Windows 7 - Tips and Tricks.

[Tawa]

Well, we already have a thread for computer tricks and tips, but I personally think that Windows 7 deserves a thread dedicated for its own tips and tricks.

So for all Windows 7 Users, please share your knowledge about any of them that you know.

[Tawa]

I'll start with some of the ones I find interesting.

How to Enable Quick Launch in Windows 7

1. Right click on a empty space on the taskbar and click on New Tool.

2. In the Folder line, type or copy:
%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

3. Click on the Select Folder button.

And Voila... It's there again.

[Tawa]

In default, the Windows Live Messenger Icon is shown on the taskbar, which I found annoying, so I looked it up, and I found that it was very easy to send it back to the Notification Area

Here are the steps:

1. If open, close and exit Windows Live Messenger.

2. Right click on the Windows Live Messenger shortcut and click on Properties.
NOTE: If you do not have a shortcut, you can also right click on Windows Live Messenger's exe file below.

• In a 64-bit Windows 7:
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Messenger\msnmsgr.exe file.
• In a 32-bit Windows 7:
  • C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger\msnmsgr.exe file.

3.Under the Compatibilty tab, check the Run this program in compatibility mode for box and select Windows Vista.

4. Click on OK.

5. Open Windows Live Messenger to see it's icon location now.

Note: if you want it to use the Taskbar again, just uncheck the "Run this program in compatibility mode for" (See step 3 if you're confused).

[Tawa]

A variety of new keyboard shortcuts have been introduced with Windows 7:
Global keyboard shortcuts:

• Win+Space operates as a keyboard shortcut for Aero Peek.
• Win+Up and Win+Down are new shortcuts for Maximize and Restore/Minimize.
• Win+Shift+Up vertically maximises the current window
• Win+Left and Win+Right snap the current window to the left or right half of the current display; successive keypresses will move the window to other monitors in a multi-monitor configuration.
• Win+Shift+Left and Win+Shift+Right move the current window to the left or right display.
• Win+ + and Win+ − (minus sign) zoom the desktop in and out.
• Win+Home operates as a keyboard shortcut for Aero Shake.
• Win+P shows an "external display options" selector that gives the user the choice of showing the desktop on only the computer's screen, only the external display, on both at the same time (mirroring), or on both displays with independent desktops (extending).

Taskbar:

• Shift + Click, or Middle click starts a new instance of the application, regardless of whether it's already running.
• Ctrl + Shift + Click starts a new instance with Administrator privileges; by default, a User Account Control prompt will be displayed.
• Shift + Right-click shows the classic Window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc); right-clicking on the application's thumbnail image will also show this menu. If the icon being clicked on is a grouped icon, the classic menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All menu is shown.
• Ctrl + Click on a grouped icon cycles between the windows (or tabs) in the group.

[Tawa]

As you probably know, Windows 7 build 7057, a build recently leaked to the public, sports a new (yet ugly) login UI background. Delivering on the “more customizable” promise, Windows 7 now supports the ability to load images into the background of the login screen without the use of third-party software or manual hacks.

Figure 1 – Logon UI background image before and after customization.

Although this functionality was designed with OEMs in mind, it is pretty easy to turn on and off using regedit and some images lying around your hard drive.
First, a check is made to determine if the customization functionality is enabled or not. More precisely, a DWORD value named OEMBackground in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Aut hentication\LogonUI\Background key is checked. Its data, of Boolean type, defines whether or not this behavior is turned on, i.e. 1 for enabled, 0 for disabled. This value may not exist by default, depending on your system.
Afterwards, if customization is enabled, the primary monitor’s screen height and width are retrieved via calls to GetSystemMetrics. These values are used in the computation of the screen width(w)/height(h ) ratio. For example, my desktop resolution is 1920x1200. The ratio, computed by the division of w/h, is 1.6:1.
The result of this computation is looked up in an internal table that drives what image to load on disk. Although I don’t have a large enough monitor to test, it appears resolutions higher than 1920x1200 will force the loading and zooming of an image of closest compatibility (i.e. same ratio, smaller image).
As this is an OEM feature images are derived from %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds. Like the registry value, this folder may not exist by default. The following files (sorted by width-to-height ratio) are supported in this folder:

• backgroundDefault.jpg
• background768x1280.jpg (0.6)
• background900x1440.jpg (0.625)
• background960x1280.jpg (0.75)
• background1024x1280.jpg (0.8)
• background1280x1024.jpg (1.25)
• background1024x768.jpg (1.33-)
• background1280x960.jpg (1.33-)
• background1600x1200.jpg (1.33-)
• background1440x900.jpg (1.6)
• background1920x1200.jpg (1.6)
• background1280x768.jpg (1.66-)
• background1360x768.jpg (1.770833-)

NOTE: Images must be less than 256kb in size. Thanks for pushing me to investigate, Jay C.
The backgroundDefault.jpg image is loaded and stretched-to-fit when a resolution/ratio-specific background cannot be found. The other resolution/ratio-specific files are self-explanatory. If the background cannot be loaded (e.g. image physically too large, incorrect ratio, etc.), the default SKU-based image is loaded from imagesres.dll. You’ll see a Windows Server-themed grayish background in there, too, suggesting this functionality is not specific to client SKUs.

[Tawa]

1. Make sure the Recycle Bin is on the desktop.

2. Right click on the desktop and select New and Folder , then rename it anything you like. (i.e. Trash Bin)

3. Drag & drop the Recycle Bin on the new Folder to create a shortcut.

4. Save the new Folder (containing Recycle Bin shortcut) to the directory of your choice (i.e. C:\Trash Bin) by dragging and dropping.

5. UnLock the taskbar.

6. Right-click on the taskbar and select Toolbar and New toolbar...

7. Navigate to the location you saved the New Folder (Ex: Trash Bin), select it and click on the Select Folder button.

8. This places the new Toolbar and a Separator (dotted lines) on the taskbar.

9. Right click on the Separator and uncheck Show Text and Show Title.

10. Right click on the Separator and select View and Large Icons.

11. You now have the Recycle Bin pinned to the taskbar.

14. Lock the taskbar.

15. Remove the Recycle Bin from the desktop.

[Neoxter]

@tawa: can we drag and drop files to the bin in the above post ?

• Alt+Win+# accesses the Jump List of program number ‘#’ on the taskbar
• Win+M minimizes everything
• Alt+Up, Alt+Left Arrow, Alt+Right Arrow navigate to parent folder, or browse Back and Forward through folders in Explorer

Open Command Prompt in Any Folder

Like the command prompt? Miss the ‘Open Command Window Here’ Windows XP power toy? Press ‘Shift’ when right-clicking on a folder to get that option in the context menu. This also works on the desktop. No power toy required!


View Expanded ‘Send To’ Menu

Press Shift when right-clicking on a folder to get an expanded Send To menu.

[Tawa]

Originally Posted by Neoxter

@tawa: can we drag and drop files to the bin in the above post ?

Yes We Can
-Barack Obama

[Malek]

Any idea if we can have the Windows Media Player toolbar in the taskbar, I found a setup for WMP 12 with toolbar did anyone try it?

[Tawa]

Quick Trick for those who uses Desktop Gadgets, if you want to move Gadgets in Windows 7 closer together, just hold the SHIFT button while dragging them