Add Windows XP Styled System Properties Link in My Computer Context Menu Under Windows Vista and 7

If you use Windows Vista or 7, you might miss the classic System Properties window which used to show in previous Windows versions. Windows Vista and 7 shows a new System Properties window containing detailed system information and various links to other sections in left side. In previous Windows versions, whenever you click on My Computer icon and select "Properties", it shows a small window containing various tabs like Hardware, Advanced, System Restore, etc.
Here is a small trick to show the same System Properties window in Windows Vista and 7. After following this tutorial, you'll get a new option in My Computer context menu which will directly show the good old System properties window containing various tabs:
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8- 08002B30309D}\shell

2. Right-click on "Shell" key and select "New -> Key". Give this new key any name e.g. "System Properties". The same name will be shown in context menu.
3. Right-click on this new key "System Properties" and select "New -> Key". Give it name "command".
4. Select this new key "command" and in right-side pane change the value of "Default" to:

control sysdm.cpl

5. That's it. Exit Registry editor and right-click on My Computer icon, you'll get this new option there:

When you'll click on this new option, it'll open the Classic System Properties window:

NOTE: If you want a ready-made registry file to add this option, then download following ZIP file, extract it and run the extracted .REG file:
Download Zip File

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How to Disable Full Row Select Functionality in Windows Vista and 7 Explorer?

In Windows Vista and 7, if you are using "Details" view in Explorer you have noticed that when you hover mouse cursor over any item, it highlights or selects the full row. This behavior is different than the previous Windows versions. In previous Windows like XP, only the file/folder name was selected instead of the full row. So if you want the same functionality in Windows Vista and 7 i.e. want to disable the "Full Row Select" functionality in Explorer, then follow this tutorial.
Before applying this tutorial:

After applying this tutorial:

PS: Following method will only work in Windows Vista. For Windows 7, download and run the REG file given at the end of this topic.
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

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How to Restore “Show Desktop” Shortcut Icon in Quick Launch Toolbar?

Most of the times most of the people make this mistake when they delete the "Show Desktop" icon from Quick Launch toolbar either accidentally or intentionally. After some time they might want to restore this useful icon which helps in minimizing all opened windows in a single go. Although you can do the same thing using keyboard shortcut key "Win+D" or "Win+M". So in this tutorial, we'll tell you 2 ways to restore "Show Desktop" icon in Quick Launch toolbar:

METHOD 1:

1. Paste following code in Notepad and save the file with name "Show Desktop.scf" (including quotes):

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

2. Now you have to copy this new file and paste in "Quick Launch" toolbar. You can do it in 2 ways:
a. Drag-n-drop the new file to Quick Launch toolbar.
b. Type "%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open Quick Launch folder. Paste the file in this folder.

METHOD 2:

1. Open RUN dialog box and provide following command:

regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32.dll

2. It'll restore the Show Desktop icon in Quick Launch toolbar. You might need to restart your system to take effect.

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How to Enable / Disable Animations in Copy / Move / Delete Dialog Boxes Under Windows Vista and 7?

In Windows Vista and 7, whenever you copy, move or delete a file or folder, the progress dialog box shows an animated AVI as well as a cool animation in the progressbar as shown in following screenshot:
Sometimes you might face a problem when the dialog box doesnt show the AVI and the animation in progressbar which looks like shown in following screenshot:

If you are also facing this problem and want to enable the animation in progress dialog box, then follow this simple and small tutorial and your problem will be fixed:
1. Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press <WIN> + <Pause/Break> key), click on Advanced system settings link in left side pane (You can also open it by typing sysdm.cpl in RUN or start menu search box and press Enter). Now click on Settings button in Performance section:

2. It'll open another window. Now make sure "Animate controls and elements inside windows" option is enabled. If its not enabled, enable it and click on "Apply" button.

3. That's it. It should solve your problem and you should be able to see the animations in progress dialog box.
NOTE: If you want to disable the animation intentionally, then just disable the above mentioned option and the animations will be disabled in progress dialog box.

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How to Enable / Disable Changing Themes, Wallpapers, Screen Savers and Other Desktop Settings?

In Windows you can change desktop wallpaper, screen saver, themes and other appearance settings by right-click on Desktop and select "Properties". Sometimes you might want to disable all or a few options in Desktop Properties to restrict users or you might want to enable those options in case they are disabled by your system administrator or a virus infection.
Following tutorial will help you in enabling or disabling all or a particular option in Desktop Properties:
NOTE: This tutorial will work for almost all Windows versions.

