A "Host" computer that running Windows XP. This computer must have at least TWO (2) network adapters. One adapter - let's call it "Adapter #1" - connects to the internet and another, "Adapter #2", connects to a hub or directly to other computers.
• Client computer(s), which run any version of Windows. A client computer can be connected to the host computer directly by a cross-over cable or indirectly through a hub.
• This trick assumes that the host computer is connected to the internet and you are able to access the internet on this computer.

Configure the Host Computer

Logon the host computer as Administrator.

1. Click Start >> Control Panel.
2. Click Network and Internet Connections.
3. Click Network Connections.
4. Right-click the connection that you use to connect to the internet (the connection with Adapter #1). This connection can be either a high-speed internet connection or a dial-up connection.
5. Click Properties.
6. Click Advanced tab.
7. Under Internet Connection Sharing, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
8. If you are sharing a dial-up Internet connection, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box if you want to permit your computer to automatically connect to the Internet.
9. Click OK. You'll reieve the following message:
   When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set to use IP address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other computers on your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a good idea to set them to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable Internet Connection Sharing?
10. Click Yes.

Configure the Client Computer(s)

To use the shared connection from the Host computer, a client computer must be configured with "Automatic IP address". The main configurations are:

1. Configure TCP/IP Automatic IP
2. Configure Internet Connection

The steps for the above two configurations are vary on different versions of Windows.
The following procedures are for Windows XP client computers.

1. Log on to the client computer as Administrator or as Owner.
2. Click Start >> Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections.
4. Click Network Connections.
5. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
6. Click the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the This connection uses the following items list, and then click Properties.
7. In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Obtain an IP address automatically (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.
8. Click Start >> Control Panel
9. Click Network and Internet Connections.
10. Click Internet Options.
11. In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Connections tab.
12. Click the Setup button. The New Connection Wizard starts.
13. On the Welcome to the New Connection Wizard page, click Next.
14. Click Connect to the Internet, and then click Next.
15. Click Set up my connection manually, and then click Next.
16. Click Connect using a broadband connection that is always on, and then click Next.
17. On the Completing the New Connection Wizard page, click Finish.
18. Exit Control Panel and test the internet. You might need to restart the computer.

Turn ON/OFF Num Lock on Startup

Turn ON/OFF Num Lock on Startup...

Most of standard keyboards come with a small numeric keypad which identified by the numbers from 0 to 9. However, this numeric keypad is also served for some other functions such as "Page Up", "Page Down", "End", "Home", etc... depending on which mode of the "Num Lock" is being used. Many Windows users find this numeric keypad useful to type the numbers faster. But oopps... after hitting a several keys on the numeric keypad, you recognize the outcomes are not what you expected. Then you recognize the "Num Lock" mode is "OFF", so you just need to switch it on, and... start over your typing! The bad news is, by default, Windows turns the Num Lock off; however, the good news is, you can configure Windows to turn this Num Lock ON so that whenever you mean "number", you really get a number.
Read on, you'll get the details how to set Windows to keep the Num Lock status "ON" as default. In fact, you will need to make a small change on your Windows Registry to turn the Num Lock ON everytime Windows starts up.

IMPORTANT This article will guide to some steps to modify your Windows Registry. Stop if you're not familiar with the Windows Registry. Making a wrong change on the Windows Registry could cause critical problems to your computer.
Proceed at your own risks

This tip modifies the Windows Registry. So be aware and careful when following the steps. Damage the Windows Registry might damage your Windows.

1. Open the "Registry Editor" ("Start" >> "Run", then type "regedit" and Enter).
2. Expand to the following key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\
3. Within the keyboard folder, you should have a string value named "InitialKeyboardIndicators" with a value of 0, 1, or 2.
4. Double-click on this string value "InitialKeyboardIndicators" and edit the value to what you want. Below is the explaination of the values:
   0: Num Lock is turned OFF on startup
   1: Disable Num Lock
   2: Num Lock is turned ON on startup

Add Author Information into Word Document

This trick shows you how to add some additional information to a Microsoft Word document. The information can be the name of the author, company, title, revision number, etc... When you open the folder which contains your document, and point the mouse to the document, the information will be displayed.

Here's a sample


Here's how

1. Open the folder that contains the document.
2. Right-click on the document and select "Properties".
3. On the "Properties" dialog, select the "Summary" tab.
4. Under the "Summary" tab, the fields are listed by two columns "Property" on the left and "Value" on the right.
   
   
5. Click on a field (i.e. "title") you want to edit, then edit its value. Then click "OK".

Command Prompt on Right-Click

Many computer users, specially the programmers, need to launch a command prompt window every once in a while to execute some dos/shell commands. The problem is, when a command prompt window launched, the default path is normally the system path or the user profile's path. The users will then have to do all the "cd" commands to change the directories to the path he/she wants.

This trick shows you how to add an option called "Command Prompt" when you right-click on a folder in Windows. With this option, a Command Prompt Window will launch and its current directory will be the path to the folder you've selected.

Use this trick at your own risk.

  The Solution

You can either edit your registry OR download the registry file and apply it on your computer.
Method I. Manually edit the registry:

1. Start > Run
2. Enter "regedit" and hit Enter
3. Expand to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell"
4. Right-click on "shell" and select New > Key
5. Make sure a new key is created under "shell". Change the name of this key to "Command Prompt"
6. Right-click on this new key "Command Prompt" and select New > Key
7. Change the name of this key to "command"
8. Double-click on the "(Default)" text on the right window to bring up the edit box
9. Enter this text into the Value Data field:
   cmd.exe "%1"
10. Click OK and close the registry.

Method II. Download and apply the registry file:

1. Download this registry file.
2. Unzip it to a temp folder, then double-click on the .reg file to add the registry data.

Add a "Show Desktop" Shortcut on Windows XP

By default, you should have a shortcut icon on the "Quick Launch" toolbar
(the toolbar that normally sits next to the Start button) to toggle your Windows desktop...

