Windows 7 Tips

Changing a Shortcut’s Icon – Added 10/30/2012
Connecting XP Computer to Windows7 – Added 10/30/2012
Disable Windows Animations – Added 10/30/2012
Enabling PING to Windows7 – Added 10/30/2012
Connecting a Windows7 Computer to Wireless WEP Router or Access Point – Added 10/30/2012
Enabling the Hidden Administrator Account – Added 8/25/2011
Creating a Shortcut to Lock the Workstation – Added 8/24/2011
Creating Shutdown and Restart Shortcuts – Added 8/24/2011
Creating a Manufacturer’s Information and Logo – Added 8/24/2011
Changing Windows7 My Documents Location – Added 7/1/2011
Speeding up Mouse Hover Time for Taskbar Thumbnails – Added 6/8/2011
Searching the Internet from the Start Menu –  Added 6/8/2011
Previewing Fonts – Added 6/8/2011
Showing Icon Text on the Taskbar – Added 6/8/2011
God Mode Folder – Added 6/7/2011
Using Robocopy for Backups – Added 6/7/2011
Deleting Temporary Internet Cache Files from the Windows Explorer – Added 6/7/2011
Connecting a Windows7 Workstation to a Windows2000 Server – Added 7/23/10
General File Cleanup – Added 10/21/09
Changing the Action Center Alerts – Added 10/19/09
Resource Monitor – Added 10/19/09
Problem Step Recorder – Added 10/19/09
Changing the Desktop Icon Size – Updated 10/16/09
Automatically Logging On – Added 10/16/09
Installing Google Chrome – Added 10/16/09
Changing the Taskbar – Added 5/6/09Changing the Action Center Alerts
Windows Disk Image Burner – Added 5/6/09
Restoring Gadgets After Disabling User Account Control – Added 5/6/09
New Calculator Functionality – Added 5/6/09
Hide Empty Drives – Added 5/6/09
Sticky Notes – Added 5/6/09
Fixing Pin to Taskbar Disabled – Added 6/7/09
Changing the Control Panel Icon Size – Added 6/7/09
Windows Explorer Single Click – Added 6/7/09
Always Show Menus – Added 6/7/09
Using Check Box to Select Items – Added 6/7/09
Changing the User Account Control – Added 6/7/09
Changing Power Options – Added 6/7/09
Turn off Windows Animation – Added 6/7/09
Speed up Boot Time – Added 6/7/09
Turning off Hibernation – Added 6/7/09
External Projector Display – Added 6/7/09
Quick Ways to Show the Desktop – Added 6/7/09
Changing the Explorer from Libraries to Computer View – Added 6/7/09
Using Jump Lists to Access Files and Directories – Added 6/7/09
Minimizing All But One Window – Added 6/7/09
Maximizing, Restoring and Moving Windows – Added 6/7/09
Running a Program in Compatibility Mode – Added 6/8/09

 

Changing a Shortcut’s Icon

Added 10/30/2012

To change the icon used by a shortcut

1. Right click on the icon
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Change icon button
4. Select the icon you want to use
5. Click on the OK button

Connecting XP Computer to Windows7

The basics are:

Have the same workgroup name on all the computers

Have the same user ID and password on the Windows7 computer as that being used on the Windows XP computer

Make sure the share on the Windows7 computer is set for Everyone to have Read/Write Access

If you are still getting an Access denied error on the share

1. Click on Start
2. Select Control Panel
3. Click on Windows Firewall
4. On the left side, click on Advanced settings
5. Click on Inbound Rules
6. Make sure the Files and Printer Sharing (Echo Request – SMB-In) is enable for all three (Public, Private and Domain)

Disable Windows Animations

Added 10/30/2012

If you want to turn off the Windows animations when you open and close a Windows:

1. Click on Start
2. Right click on My Computer
3. Select Properties
4. On the left side, click on Advanced system settings
5. In the Performance section, click on the Settings button
6. Uncheck Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
7. Click on Ok

Enabling PING to Windows7

Added 10/30/2012

To enable you to ping a Windows7 computer, there are two ways

Method 1:

1. Click on Start
2. Select Accessories
3. Right click on Command Prompt
4. Select Run as Administrator
5. Type in netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8 enable
   

Method 2:

1. Click on Start
2. Select Control Panel
3. Click on Windows Firewall
4. On the left side, click on Advanced settings
5. Click on Inbound Rules
6. Make sure the Files and Printer Sharing (Echo Request – ICMPv4-In) is enable for all three (Public, Private and Domain)

Connecting a Windows7 Computer to Wireless WEP Router or Access Point

Added 10/30/2012

1. Start the Network and Sharing Center
2. Click on Set up a new connection or network
3. Click on Manually connect to a wireless network
4. Type in the SID (case sensitive)
5. Select WEP for the Security Type

6. Type in your WEP key

Enabling the Hidden Administrator Account

Added 8/25/2011

Normally, the administrator account is hidden and there is no option to log onto that account.
One reason you may need to is if there is a problem with a current user’s profile

1. Click on Start
2. Select All Programs/ Accessories
3. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
4. At the command window, type in net user administrator /active:yes and then press the Enter key
5.  Restart or log off
6. The next time you will see an option to log on as Administrator
7. To turn this off, you can run the same steps but run net user administrator /active:no

Creating a Shortcut to Lock the Workstation

Added 8/24/2011

Rather than waiting for a screen saver to start to lock your computer, you can do this immediately.

1. Right click on an open area of the desktop
2. Select New / Shortcut
3. For the program, enter Rundll32.exe User32.dll,LockWorkStation
4. Rename the shortcut to something like Lock
5. You can also change the icon for this shortcut
6. Right click on the icon
7. Select Properties
8. Click on Change Icon
9. Click ok for the warning that the program does not contain any icons
10. Select an icon from the list that you want
11. Click OK and OK

Creating Shutdown and Restart Shortcuts

Added 8/24/2011

Sometimes it is easier to click on a shortcut on the desktop to Shutdown or Restart the computer

1. Right click on an open area of the desktop
2. Select New / Shortcut
3. Type in Shutdown.exe /s /t 00 for the program
4. For the name type Shutdown
5. You can also change the icon for this shortcut
6. Right click on the icon
7. Select Properties
8. Click on Change Icon
9. Click ok for the warning that the program does not contain any icons
10. Select an icon from the list that you want
11. Click OK and OK
12. For a Restart shortcut use Shutdown.exe /r /t 00 and rename the shortcut to Restart

Creating a Manufacturer’s Information and Logo

Added 8/24/2011

You can create a manufacturer or support information. This will show when you right click on My Computer and select Properties

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ OEMInformation
3. In that key, right click on the right panel
4. Select  New / String Value
5. Give it the name Manufacturer
6. For the Value, enter in whatever text you want to appear
7. String Names you can use are:
8. Manufacturer
   SupportHours
   SupportPhone
   SupportURL
   Logo
9. For Logo, use the value – c:\windows\system32\oemlogo.bmp. Create a roughly 100×100 pixel bitmap in that location with that name

Changing Windows7 My Documents Location

For information on how to change the location of the My Documents folder, go to:
Changing Windows7 My Documents Location

Speeding up Mouse Hover Time for Taskbar Thumbnails

Added 6/8/2011

When you hover your mouse over an icon in the taskbar, there is a  slight delay in the time it takes to show the thumbnail.

To speed up that display

1. Start the Registry editor
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Mouse
3. In the right panel, double click on MouseHoverTime
4. The default is 400 (for 400 miliseconds)
5. To speed it up, lower the number to something like 100
6. Restart the computer

Searching the Internet from the Start Menu

Added 6/8/2011

Normally when you enter items in the Start Menu, Windows7 searches only your computer.
If you have Windows7 Professional or Elite with the Group Policy Editor, you can configure Windows7 to also Search the Internet as well

1. Click on the Start Button
2. Type in gpedit.msc
3. Go to User Configuration / Administrative Templates / Start Menu and Taskbar
4. Double click on Add Search Internet link to Start Menu
5. Set it to be Enabled
6. Now when you enter text in the the Start Menu, you will see an option to Search the Internet

Previewing Fonts

Added 6/8/2011

If you want an easy way to see not only what fonts are installed on the computer but what they look like,
simply go to the Control Panel / Fonts icon.