A. Disable Themes Tab in Desktop Properties:

Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer

If "Explorer" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoThemesTab and set its value to 1 to disable it.

B. Disable Desktop Tab in Desktop Properties:

Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispBackgroundPage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

C. Disable Screen Saver Tab in Desktop Properties:

Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispScrSavPage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

D. Disable both Themes and Appearance Tabs in Desktop Properties:

Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispAppearancePage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

E. Disable Settings Tab in Desktop Properties:

Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ System

If "System" key is not present, then create it. Now in right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDispSettingsPage and set its value to 1 to disable it.

BONUS TIP: In case you want to enable a restricted tab in Desktop Properties, just delete the required DWORD value as mentioned above or change its value to 0 instead of 1.

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How to Re-Enable Missing Details Pane in Windows Vista and 7 Explorer?

Unlike Windows XP, the common tasks pane is shown at bottom in Windows Vista and Windows 7 explorer and is called "Details Pane". Sometimes you might find that the Details Pane is no longer shown in Explorer window. I have received many e-mails asking for its solution, so here I'm posting a detailed tutorial with screenshots to re-enable missing Details Pane in Vista and 7 explorer:
Without Details pane the explorer window looks like as following:

Click on "Organize -> Layout -> Details Pane".

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Options to Change Hidden Files and Folders Settings are not Available in Folder Options

As we all know we can change the settings to show / hide hidden files and folders from "Folder Options" which can be found under Tools menu in Windows XP or in Organize menu under Windows Vista and 7.
But sometimes you might find that the options to change the settings of hidden files and folders are not available in Folder Options. There may be following 4 cases:

• The whole Hidden Files and Folders tree is not visible.
• Only the heading Hidden files and folders is visible but it doesn't contain any option to choose from.
• Only Do not show hidden files and folders option is available.
• Only Show hidden files and folders option is available.

If you are also facing such problem, then download following ZIP file, extract it and then run the extracted .REG file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it and your problem will be solved:
Download Registry Script
Also check:

• [Fix] View Tab is Missing in Folder Options Dialog Box
• How to Enable Tools -> Folder Options and Registry Editor in Windows
• How to Disable Warning Message While Unchecking “Hide Protected Operating System Files” Option in Folder Options

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How to Hide / Show Specific Control Panel Applets / Icons in Windows?

This tutorial will guide you to hide or show any specific Control Panel applet in Windows. This tutorial will work for all Windows versions: NT, 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 and 7.

METHOD A: For All Windows Versions except Windows 95, 98 & Me

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\
OR
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\

2. Under this key create a new key with the name don't load , so the new path will be:

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Solution: Windows Desktop Does Not Save User Customized Settings

Sometimes people face a problem in Windows when Windows doesnt remember their customization settings on Desktop and taskbar, like icons positions, toolbars positions, taskbar position, etc. Recently I got a similar mail from a visitor "Onie Ward":

I downloaded something called Vista Customization Pack.
I've tried to uninstall this program (I'm on Windows XP) and it seems to have worked, EXCEPT that every time I login, my icons all line up on the left hand side of the page. I move them back to where I want them, but every login...moved. It all started when I installed Vista Customization Pack. I've emailed them, but haven't heard back.
Can you help?? Thanks.

So if you are also facing such problem, then this tutorial will help you in fixing the issue:
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now check for a DWORD value "NoSaveSettings" in right-side pane under following keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Program Manager\Restrictions

The DWORD value must present in any of above mentioned locations, most probably in the last one.
2. Once you find the DWORD value, delete it and restart your system. It'll solve your problem and Windows will remember your desktop settings.

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How to Fix / Troubleshoot Various Taskbar Problems in Windows?

Here you can find solutions for a few frequently asked problems which are related to Windows Taskbar like:

• Taskbar context menu is disabled. No menu appears when you right-click on taskbar.
• "Lock the Taskbar" option is disabled.
• Can't add toolbars using "Toolbars" option in Taskbar context menu.
• Can't open Taskbar Properties. An error message appears.
• Can't resize or move Taskbar.

So here we start:

=======================================

1. Taskbar context menu is disabled. No menu appears when you right-click on taskbar.
Sol. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In right-side pane, delete "NoTrayContextMenu" DWORD value.

=======================================

2. "Lock the Taskbar" option is disabled. Whenever you right-click on Taskbar, "Lock the Taskbar" option is grayed out:

Sol. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In right-side pane, delete "LockTaskbar" DWORD value.