But what if, for some reasons, this little icon is not there, missing from your Quick Launch toolbar. Well, you can always toggle to "show the desktop" or "show the active windows" by using the shortcut key

"Windows-d".

However, if you really want to get that icon back, you can still create a new copy of it and put it back to your Quick Launch toolbar by following the instructions below.

1. First, create a text file on your desktop (right-click anywhere on your desktop and select "New" > "Text Document").
2. Double-click on this new file to edit it, then copy and paste the following text into the file:
   
   [Shell]
   Command=2
   IconFile=explorer.exe,3
   [Taskbar]
   Command=ToggleDesktop
   
3. Save the file, then rename it to "Show desktop.scf".
4. - Option 1. (Simple)
   At this point, you can click and drag this file to the Quick Launch toolbar. As you drop the file to the Quick Launch toorbar, a new shortcut icon will be created on the toolbar.
   The disadvantage: If you happen to delete the file "Show desktop.scf" from your desktop, the shortcut icon at the Quick Launch toolbar will no longer work.
   
   - Option 2. (Advanced)
   To get away from the problem mentioned on Option 1, simply move (or copy) the file ("Show desktop.scf") to the following folder:
   C:\Documents and Settings\{user-name}\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
   (replace "{user-name}" with your user name.)

Windows 7 Tricks...

Windows 7 is the most updated and an excellent operating system. But to work well with windows 7, you must know some tricks. I am discussing some of the windows 7 tricks here.

Windows 7 Trick 1:

In general, when you want to create the zipped version of any file or folder, you just right click on that file and use the send option from the drop down list. But in the case of Windows7, you do not able to get options in the ‘send to’ menu. Here you have to use this trick to get the option in ‘send to’ menu, which is hidden in Windows7. To get them, simply press the Shift key on your computer keyboard and hold it. Now, right click on that file or folder; go to ‘send to’ option, you can get those option.

Windows 7 Trick 2:

If you want to open any command prompt from any folder, just press the Shift key on your keyboard and hold it. Then right click on any folders from anywhere in your commuter; then you get an option from the dropdown list “Open command window here”, select this option and you will get a command prompt with that folder as the default path.

Windows 7 Trick 3:

In Windows7, if you want to cascade two or three opened windows in the task bar or tile them and view side by side, you should know this trick. To do this, at first you have to open the task manager. Then simply press the Ctrl key on your keyboard and hold it. Then select the open windows, you will get a pop up list; from that, just choose “cascade/show windows stacked” option from there.

Windows 7 Trick 4:

There are some shortcut keyboard tricks for Windows7:-

• Magnifier:- “Windows” + “+” or “Windows” + “-“

This shortcut key zooms in or zooms out your computer screen and activates ‘Windows Magnifier’.

• “Windows”+ “SHIFT” + “1” through “Windows” + “SHIFT” + “9”

This is used to start new instances of the respective taskbar icons.

• “Windows” + “B”

By this you can focus on the “show hidden icons” on the system tray.

• “Windows” + “1” through “Windows” + “9”

This launches 1st through 9th icon on the taskbar.

• “Windows” + “Ctrl” + “1” through “Windows” + “Ctrl” + “9”

This toggles through the multiple instances of the icons.

• “Windows” + “SHIFT” + “right arrow” or “Windows” + “SHIFT” + “left arrow”

This can be used to move any selected icon, from one monitor to another.

• “Windows” + “P”

This is used to select “presentation display mode”.

• “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “D”

This switches to “docked mode”.

• “Windows” + “T” or “Windows” + “SHIFT” + “T”

This will help you to move focus to front/back on the taskbar.

• “Windows” + “Esc”

The magnifier view can be exit by this.

• “Windows” + “Alt” + “1” through “Windows” + “Alt” + “9”

This is used to open jump list for respective icons.

• “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “L”

This is used to switch to “lens mode”.

• “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F”

This can be used to switch from ‘Docked’/’lens’ mode back to ‘Full Screen’ mode.

• “Windows” + “G”

This toggles through desktop gadgets.

• “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “I”

You can invert colors by this.

• “Windows” + “X”

This shortcut key is used to launch ‘Windows Mobility Center’ especially useful for laptop.

Windows 7 Trick 5:

If you want to add any folder to the start menu, you can follow this trick. To do this, simply right click on them and select the ‘pin to start menu’ option. Or you can also drag that folder to the location you want.

Windows 7 Trick 6:

In Windows7, if you want to see the Alt-Tab prompt like XP, just press one Alt key on your keyboard and hold it, simultaneously press and release the other Alt key on your keyboard; then press the tab key. By using this trick you can able to see the XP Alt-Tab prompt in your Windows7.

3 Windows Tricks !!

To Lock a folder in windows XP without any software. Follow the steps Below.

1. Make a Folder in C drive rename it as "abc" without quotes.
2. Now open Command Prompt from Start Menu.
3. Type "attrib +s +h C:\abc" without quotes and press enter.
4. This command will Make your folder invisble and it can not be seen even in hidden files and folders
5. To make it visible again type "attrib -s -h C:\abc"
6. You can lock any other folder also by changing the location C:\abc to address of your folder.

#2 Windows tricks: Boost performance of your PC

[*] To boost performance of your PC or to increase RAM virtually,
Right click on My Computer Icon on Desktop
>> Go to Properties
>> Go to Advanced
>> Go to Performance - Settings
>> Go to Advanced
>> Go to Virtual Memory - Change
Keep the initial size same as recommended and maximum size double of it then restart your system.
It will improve speed of windows and you can play some games which require higher RAM.

[*]To Minimise all the application and running windows press the "Windows + M " key together.
 