You will see a small thumbnail icon with name of the font and the letters Abg in that particular font

You can also right click and delete any fonts you don’t want.

Showing Icon Text on the Taskbar

Added 6/8/2011

Normally Windows7 only shows the icon for running programs on the taskbar

1. If you want to also see the name as well:
2. Right click on an open area of the taskbar
3. Select Properties
4. In the Taskbar buttons section, change it from Always combine, hide labels to either Combine when taskbar is full or Never combine.

God Mode

Added 6/7/2011

1. Right click on the desktop
2. Create new folder with the following location:
   {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
3. When you click on the icon, a window will show where you can have easy access to many of the settings that would normally take a bit more time to find
4. Some of the sections are:
   Action Center
   Administrative Tools
   Devices and Printers
   Display
   Folder Options
   Network and Sharing Center
   Personalization
   Power Options
   System
   User Accounts
   Windows Updates

Using Robocopy for Backups

Added 6/7/2011

There is a nice replacement to XCOPY that comes with Windows7 called ROBOCOPY

To use if for copying files and directories for things like backup purposes, it is very easy to use and has several options not available with XCOPY.

For a few simple examples to help you get started. Assuming the C: drive is your main drive and D: is your backup drive. You would of course change drive letters and directories to meet your specific needs.

ROBOCOPY C:\DATA D:\DATA /s
This would copy all the new or changed files from C:\DATA to D:\DATA. This is similar to XCOPY with the /s /d /y switches.

ROBOCOPY C:\DATA D:\DATA /s /r:2 /w:2
This would do the same by any files it could not copy at first, it would retry twice and wait 2 seconds between tries

ROBOCOPY C:\DATA D:\DATA /s /xd “garmin” “Lightroom 3 Catalog Previews.lrdata” /r:2 /w:2
This is where some of the new switches in Robocopy are useful. In this example it would do the same as  all the above but would Exclude from being copied the garmin and Lightroom 3 Catalog Previews.lrdata directories.

ROBOCOPY C:\DATA D:\DATA /s /purge or ROBOCOPY C:\DATA D:\DATA /MIR
In addition to copying new or changed files, this will also delete or purge any files in the backup location that are not also in the source location. I sometime use this when I delete a lot of files from my source, don’t necessarily remember then all, and want to have a cleaner backup.

Deleting Temporary Internet Cache Files from the Windows Explorer

Added 6/7/2011

Before you can view the Temporary Internet files in the Windows Explorer, you need to make a few changes to what folders and files you can view.
To do that:

1. Go to the Control Panel / Folders icon
2. Click on the View tab
3. Check to Show hidden files, folders and drives
4. Uncheck Hide protect operating system files
5. Uncheck Hide protected operating system files
6. Click on the OK button

Now you should be able to access the directories from the Windows Explorer by going to

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\

Another way is at the start menu to simply type
shell:cache

Connecting a Windows7 Workstation to a Windows2000 Server

Added 7/23/10

To connect a Windows7 computer to a Windows2000 server, you will either need to make a change using the Group Policy Editory (Win7 Pro) or the Registry (Win7 Home)

Windows7 Pro

1. Click on the Start icon
2. Enter gpedit.msc
3. Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options
4. Scroll down and double click on Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level and you should be able to see the set level. Change this to send LM & NTLM responses

Windows7 Home

1. Start the registry editor
2. Go to to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Lsa
3. Create a new DWORD value with the name of LmCompatibilityLevel
4. Give it a value of 1
5. Restart the computer

General File Cleanup

Added 10/21/09

These are the following common locations I where like to delete unnecessary files. This can speed up the operating system and help reduce the time it takes to run virus scans as well as defrag the computer.