=======================================

3. Can't add toolbars using "Toolbars" menu in Taskbar context menu. All options are grayed out:

Sol. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In right-side pane, delete "NoCloseDragDropBands" DWORD value.

=======================================

4. Can't open Taskbar Properties. Whenever you click on "Properties" in taskbar context menu, an error message appears:

Sol. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In right-side pane, delete "NoSetTaskbar" DWORD value.

=======================================

5. Can't resize or move Taskbar even "Lock the Taskbar" option is unchecked.
Sol. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

In right-side pane, delete "TaskbarSizeMove" DWORD value.

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How to Create a Shortcut Icon or Hotkey to Enable / Disable Windows Firewall

if you use Windows default Firewall, many times you might need to disable firewall for troubleshooting issues. To disable firewall, you have to follow no. of steps like opening Control Panel, then open Windows Firewall applet, then click on "Change Settings" and finally select "Off" and Apply it. Its a lengthy process and it would be better if we could create a shortcut which can directly enable/disable Windows Firewall in a single click.
Our friend at How To Geek recently posted a tutorial for creating shortcuts to enable/disable Firewall.
Following are the required steps:
1. Right-click on Desktop and select "New -> Shortcut".

2. It'll ask for Location of the item. Type following command in the location box:
To Create Shortcut to Disable Firewall, use following command:

netsh firewall set opmode disable

To Create Shortcut to Enable Firewall, use following command:

netsh firewall set opmode enable

3. Click on "Next" button. Now provide a name and click on "Finish" button.
4. That's it. It'll create a shortcut on Desktop. Now you can change its icon, name, assign shortcut key by entering into shortcut's Properties.

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How to Restore Missing “Desktop (create shortcut)” Item in Send To Menu in Windows XP, Vista and 7

A few people asked solution of this frequently occurring problem, so today I decided to post a simple and detailed solution of this problem. As we all know about "Send To" menu which appears when we right-click on a file or folder in Windows Explorer. It contains some useful items like "Desktop (create shortcut)" which can create a shortcut of the selected file/folder on Desktop within a few seconds. Its really a useful option.
But sometimes this item gets deleted from "Send To" menu accidentally or intentionally. Following tutorial will help you in restoring this useful item back in "Send To" menu:
METHOD A:
1. Type "shell:sendto" in RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open "Send To" folder.
2. Now right-click on blank area in the folder and select "New -> Text document". It'll create a text file with the name "New Text Document.txt". Rename this file and set its name to "Desktop (create shortcut).DeskLink".
3. That's it. Now you'll get "Desktop (create shortcut)" option back in "Send To" menu.
NOTE: Make sure "Hide extensions for known file types" option is disabled in "Folder Options", otherwise the second step might not work and the text file will not convert in desktop shortcut item.
METHOD B:
This method will only work in Windows XP. It'll not work in Vista and 7:
1. Type following command in RUN dialog box:

regsvr32 sendmail.dll

2. It'll re-create the missing "Desktop (create shortcut) option in "Send To" menu.
METHOD C:
This is the simplest method. Just download following zip file, extract it and copy the extracted file to "Send To" folder:
desktop-create-shortcut

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How to Restore Missing “Compressed (zipped) Folder” Item in Send To Menu in Windows XP, Vista and 7

Here is another frequently occurring problem regarding to "Send To" menu. As we all know about "Send To" menu which appears when we right-click on a file or folder in Windows Explorer. It contains some useful items including "Compressed (zipped) Folder" which can create a ZIP file of the selected files/folders within a few seconds without using any 3rd party compression utility. Its really a useful option.
But sometimes this item gets deleted from "Send To" menu accidentally or intentionally. Following tutorial will help you in restoring this useful item back in "Send To" menu:
METHOD A:
This method will only work in Windows XP. It'll not work in Vista and 7:
1. Type following command in RUN dialog box:

rundll32 zipfldr.dll,RegisterSendto

2. It'll re-create the missing "Compressed (zipped) Folder" option in "Send To" menu.
METHOD B:
This is the simplest method. Just download following zip file, extract it and copy the extracted file to "Send To" folder:
compressed-zipped-folder

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How to Modify or Disable ScanDisk Timeout Value on Windows Startup?

When Windows is not shutdown properly, an automatic scandisk is performed on next system startup. Actually Windows runs "Autochk.exe" file to perform scandisk operation.
Windows shows 10 seconds timeout so that we can bypass the automatic scandisk. This tutorial will help you in modifying this timeout value.
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager

2. In right-side pane create or modify DWORD value AutoChkTimeOut and set its value to the amount of time in seconds you want to show in timeout. For example, if you want to show 5 seconds timeout, then set its value to 5
NOTE: If no value is set, default 10 seconds value will be used by Windows. Also Windows will not accept timeout value more than 3 days, i.e. 259,200 seconds.