#3 Windows Tricks : Changing Startup and Log-off screens

Startup Screen

1. Create a 320x400 bitmap in the root directory and name it LOGO.SYS
2. You can use LOGOW.SYS file in the Windows directory as a starter

Logoff Screens

1. There are many system file that constitutes Lofoff screen.
2. They are actually bitmaps 320x400 that just have a different extension
3. The hidden file in the root directory LOGO.SYS is the startup logo.
4. There are two files in the Windows directory.
5. LOGOW.SYS is the Wait while Shutting down ... screen.
6. LOGOS.SYS is the You may now shut-off or Reboot screen.
7. Make two new image files of your chice in Paint and name it as LOGOW.SYS and LOGOS.SYS and replce the actual windows file by this two.
8. But make sure they should be of the same size.

Windows 7 tips, tricks and secrets(part 4)

55. Rearrange the system tray
With Windows 7 we finally see system tray icons behave in a similar way to everything else on the taskbar. So if you want to rearrange them, then go right ahead, just drag and drop them into the order you like. You can even move important icons outside of the tray, drop them onto the desktop, then put them back when you no longer need to keep an eye on them.
56. Extend your battery life
Windows 7 includes new power options that will help to improve your notebook's battery life. To see them, click Start, type Power Options and click the Power Options link, then click Change Plan Settings for your current plan and select Change Advanced Settings. Expand Multimedia Settings, for instance, and you'll see a new "playing video" setting that can be set to optimise power savings rather than performance. Browse through the other settings and ensure they're set up to suit your needs.
57. Write crash dump files
Windows 7 won't create memory.dmp crash files if you've less than 25GB of free hard drive space, annoying if you've installed the Windows debugging tools and want to diagnose your crashes. You can turn this feature off, though: browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl, create a new DWORD value called AlwaysKeepMemoryDump, set it to 1, and the crash dump file will now always be saved.
58. Protect your data
If you have confidential files in a particular folder or two, and would like to keep them away from other network users, then right-click the folder, select Share With > Nobody, and they'll be made private, for your eyes only (or your user account, anyway).
59. Reorganise the taskbar
Windows 7 taskbar buttons are now movable - feel free to drag, drop and otherwise reorganise them to suit your needs. And then remember that each button can be launched by holding with the Windows key and pressing 1 to activate the first, 2 the second and so on, up to 0 for the tenth.
60. Repair your PC
If Windows 7 won't start, you may not need an installation or repair disc any more, as the repair environment is now usually installed on your hard drive. Press [F8] as your PC starts, and if you see a "Repair Your Computer" option, choose that to see the full range of Windows 7 recovery tools.

61. ReadyBoost revamped
If you were unimpressed by ReadyBoost in Vista, it may be worth trying the technology again under Windows 7. The operating system now allows you to combine multiple USB drives, each with larger caches, to deliver an extra speed boost.
62. Fixing Windows 7 N
If you have Windows 7 N then this means you'll be missing key multimedia applications, like Media Player, Media Centre, DVD Maker and more. But that's not all. You also won't have some of the subsystems required by third-party apps like Nero MultiMedia Suite, which means that even if they install, you could have problems getting them to work correctly.
Fortunately there's an easy fix, though, as the missing components are available in the form of Microsoft's Windows Media Pack. If you're currently having media-related issues on a Windows 7 N installation, grab your copy from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
63. Find bottlenecks
From what we've seen so far Windows 7 is already performing better than Vista, but if your PC seems sluggish then it's now much easier to uncover the bottleneck. Click Start, type RESMON and press Enter to launch the Resource Monitor, then click the CPU, Memory, Disk or Network tabs. Windows 7 will immediately show which processes are hogging the most system resources.
The CPU view is particularly useful, and provides something like a more powerful version of Task Manager. If a program has locked up, for example, then right-click its name in the list and select Analyze Process. Windows will then try to tell you why it's hanging - the program might be waiting for another process, perhaps - which could give you the information you need to fix the problem.