The TEMP directory

1. An easy way to get there is to click on Start the type in %temp%
2. Press Ctrl-A to highlight everything in the right hand panel and press Shift-Delete.
3. This deletes them permanently and doesn’t send them to the Recycle Bin

The Software Distribution / Download Directory

1. This contains the files that are downloaded when you update the Microsoft files. Once they are updated, you don’t need the files any longer.
2. Start the Windows Explorer
3. Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
4. Press Ctrl-A to highlight everything in the right hand panel and press Shift-Delete.

Internet Cache Files

For IE 8

1. Tools
2. Internet Options
3. Under Browsing History – Delete  button
4. I typically only delete Temporary Internet files and History. I usually leave Cookies since they often contain information for web sites I frequent that i don’t want to enter in every time.

 Firefox

1. Tools
2. Clear Recent History (Ctrl-Shift-Del)
3. Click on Details
4. Select the Time range to clear
5. Check only those items you want to clear
6. Click on the Clear Now button

Google Chrome

1. Click on the tools icon on the upper right hand corner
2. Select Clear Browsing Data (Ctrl-Shift-Del)
3. Check what you want to clear
4. Select the period of time you want to clear the data
5. Click on the Clear Browsing Data button

Windows TEMP Directory

1. Start the Windows Explorer
2. Go to C:\Windows\Temp
3. Press Ctrl-A to highlight everything in the right hand panel and press Shift-Delete.
4. This deletes them permanently and doesn’t send them to the Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin

1. Right click on the Recycle bin
2. Select Empty Recycle Bin

Other Program’s Cache Directories

There are other programs like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom which cache the thumbnails of the graphic files you edit. This may speed up the program somewhat, but over time I’ve seen it add gigs of extra files that you may want to clean on a regular basis. See each individual program for the specifics on where those files are kept and the easiest way to delete them.

Changing the Action Center Alerts

Added 10/16/09

Normally the Action Center will show message alerts for things like Windows Update, Internet Security Settings, Network Firewall, User Account Control and Virus Protection.
If you want to turn these alerts off:

1. Start / Control Panel
2. Go to Action Center / Change Action Center settings
3. From here you can uncheck any item that you no longer want message alerts for.

Resource Monitor

Added 6/19/09

If you want to see where possible bottlenecks may be in your computer’s performance, the Windows Resource Monitor is a system tool that allows you to view information about the use of hardware (CPU, memory, disk, and network) and software (file handles and modules) resources in real time.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Type in RESMON and press the Enter key

Problem Step Recorder

Added 10/19/09

You can use Problem Steps Recorder to automatically capture the steps you take on a computer, including a text description of where you clicked and a picture of the screen during each click (called a screen shot). Once you capture these steps, you can save them to a file that can be used by a support professional or someone else helping you with a computer problem.

1. To start the Problem Steps Recorder, click on the Start button and type in PSR then press the Enter key

2. Click Start Record
3. Go through all the steps to reproduce the problem
4. Click on Stop Record
5. The program will then create a zip file.
6. Save and send this file to your support person so they can view the steps taken. Screenshots along with the description of the steps will be included.

Changing the Desktop Icon Size

Updated 10/16/09

Windows 7 now supports browser-style resizing control of text and icons on the Desktop too?! Just hold CTRL, and scroll the mouse wheel

The updated tip was submitted by Chris Mack

Added 6/7/09

1. By default, the icons on the desktop are a little large
   2. Right click on an open area of the desktop
   3. Select View
   4. Select Small Icons

Automatically Logging On

Added 10/16/09

If you are the only user on the computer and are not worried about someone else having access to it, you can configure Windows7 to automatically log you on.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Type in netplwiz and press the Enter key
3. Uncheck User must enter a user name and password to use this computer
4. Click on the Apply button at the lower right corner
5. You will then be shown a dialog box where you can enter in the name and password of the account you want to have automatically log on.
6. Simply fill it with the correct information
7. Click on the OK button

Installing Google Chrome

Added 10/16/09

If you are getting an error message when trying to install Google Chrome with Windows7, a simple Registry edit may solve the problem

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\State
3. Rename the key ImageState to ImageState1 ( I prefer to rename a key rather than delete it when possible just in case you may want it back again at some point)

Running a Program in Compatibility Mode

Added 6/8/09

If you have a program that doesn’t run in native Windows 7, try:

1. Right click on the icon
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Compatibility tab
4. Check Run this program in compatibility mode for:
5. Select one of the options such as Windows XP (Service Pack 3). Right now there are ten different options you can choose ranging from Window95 to Vista (Service Pack 2).