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UAC Tweak: A Small Cute Utility to Tweak UAC (User Account Control) in Windows Vista and 7

Microsoft has added a new feature “User Account Control (UAC)” in Windows Vista and Windows 7 which is a good addition. It prevents malicious programs to install in your system as well as it also prevents basic users to accidentally change system critical settings which can be harmful to the system. Although its a good feature but sometimes it becomes annoying to experienced users who know what they are doing with their system. So if you also find UAC prompts annoying, then here is a very small but excellent utility "UAC Tweak" made by my friend "Tom" which can easily turn off UAC or can set the UAC settings to High, Medium, Low so that you get less annoying UAC prompts.

As you can see in the above screenshots, you can choose any desired option and it'll apply it immediately. Restart your system to take affect.
Download Link

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Create a Virtual Drive for Your Desired Folder in My Computer Using Subst Command

Today we are going to tell you about a secret DOS command "subst" which can be used to create a virtual drive in Windows Explorer for any of your desired folder. For example, if you frequently use a folder "E:\Wallpapers", then you can create a virtual drive in Explorer which will directly go to this folder whenever you double click on it or access it from RUN or Command Prompt. It'll save a lot of time.
Here is how to do it:
1. Open Command Prompt and provide following command:

subst drive_letter: folder_path

for example, if you want to create a virtual drive letter H: for a folder "E:\Wallpapers", then use following command:

subst H: E:\Wallpapers

2. It'll immediately create a virtual drive H: which will represent the "Wallpapers" folder:
Before using subst command:

After using subst command:

3. As you can see. A new drive letter H: has been created which directly goes to "E:\Wallpapers" folder upon double-click.
4. If you want to delete this virtual drive, then provide following command:

subst drive_letter: /D

for example, we created H: drive in Step1, so our command to delete this virtual drive would be:

subst H: /D

5. You can view a list of all existing virtual drives by simply giving subst command without any parameter in Command Prompt.
NOTE:
A. Remember! You can't use existing drive letters for creating virtual drives, e.g. if you have 2 partitions C: and D:, then you can't use them for subst command.
B. You should not use chkdsk, diskcomp, diskcopy, format, label and recover commands on virtual drives created using subst command as these virtual drives are not real and these commands either will not work or can cause problems for the actual drives where the folders reside.

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Create a Virtual Drive for Your Desired Folder in My Computer Using Subst Command

Today we are going to tell you about a secret DOS command "subst" which can be used to create a virtual drive in Windows Explorer for any of your desired folder. For example, if you frequently use a folder "E:\Wallpapers", then you can create a virtual drive in Explorer which will directly go to this folder whenever you double click on it or access it from RUN or Command Prompt. It'll save a lot of time.
Here is how to do it:
1. Open Command Prompt and provide following command:

subst drive_letter: folder_path

for example, if you want to create a virtual drive letter H: for a folder "E:\Wallpapers", then use following command:

subst H: E:\Wallpapers

2. It'll immediately create a virtual drive H: which will represent the "Wallpapers" folder:
Before using subst command:

After using subst command:

3. As you can see. A new drive letter H: has been created which directly goes to "E:\Wallpapers" folder upon double-click.
4. If you want to delete this virtual drive, then provide following command:

subst drive_letter: /D

for example, we created H: drive in Step1, so our command to delete this virtual drive would be:

subst H: /D

5. You can view a list of all existing virtual drives by simply giving subst command without any parameter in Command Prompt.
NOTE:
A. Remember! You can't use existing drive letters for creating virtual drives, e.g. if you have 2 partitions C: and D:, then you can't use them for subst command.
B. You should not use chkdsk, diskcomp, diskcopy, format, label and recover commands on virtual drives created using subst command as these virtual drives are not real and these commands either will not work or can cause problems for the actual drives where the folders reside.

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How to Enable / Disable “New -> Shortcut” in Windows XP, Vista and 7 Context Menu?

Many system administrators or home users want to restrict a few things from other users for security purposes. Creation of "New Shortcut" is one of them. Many times we restrict drive access but sometimes it might be accessible using "New -> Shortcut" menu.
So here I'll tell you a simple method to disable "New -> Shortcut" menu, so that no one will be able to create a new shortcut anywhere in your system.
The method to disable "New -> Shortcut" menu is different for Windows XP and Vista. So I'll tell both of them one by one. The method for Windows XP will also work for Windows NT, 98, Me, 2000 and 2003. And the method of Windows Vista will also work for Windows 2008 and Windows Seven.