FIND BOTTLENECKS: Resource monitor keeps a careful eye on exactly how your PC is being used
64. Keyboard shortcuts
Windows 7 supports several useful new keyboard shortcuts.
Alt+P
Display/ hide the Explorer preview pane
Windows Logo+G
Display gadgets in front of other windows
Windows Logo++ (plus key)
Zoom in, where appropriate
Windows Logo+- (minus key)
Zoom out, where appropriate
Windows Logo+Up
Maximise the current window
Windows Logo+Down
Minimise the current window
Windows Logo+Left
Snap to the left hand side of the screen
Windows Logo+Right
Snap to the right hand side of the screen
Windows Logo+Home
Minimise/ restore everything except the current window
65. Drag and drop to the command line
When working at the command line you'll often need to access files, which usually means typing lengthy paths and hoping you've got them right. But Windows 7 offers an easier way. Simply drag and drop the file onto your command window and the full path will appear, complete with quotes and ready to be used.
This feature isn't entirely new: you could do this in Windows XP, too, but drag and drop support disappeared in Vista. There does seem to be a new Windows 7 complication, though, in that it only seems to work when you open the command prompt as a regular user. Run cmd.exe as an administrator and, while it accepts dropped files, the path doesn't appear.
66. Customise your jumplists
Right-click an icon on your taskbar, perhaps Notepad, and you'll see a jumplist menu that provides easy access to the documents you've been working on recently. But maybe there's another document that you'd like to be always available? Then drag and drop it onto the taskbar icon, and it'll be pinned to the top of the jumplist for easier access. Click the pin to the right of the file name, or right-click it and select "Unpin from this list" when you need to remove it.
67. Faster program launches
If you've launched one instance of a program but want to start another, then don't work your way back through the Start menu. It's much quicker to just hold down Shift and click on the program's icon (or middle-click it), and Windows 7 will start a new instance for you.
68. Speedy video access
Want faster access to your Videos folder? Windows 7 now lets you add it to the Start menu. Just right-click the Start orb, click Properties > Start Menu > Customize, and set the Videos option to "Display as a link". If you've a TV tuner that works with Windows 7 then you'll appreciate the new option to display the Recorded TV folder on the Start menu, too.
69. Run web searches
The Windows 7 search tool can now be easily extended to search online resources, just as long as someone creates an appropriate search connector. To add Flickr support, say, visit You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., click Download the Connector, choose the Open option and watch as it's downloaded (the file is tiny, it'll only take a moment). A "Flickr Search" option will be added to your Searches folder, and you'll be able to search images from your desktop.
A multitude of other ready-made searches, such as Google and YouTube, can be downloaded from the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. website.
70. Schedule Media Centre downloads
You can now tell Windows Media Centre to download data at a specific time, perhaps overnight, a useful way to prevent it sapping your bandwidth for the rest of the day. Launch Media Centre, go to Tasks > Settings > General > Automatic Download Options, and set the download start and stop times that you'd like it to use.
71. Multi-threaded Robocopies
Anyone who's ever used the excellent command-line robocopy tool will appreciate the new switches introduced with Windows 7. Our favourite, /MT, can improve speed by carrying out multi-threaded copies with the number of threads you specify (you can have up to 128, though that might be going a little too far). Enter robocopy /? at a command line for the full details.
72. Load IE faster
Some Internet Explorer add-ons can take a while to start, dragging down the browser's performance, but at least IE8 can now point a finger at the worst resource hogs. Click Tools > Manage Add-ons, check the Load Time in the right-hand column, and you'll immediately see which browser extensions are slowing you down.
73. An Alt+Tab alternative
You want to access one of the five Explorer windows you have open, but there are so many other programs running that Alt+Tab makes it hard to pick out what you need. The solution? Hold down the Ctrl key while you click on the Explorer icon. Windows 7 will then cycle through the Explorer windows only, a much quicker way to locate the right one. And of course this works with any application that has multiple windows open.
74. Block annoying alerts
Just like Vista, Windows 7 will display a suitably stern warning if it thinks your antivirus, firewall or other security settings are incorrect.
But unlike Vista, if you disagree then you can now turn off alerts on individual topics. If you no longer want to see warnings just because you've dared to turn off the Windows firewall, say, then click Control Panel > System and Security > Action Centre > Change Action Centre settings, clear the Network Firewall box and click OK.
75. Parallel defrags
The standard Windows 7 defragger offers a little more control than we saw in Vista, and the command line version also has some interesting new features. The /r switch will defrag multiple drives in parallel, for instance (they'll obviously need to be physically separate drives for this to be useful). The /h switch runs the defrag at a higher than normal priority, and the /u switch provides regular progress reports so you can see exactly what's going on. Enter the command
defrag /c /h /u /r
in a command window to speedily defrag a system with multiple drives, or enter defrag /? to view the new options for yourself.
76. Fix Explorer
The Windows 7 Explorer has a couple of potential annoyances. Launching Computer will no longer display system folders like Control Panel or Recycle Bin, for instance. And if you're drilling down through a complicated folder structure in the right-hand pane of Explorer, the left-hand tree won't always expand to follow what you're doing, which can make it more difficult to see exactly where you are. Fortunately there's a quick fix: click Organize > Folder and Search Options, check "Show all folders" and "Automatically expand to current folder", and click OK.
77. Faster file handing
If you hold down Shift while right-clicking a file in Explorer, then you'll find the Send To file now includes all your main user folders: Contacts, Documents, Downloads, Music and more. Choose any of these and your file will be moved there immediately.
78. Create folder favourites
If you're regularly working on the same folder in Explorer then select it in the right-hand page, right-click Favourites on the left-hand menu, and select Add to Favourites. It'll then appear at the bottom of the favourites list for easy one-click access later.
79. Disable hibernation
By default Windows 7 will permanently consume a chunk of your hard drive with its hibernation file, but if you never use sleep, and always turn your PC off, then this will never actually be used. To disable hibernation and recover a little hard drive space, launch REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power, then set both HibernateEnabled and HiberFileSizePerfect to zero.
80. Create a new folder shortcut
When you need to create a new folder in Windows 7 Explorer, don't reach for the mouse. Just press Ctrl+Shift+N to create the folder in the active Explorer window, then type its name as usual.
81. Open a jumplist
Most people right-click a Windows taskbar icon to view its jumplist. You can also hold the left mouse button over the icon, though, then drag upwards to reveal the jumplist and choose the option you need, a more natural action that should be just a little faster.

82. Search quickly
If you'd like to search for something in an Explorer window then there's no need to use the mouse. Simply press [F3] to move the focus to the search box, enter your keyword and press [Enter] to run the search.
83. Search file contents
There's no obvious way in the Windows interface to search the contents of files that haven't been indexed, but all you need to do is start your search with the "content:" search filter. So entering content:Microsoft , for instance, will find all documents (whether they're actually indexed or not) that contain the word Microsoft.
84. Close in a click
Hover your mouse cursor over a Windows taskbar button will display a preview thumbnail of that application window. You don't need that app any more? Then middle-click the thumbnail to close it down.
85. Leave the Homegroup
Homegroups are an easy way to network Windows 7 PCs, but if you don't use the feature then turning it off can save you a few system resources.
Click Start, type Homegroup, and click "Choose homegroup and sharing options". Click Leave the Homegroup > Leave the Homegroup > Finish.
Now click Start, type services.msc and press [Enter] to launch the Services Control Panel applet.
Find and double-click both the HomeGroup Listener and HomeGroup Provider service, clicking Stop and setting Startup Type to Disabled in each case, and the services won't be launched when you need reboot. 

Windows 7 tips, tricks and secrets(part 3)

 37. Disable Aero Peek
Hover your mouse cursor over the bottom right hand corner of the screen and Windows 7 will hide open windows, showing you the desktop. Seems like a good idea to us, but if the feature gets in your way then it's easy to turn off. Simply right-click the Start orb, select Properties > Taskbar and clear the "Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop" box.
38. Pin a drive to the taskbar
The taskbar isn't just for apps and documents. With just a few seconds work you can pin drive icons there, too.
Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select New > Text File, and rename the file to drive.exe. Drag and drop this onto your taskbar, then delete the original file.
Right-click your new "drive.exe" taskbar button, then right-click its file name and select Properties. Change the contents of both the Target and Start In boxes to point at the drive or folder of your choice, perhaps click Change Icon to choose an appropriate drive icon, and you're done - that drive or folder is now available at a click.