Maximizing, Restoring and Moving Windows

Added 6/7/09

You can quickly maximize a window by simply dragging it to the top of the screen or double clicking on it’s border at the top.

Double clicking on the window will restore it to the original size

To move a window to a different monitor, even if maximized, you can simply drag it to the other monitor. You don’t need to make it smaller first.

Minimizing All But One Window

Added 6/7/09

If you want to minimize all the one particular window, have that be the active window and just shake  it with the mouse. Your other windows will be minimized. Shake it again and they will return to the size and location they were before

Using Jump Lists to Access Files and Directories

Added 6/7/09

From the Taskbar, Windows 7 has a quick way to access files you have recently used in a program. Simply right click on the program’s icon in the taskbar. A list of recently used files will be shown.

You can do the same for web sites you have visted. Right click on the IE icon and a list of recent sites will be shown.

The Windows Explorer will show recent folders you have accessed

Changing the Explorer from Libraries to Computer View

Added 6/7/09

Normally when you click on a shortcut to the Windows Explorer, the default view is to show the Libraries view.
If you want to change that to show the Computer view, simply change the target to:

%windir%\explorer.exe ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

To change it to open up to My Documents, change the targe to:
%windir%\explorer.exe ::{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}

If you have the Windows Explorer pinned to the Taskbar, and want to change it’s view:

1. Right click on the icon
2. Right click on Windows Explorer
3. Select Properties
4. Paste in whichever target you want to use

Quick Ways to Show the Desktop

Added 6/7/09

There are several ways to quickly show and access the desktop.

1. Press the Win+Spacebar keys. Let up on the spacebar but hold the Windows key down. When you let up on the Windows key, you will return to the previous open application
2. Next to where the time and date are shown on the system tray, there is a small rectangular box. Clicking on this once will show the desktop. Clicking on it again will return you to your previous open application

External Projector Display

Added 6/7/09

On a laptop, normally you need to remember the special keys necessary to change your display to an external projector, or to have both the laptop and projector at the same time.

To make that much easier, with Windows7, simply press the Windows key + P.

This will bring up a display where you can select Computer only, Duplicate, or Projector Only

Turning off Hibernation

Added 6/7/09

1. If you have something like a desktop and don’t need hibernation enabled, you can turn this off
   2. Start / CMD
   3. This will open a command prompt
   4. Type in powercfg -h off

Speed up Boot Time

1. By default, Windows7 waits 30 seconds before it starts to load the operating system.
   2. To decrease this time, Right click on My Computer
   3. Click on Advance System Settings
   5. Under Startup and Recovery, click on the Settings button
   6. Decrease the time from 30 seconds to something like 3
   7. You can also change the settings for what happens in case of a System failure

Turn off Windows Animation

Added 6/7/09

1. Normally I don’t really care to have the windows animate when they are opened or closed. It seems to make things slower.
   2. To turn this off, right click on My Computer
   3. Select Properties
   4. On the left side, click on Advanced system settings
   5. In the performance section, click on the Settings button
   6. Uncheck Animate windows when minimizing or maximizing

Changing Power Options

Added 6/7/09

1. By default, Windows7 is configured to turn off the display after 10 minutes and put the computer to sleep after 30 minutes
   2. To change that, go to Control Panel / Power Options
   3. Click on Change plan settings
   4. From here you can change them to whatever you like

Changing the User Account Control

Added 6/7/09

If you want to change the User Account Control setting for when to be notified about changes to your computer:

1. Go to the Control Panel / Action Center
   2. On the left side, click on Change User Account Control settings
   3. The default setting for User Account Control is to Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer
   4. If you are careful with what you do with your computer in regards to virus and spyware risks, and want to lower this so you are not prompted so often when changes are made to the computer, you can disable these warnings
   5. Simply slide the bar to the bottom – Never notify
   6. Click on the OK button
   7. Reboot the computer

Using Check Box to Select Items

Added 6/709

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine what files are selected in the Explorer when you want to copy, move or delete files. To make the selection more obvious:

1. Open the Control Panel
   2. Go to Folder Options
   3. Check Scroll doown and check Use check boxes to select items
   4. Click Apply and OK

Always Show Menus

Added 6/709

When using programs like the Windows Explorer, the top menu is not displayed by default. To change that:

1. Open the Control Panel
   2. Go to Folder Options
   3. Check Always show menus
   4. Click Apply and OK

Windows Explorer Single Click

Added 6/709

1. Open the Control Panel
   2. Go to Folder Options
   3. Check Single-click to open an item
   4. Check Underline icon titles only when I point at them
   5. Click Apply and OK

Changing the Control Panel Icon Size

Added 6/7/09

1. By default, the icons on the desktop are shown by Category. My preference is to View by Large or Small icons. This way you can more easily see all the options
   2. Open the Control Panel
   3. On the top right, click on View by: Category
   4. Change it to Large or Small icons
   5. Now all the options show up for you.

Fixing Pin to Taskbar Disabled

Added 6/7/09

If the option to pin to the taskbar does now show up when you right click on an icon, perhaps you also have the shortcut arrow display turned off. To enable it again

1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ lnkfile
3. Createt a new String Value with the name IsShortcut
4. Reboot the computer

Changing the Taskbar

Added 5/6/09

If you want to change some of those options:

1. Right click on an open area of the taskbar
2. Select Properties
3. From here you have options to:

Lock the Taskbar
Auto-hide the taskbar
Use small icons
Whether you want the taskbar on the Bottom, Left, Right or Top of the screen
Several options for the buttons

Windows Disk Image Burner

Added 5/6/09

With Windows 7, you can now directly burn ISO images

Using the Windows Explorer, double click on the ISO file

If you have another software program that lets you view the contents of an ISO file (like WinZip), right click on the file and select Open with Windows Disk Image Burner

Restoring Gadgets After Disabling User Account Control

Added 5/6/09

If you have changed your User Account Control settings to Never notify, by default Gadgets will not be displayed on the desktop.
Fortunately a simple registry change will solve the problem

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Sidebar \ Settings
3. Right-click on the right panel and create a new DWORD (32-Bit) Value named AllowElevatedProcess.
4. Double click on this and give it a value of 1

New Calculator Functionality

Added 5/6/09

The new Windows Calculator, while it has a much nicer interface, also has greater functionality.

There are now 4 options for:

• Standard
• Scientific
• Programmer
• Statistics
• Unit Conversions
• Date Calculation
• Mortgage
• Vehicle Leasing
• Fuel Economy

Hide Empty Drives

Added 5/6/09

If you want to have empty drives (like empty multiple-card reader drives), show up grayed out in the Windows Explorer

1. Go Tools / Folder Options / View tab
2. Check Hide empty drives in the Computer folder

Now you  can more easily determine which drives actually have something on them.

Sticky Notes

Added 5/6/09

You can now leave sticky notes as reminders directly on your desktop.

1. Click on the Start logo
2. Start typing in stick and you will likely see Sticky Notes showing.
3. When it is highlighted, press the Enter key
4. You will now have a sticky note on the desktop and you can type in whatever you like
5. Right click and you can change the color
6. Click on the + to create a new note
7. Click on the X to delete the note (this won’t show again when the program is restarted)
8. Press Alt-F4 to close a note you want to keep
9. There is no need to save the note. Even after you close it, when you open the program again, the same note will be there.

This site is copyrighted. No portion may be reproduced without my written permission.