39. Expand your taskbar previews
Move your mouse cursor over a Windows 7 taskbar button and you'll see a small preview of the application window. To make this larger, launch REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband, right-click in the right hand pane and create a new DWORD value called MinThumbSizePx. Double-click this, choose the Decimal option, set the value to 350 and reboot to see the results. Tweak the value again to fine-tune the results, or delete it to return to the default thumbnail size.

 
40. Hiding the Windows Live Messenger icon

If you use Windows Live Messenger a lot, you'll have noticed that the icon now resides on the taskbar, where you can easily change status and quickly send an IM to someone. If you prefer to keep Windows Live Messenger in the system tray, where it's been for previous releases, just close Windows Live Messenger, edit the shortcut properties and set the application to run in Windows Vista compatibility mode.
41. Customise UAC
Windows Vista's User Account Control was a good idea in practice, but poor implementation put many people off - it raised far too many alerts. Fortunately Windows 7 displays less warnings by default, and lets you further fine-tune UAC to suit your preferred balance between security and a pop-up free life (Start > Control Panel > Change User Account Control Settings).
42. Use Sticky Notes
The Sticky Notes app is both simpler and more useful in Windows 7. Launch StikyNot.exe and you can type notes at the keyboard; right-click a note to change its colour; click the + sign on the note title bar to add another note; and click a note and press Alt + 4 to close the note windows (your notes are automatically saved).
43. Open folder in new process
By default Windows 7 opens folders in the same process. This saves system resources, but means one folder crash can bring down the entire shell. If your system seems unstable, or you're doing something in Explorer that regularly seems to causes crashes, then open Computer, hold down Shift, right-click on your drive and select Open in New Process. The folder will now be launched in a separate process, and so a crash is less likely to affect anything else.
44. Watch more videos
Windows Media Player 12 is a powerful program, but it still won't play all the audio and video files you'll find online. Fortunately the first freeware Windows 7 codecs package [shark007.net/win7codecs.html] has been released, and installing it could get your troublesome multimedia files playing again.
45. Preview fonts
Open the Fonts window in Windows XP and Vista and you'll see the font names, probably with icons to tell you whether they're TrueType or OpenType, but that's about it. Windows 7 sees some useful font-related improvements.
Open the new fonts window and you'll find a little preview for every font, giving you a quick idea of how they're going to look.
The tedium of scrolling through multiple entries for each family, like Times New Roman, Times New Roman Bold, Times New Roman Bold Italic and so on, has finally ended. There's now just a single entry for each font (though you can still see all other members of the family).
And there's a new OpenType font, Gabriola, added to the mix. It's an attractive script font, well worth a try the next time you need a stylish document that stands out from the crowd.
46. Restore your gadgets
Windows 7 has tightened up its security by refusing to run gadgets if UAC has been turned off, so limiting the damage malicious unsigned gadgets can do to your system. If you've disabled UAC, miss your gadgets and are happy to accept the security risk, though, there's an easy Registry way to get everything back to normal. Run REGEDIT, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings, create a new DWORD value called AllowElevatedProcess and set it to 1. Your gadgets should start working again right away.
47. New WordPad formats
By default WordPad will save documents in Rich Text Format, just as before. But browse the Save As Format list and you'll see you can also save (or open, actually) files in the Office 2007 .docx or OpenDocument .odt formats.
48. Protect your data
USB flash drives are convenient, portable, and very easy to lose. Which is a problem, especially if they're carrying sensitive data. Fortunately Windows 7 has the solution: encrypt your documents with an extension of Microsoft's BitLocker technology, and only someone with the password will be able to access it. Right-click your USB flash drive, select Turn on BitLocker and follow the instructions to protect your private files.


PROTECT YOUR DATA: Your USB flash drives can easily be encrypted with BitLocker
49. Minimise quickly with shake

If you have multiple windows open on your desktop and things are getting too cluttered, it used to be a time-consuming process to close them all down. In Windows 7 you can use the Aero Shake feature to minimise everything in seconds, using a cool mouse gesture. Grab the title bar of the window you wish to keep open and give it a shake, and rejoice in a clear desktop area.
50. Configure your favourite music
The Windows 7 Media Centre now comes with an option to play your favourite music, which by default creates a changing list of songs based on your ratings, how often you play them, and when they were added (it's assumed you'll prefer songs you've added in the last 30 days). If this doesn't work then you can tweak how Media Centre decides what a "favourite" tune is- click Tasks > Settings > Music > Favourite Music and configure the program to suit your needs.
51. Customise System Restore
There was very little you could do to configure System Restore in Vista, but Windows 7 improves the situation with a couple of useful setup options.
Click the Start orb, right-click Computer and select Properties > System Protection > Configure, and set the Max Usage value to a size that suits your needs (larger to hold more restore points, smaller to save disk space).
And if you don't need System Restore to save Windows settings then choose the "Only restore previous versions of files" option. Windows 7 won't back up your Registry, which means you'll squeeze more restore points and file backups into the available disk space. System Restore is much less likely to get an unbootable PC working again, though, so use this trick at your own risk.
52. Run As
Hold down Shift, right-click any program shortcut, and you'll see an option to run the program as a different user, handy if you're logged in to the kids' limited account and need to run something with higher privileges. This isn't really a new feature - Windows XP had a Run As option that did the same thing - but Microsoft stripped it out of Vista, so it's good to see it's had a change of heart.
53. Search privacy
By default Windows 7 will remember your PC search queries, and display the most recent examples when searching in Windows Explorer. If you're sharing a PC and don't want everyone to see your searches, then launch GPEDIT.MSC, go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer, double-click "Turn off display of recent search entries..." and click Enabled > OK.
54. Tweak PC volume
By default Windows 7 will now automatically reduce the volume of your PC's sounds whenever it detects you're making or receiving PC-based phone calls. If this proves annoying (or maybe you'd like it to turn off other sounds altogether) then you can easily change the settings accordingly. Just right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar, select Sounds > Communications, and tell Windows what you'd like it to do.

Windows 7 tips, tricks and secrets(part 2)

19. Automatically switch your default printer
Windows 7's location-aware printing allows the operating system to automatically switch your default printer as you move from one network to another.
To set this up, first click Start, type Devices, and click the Devices and Printers link.
Select a printer and click Manage Default Printers (this is only visible on a mobile device, like a laptop - you won't see it on a PC).
Choose the "Change my default printer when I change networks" option, select a network, the default printer you'd like to use, and click Add.
Repeat the process for other networks available, and pick a default printer for each one.
And now, as you connect to a new network, Windows 7 will check this list and set the default printer to the one that you've defined.
 20. Explore God Mode
Windows 7 has changed Control Panel a little, but it's still too difficult to locate all the applets and options that you might need. God Mode, however, while not being particularly godlike, does offer an easier way to access everything you could want from a single folder.
To try this out, create a new folder and rename it to:

The first part, "Everything" will be the folder name, and can be whatever you want: "Super Control Panel", "Advanced", "God Mode" if you prefer.
The extension, ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C, must be entered exactly as it is here, though, including the curly brackets. When you press [Enter] this part of the name will disappear, and double-clicking the new folder will display shortcuts to functions in the Action Centre, the Network and Sharing Centre, Power options, troubleshooting tools, user accounts and others - more than 260 options in total.

21. Right-click everything
At first glance Windows 7 bears a striking resemblance to Vista, but there's an easy way to begin spotting the differences - just right-click things.
Right-click an empty part of the desktop, for instance, and you'll find a menu entry to set your screen resolution. No need to go browsing through the display settings any more.
Right-click the Explorer icon on the taskbar for speedy access to common system folders: Documents, Pictures, the Windows folder, and more.
And if you don't plan on using Internet Explorer then you probably won't want its icon permanently displayed on the taskbar. Right-click the icon, select 'Unpin this program from the taskbar', then go install Firefox, instead.
22. Display the old taskbar button context menu
Right-click a taskbar button, though, and you'll now see its jumplist menu. That's a useful new feature, but not much help if you want to access the minimize, maximize, or move options that used to be available. Fortunately there's an easy way to get the old context menu back - just hold down Ctrl and Shift as you right-click the taskbar button.
23. Desktop slideshow
Windows 7 comes with some very attractive new wallpapers, and it's not always easy to decide which one you like the best. So why not let choose a few, and let Windows display them all in a desktop slideshow? Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select Personalise > Desktop Background, then hold down Ctrl as you click on the images you like. Choose how often you'd like the images to be changed (anything from daily to once every 10 seconds), select Shuffle if you'd like the backgrounds to appear in a random order, then click Save Changes and enjoy the show.

DESKTOP SLIDESHOW: Select multiple background images and Windows will cycle through them

24. RSS-powered wallpaper
And if a slideshow based on your standard wallpaper isn't enough, then you can always create a theme that extracts images from an RSS feed. For example, Long Zheng has created You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. to illustrate how it works. Jamie Thompson You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., with a theme that always displays the latest BBC news and weather on your desktop. And You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. have a quick and easy tutorial showing how RSS can get you those gorgeous Bing photographs as your wallpaper. Or you can watch our You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
25. Customise the log-on screen
Changing the Windows log-on screen used to involve some complicated and potentially dangerous hacks, but not any more - Windows 7 makes it easy.
First, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\Logo ​nUI\Background in REGEDIT, double-click the DWORD key called OEMBackground (not there? Create it) and set its value to 1.
Now find a background image you'd like to use. Make sure it's less than 256KB in size, and matches the aspect ratio of your screen as it'll be stretched to fit.
Next, copy that image into the %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds folder (create the info\backgrounds folders if they don't exist). Rename the image to backgroundDefault.jpg, reboot, and you should now have a custom log-on image.
Alternatively, use a free tweaking tool to handle everything for you. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. displays a preview so you can see how the log-on screen will look without rebooting, while the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. accepts multiple images and will display a different one every time you log on.
26. Recover screen space
The new Windows 7 taskbar acts as one big quick launch toolbar that can hold whatever program shortcuts you like (just right-click one and select Pin To Taskbar). And that's fine, except it does consume a little more screen real estate than we'd like. Shrink it to a more manageable size by right-clicking the Start orb, then Properties > Taskbar > Use small icons > OK.
27. Enjoy a retro taskbar
Windows 7 now combines taskbar buttons in a way that saves space, but also makes it more difficult to tell at a glance whether an icon represents a running application or a shortcut. If you prefer a more traditional approach, then right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and set Taskbar Buttons to "Combine when taskbar is full". You'll now get a clear and separate button for each running application, making them much easier to identify.
28. Remove taskbar buttons
One problem with the previous tip is the buttons will gobble up valuable taskbar real estate, but you can reduce the impact of this by removing their text captions. Launch REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics, add a string called MinWidth, set it to 54, and reboot to see the results.
29. Restore the Quick Launch Toolbar
If you're unhappy with the new taskbar, even after shrinking it, then it only takes a moment to restore the old Quick Launch Toolbar.
Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars > New Toolbar, type "%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" (less the quotes) into the Folder box and click Select Folder.
Now right-click the taskbar, clear 'Lock the taskbar', and you should see the Quick Launch toolbar, probably to the right. Right-click its divider, clear Show Text and Show Title to minimise the space it takes up. Complete the job by right-clicking the bar and selecting View > Small Icons for the true retro look.
30. Custom power switch
By default, Windows 7 displays a plain text 'Shut down' button on the Start menu, but it only takes a moment to change this action to something else. If you reboot your PC a few times every day then that might make more sense as a default action: right-click the Start orb, select Properties and set the 'Power boot action' to 'Restart' to make it happen.
31. Auto arrange your desktop
If your Windows 7 desktop has icons scattered everywhere then you could right-click it and select View > Auto arrange, just as in Vista. But a simpler solution is just to press and hold down F5, and Windows will automatically arrange its icons for you.
32. Disable smart window arrangement
Windows 7 features interesting new ways to intelligently arrange your windows, so that (for example) if you drag a window to the top of the screen then it will maximise. We like the new system, but if you find it distracting then it's easily disabled. Run REGEDIT, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, set WindowArrangementActive to 0, reboot, and your windows will behave just as they always did.
33. Browse your tasks
If you prefer the keyboard over the mouse, you will love browsing the taskbar using this nifty shortcut. Press Windows and T, and you move the focus to the left-most icon on the taskbar. Then use your arrow keys to change the focus to other icons, and you get a live preview of every window.
34. Display your drives
Click Computer in Windows 7 and you might see a strange lack of drives, but don't panic, it's just Microsoft trying to be helpful: drives like memory card readers are no longer displayed if they're empty. We think it's an improvement, but if you disagree then it's easy to get your empty drives back. Launch Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options > View and clear 'Hide empty drives in the computer folder'.
35. See more detail
The new and improved Windows 7 magnifier offers a much easier way to zoom in on any area of the screen. Launch it and you can now define a scale factor and docking position, and once activated it can track your keyboard focus around the screen. Press Tab as you move around a dialog box, say, and it'll automatically zoom in on the currently active control.
36. Extend your jumplists
By default a jumplist will display up to 10 items, but it can often be useful to extend this and add a few more. Right-click Start, select Properties > Customize and set "Number of recent items to display in Jump Lists" to the figure you need.

Windows 7 tips, tricks and secrets(part 1)

1. Problem Steps Recorder
As the local PC guru you're probably very used to friends and family asking for help with their computer problems, yet having no idea how to clearly describe what's going on. It's frustrating, but Microsoft feels your pain, and Windows 7 will include an excellent new solution in the Problem Steps Recorder.
When any app starts misbehaving under Windows 7 then all your friends need do is click Start, type PSR and press Enter, then click Start Record. If they then work through whatever they're doing then the Problem Steps Recorder will record every click and keypress, take screen grabs, and package everything up into a single zipped MHTML file when they're finished, ready for emailing to you. It's quick, easy and effective, and will save you hours of troubleshooting time.
2. Burn images
Windows 7 finally introduces a feature that other operating systems have had for years - the ability to burn ISO images to CDs or DVDs. And it couldn't be much easier to use. Just double-click the ISO image, choose the drive with the blank disc, click Burn and watch as your disc is created.
3. Create and mount VHD files
Microsoft's Virtual PC creates its virtual machine hard drives in VHD files, and Windows 7 can now mount these directly so you can access them in the host system. Click Start, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter, then click Action > Attach VHD and choose the file you'd like to mount. It will then appear as a virtual drive in Explorer and can be accessed, copied or written just like any other drive.
Click Action > Create VHD and you can now create a new virtual drive of your own (right-click it, select Initialise Disk, and after it's set up right-click the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume to set this up). Again, you'll be left with a virtual drive that behaves just like any other, where you can drag and drop files, install programs, test partitioning software or do whatever you like. But it's actually just this VHD file on your real hard drive which you can easily back up or share with others. Right-click the disk (that's the left-hand label that says "Disk 2" or whatever) and select Detach VHD to remove it.
The command line DISKPART utility has also been upgraded with tools to detach a VHD file, and an EXPAND command to increase a virtual disk's maximum size. Don't play around with this unless you know what you're doing, though - it's all too easy to trash your system.
4. Troubleshoot problems
If some part of Windows 7 is behaving strangely, and you don't know why, then click Control Panel > Find and fix problems (or 'Troubleshooting') to access the new troubleshooting packs. These are simple wizards that will resolve common problems, check your settings, clean up your system and more.
5. Startup repair
If you've downloaded Windows 7 (and even if you haven't) it's a good idea to create a system repair disc straight away in case you run into problems booting the OS later on. Click Start > Maintenance > Create a System Repair Disc, and let Windows 7 build a bootable emergency disc. If the worst does happen then it could be the only way to get your PC running again.
6. Take control
Tired of the kids installing dubious software or running applications you'd rather they left alone? AppLocker is a new Windows 7 feature that ensures users can only run the programs you specify. Don't worry, that's easier to set up than it sounds: you can create a rule to allow everything signed by a particular publisher, so choose Microsoft, say, and that one rule will let you run all signed Microsoft applications. Launch GPEDIT.MSC and go to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Application Control Policies > AppLocker to get a feel for how this works.
7. Calculate more
At first glance the Windows 7 calculator looks just like Vista's version, but explore the Mode menu and you'll see powerful new Statistics and Programmer views. And if you're clueless about bitwise manipulation, then try the Options menu instead. This offers many different unit conversions (length, weight, volume and more), date calculations (how many days between two dates?), and spreadsheet-type templates to help you calculate vehicle mileage, mortgage rates and more.
Don't take any Windows 7 applet at face value, then - there are some very powerful new features hidden in the background. Be sure to explore every option in all Windows applets to ensure you don't miss anything important.

CALCULATE MORE: The new Calculator is packed with useful features and functionality
8. Switch to a projector
Windows 7 now provides a standard way to switch your display from one monitor to another, or a projector - just press Win+P or run DisplaySwitch.exe and choose your preferred display. (This will have no effect if you've only one display connected.)
9. Get a power efficiency report
If you have a laptop, you can use the efficiency calculator to get Windows 7 to generate loads of useful information about its power consumption. Used in the right way, this can help you make huge gains in terms of battery life and performance. To do this you must open a command prompt as an administrator by typing 'cmd' in Start Search, and when the cmd icon appears, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
Then at the command line, just type in 'powercfg -energy' (without quotes) and hit Return, and Windows 7 will scan your system looking for ways to improve power efficiency. It will then publish the results in an HTML file, usually in the System32 folder. Just follow the path it gives you to find your report.
10. Understanding System Restore
Using System Restore in previous versions of Windows has been something of a gamble. There's no way of telling which applications or drivers it might affect - you just have to try it and see.
Windows 7 is different. Right-click Computer, select Properties > System Protection > System Restore > Next, and choose the restore point you'd like to use. Click the new button to 'Scan for affected programs' and Windows will tell you which (if any) programs and drivers will be deleted or recovered by selecting this restore point. (Read our full You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..)
11. Set the time zone
System administrators will appreciate the new command line tzutil.exe utility, which lets you set a PC's time zone from scripts. If you wanted to set a PC to Greenwich Mean Time, for instance, you'd use the command
tzutil /s "gmt standard time"
The command "tzutil /g" displays the current time zone, "tzutil /l" lists all possible time zones, and "tzutil /?" displays details on how the command works.
12. Calibrate your screen
The colours you see on your screen will vary depending on your monitor, graphics cards settings, lighting and more, yet most people use the same default Windows colour profile. And that means a digital photo you think looks perfect might appear very poor to everybody else. Fortunately Windows 7 now provides a Display Colour Calibration Wizard that helps you properly set up your brightness, contrast and colour settings, and a ClearType tuner to ensure text is crisp and sharp. Click Start, type DCCW and press Enter to give it a try.
13. Clean up Live Essentials
Installing Windows Live Essentials will get you the new versions of Mail, Movie Maker, Photo Gallery and others - great. Unfortunately it also includes other components that may be unnecessary, but if you like to keep a clean system then these can be quickly removed.
If you left the default "Set your search provider" option selected during installation, for instance, Windows Live will install Choice Guard, a tool to set your browser home page and search engine, and prevent other programs from changing them. If this causes problems later, or you just decide you don't need it, then Choice Guard may be removed by clicking Start, typing msiexec /x and pressing [Enter].
Windows Live Essentials also adds an ActiveX Control to help upload your files to Windows Live SkyDrive, as well as the Windows Live Sign-in Assistant, which makes it easier to manage and switch between multiple Windows Live accounts. If you're sure you'll never need either then remove them with the Control Panel "Uninstall a Program" applet.
14. Add network support
By default Windows Live MovieMaker won't let you import files over a network, but a quick Registry tweak will change this. Run REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Movie Maker, add a DWORD value called AllowNetworkFiles and set it to 1 to add network support.
15. Activate XP mode
If you've old but important software that no longer runs under Windows 7, then you could try using You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., a virtual copy of XP that runs in a window on your Windows 7 desktop. But there's a big potential problem, as XP Mode only works with systems that have hardware virtualisation (AMD-V or Intel VT) built-in and turned on. If you've a compatible CPU then this may just be a matter of enabling the option in your BIOS set-up program, however some high profile brands, including Sony Vaio, disable the setting for "security reasons". And that blocks XP Mode from working, too.
One solution has emerged, but it's a little risky, as essentially you'll have to alter a byte in your laptop firmware and hope this doesn't have any unexpected side-effects. Gulp. If you're feeling brave then take a look at the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for the details, but don't blame us if it goes wrong.
A safer approach might be to use You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., a virtualisation tool that doesn't insist on hardware support, but then you will need to find a licensed copy of XP (or whatever other Windows version your software requires) for its virtual machine.
16. Enable virtual Wi-Fi
Windows 7 includes a little-known new feature called Virtual Wi-Fi, which effectively turns your PC or laptop into a software-based router. Any other Wi-Fi-enabled devices within range - a desktop, laptop, an iPod perhaps - will "see" you as a new network and, once logged on, immediately be able to share your internet connection.
This will only work if your wireless adapter driver supports it, though, and not all do. Check with your adapter manufacturer and make sure you've installed the very latest drivers to give you the best chance.
Once you have driver support then the easiest approach is to get a network tool that can set up virtual Wi-Fi for you. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (below) is free, easy to use and should have you sharing your internet connection very quickly.

If you don't mind working with the command line, though, maybe setting up some batch files or scripts, then it's not that difficult to set this up manually. See You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for more.
17. Recover locked-up apps
If an application locks up under a previous version of Windows then there was nothing you could do about it. A new Windows 7 option, however, can not only explain the problem, but may get your program working again without any loss of data.
When the lockup occurs, click Start, type RESMON and click the RESMON.EXE link to launch the Resource Monitor.
Find your frozen process in the CPU pane (it should be highlighted in red), right-click it and select Analyze Wait Chain.
If you see at least two processes in the list, then the lowest, at the end of the tree, is the one holding up your program. If it's not a vital Windows component, or anything else critical, then save any work in other open applications, check the box next to this process, click End Process, and your locked-up program will often spring back to life.

18. Fault-Tolerant Help
Windows 7 includes a new feature called the Fault Tolerant Help (FTH), a clever technology that looks out for unstable processes, detects those that may be crashing due to memory issues, and applies several real-time fixes to try and help. If these work, that's fine - if not, the fixes will be undone and they won't be applied to that process again.
While this is very good in theory, it can leave you confused as some applications crash, then start working (sometimes) for no apparent reason. So if you'd like to check if the FTH is running on your PC, launch REGEDIT, and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\FTH - any program currently being protected by the FTH will be listed in the State key.
Experienced users may also try tweaking the FTH settings to catch more problems, and perhaps improve system stability. A post on Microsoft's Ask The Performance Team blog (bit.ly/d1JStu) explains what the various FTH Registry keys mean.