Disable "New -> Shortcut" Menu in Windows XP:

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew

2. In right-side pane, you'll see a string value "Command". Double-click on it and delete the complete string from "Value data" box.
3. That's it. Now whenever a user will try to create "New -> Shortcut", Windows will show following error message:

And the process will create an empty file "New Shortcut" which you can delete later.

Disable "New -> Shortcut" Menu in Windows Vista and 7:

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew

2. Now delete the "Shellnew" key.
3. That's it. It'll completely remove "Shortcut" item from "New" menu:

NOTE: If you want to restore the "New -> Shortcut" menu and its functionality, then download the appropriate ZIP file, extract it and run the extracted .REG file. It'll revert back to default settings:
Restore New -> Shortcut Functionality in Windows XP
Restore New -> Shortcut Functionality in Windows Vista and 7

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How to Disable / Restrict Use of USB Storage Devices in Windows?

Many times we want to restrict users from using USB drives in our systems. Suppose you have some important data and a friend comes and takes the data in his USB drive. This tutorial will help you in completely disable the use of USB drives in system. After applying this tutorial, users will not be able to use USB drives. Windows will not detect it.
The tutorial is divided into 2 parts:

• If the USB storage device is not installed in system
• If the USB storage device is already installed in system

So lets start this tutorial:

If the USB storage device is not installed in system:

1. Type %windir%\inf in Explorer addressbar or RUN dialog box and press Enter. It'll open "inf" folder.
2. Now look for following 2 files:

• usbstor.inf
• usbstor.pnf

3. Now you have to change their user permissions setting. Do as following for each file:
Right-click on the file and select "Properties". Goto "Security" tab and select the desired user or group in "Group or user names" list which you want to restrict from using USB drives. Now in "Permissions for Users" list, click on "Deny" checkbox next to "Full control" option and then click on OK.

NOTE: In Windows Vista, you'll have to click on "Edit" button after selecting the user or group in "Group or user names" list and then again select the same user or group in new dialog box. Now you can click on "Deny" checkbox.
4. That's it. Now users will not be able to install any USB storage device in system.

If the USB storage device is already installed in system:

1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor

2. In right-side pane, change value of "Start" to 4

3. Now whenever a user will attach a USB storage device which is already installed in system, Windows will not detect it and it'll not be shown in My Computer.
NOTE: If you want to revert it back to default, then change the value of "Start" to 3
BONUS TIP: If you want to restrict only writing to USB storage devices, then take a look at Point 21 in following tutorial:
All Kinds of Restrictions for Windows

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Windows 7 Classic Theme Bug

Here is a bug found in Windows 7. This bug is present in Windows Vista as well. This bug is related to "Windows Classic" theme. To re-create the bug, first change the Windows theme to Classic from Desktop Properties and then follow these steps:
1. Open My Computer and then open any drive. It'll activate the "Left Arrow" button as well as the drop-down Arrow which is called "Recent Pages".

2. Look carefully at the screenshot. The buttons and their background image both are misplaced. Either the background image should be moved to right by a few pixels or the buttons should be moved to left by a few pixels to fix their positions.
3. Anyway its not a big deal. Now hover your mouse cursor over the drop-down arrow and you'll see following:

The background image and the drop-down Arrow both are moved again to the left by a few pixels upon hovering the cursor over the arrow. Which makes the situation worst.
4. Now click on the drop-down arrow and amazing, the whole background image will disappear:

That's really a big UI bug which needs to be fixed in RTM version.
Also check:

• [Windows 7 Bug] User Picture Disappears from Start Menu
• [Windows 7 Bug] User Picture Disappears from Start Menu After Resizing Taskbar
• [Windows 7 Bug] Items Reappear After Deleting From Navigation Pane in Windows Explorer

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How to Remove Linux Boot Loader From Startup After Deleting Linux Partition on a Dual-Boot System?

If you have a dual-boot system with Linux and Windows, then you probably know that when you start your system first Linux boot loader appears showing Linux as well as Windows boot entries and if you select Windows from the list, it starts Windows. Suppose a situation when you want to remove Linux from your system and want to use only Windows, then how will you do it?
Many times people delete the partitions having Linux installed from "Disk Manager" but it doesnt remove Linux completely. The Linux boot loader still appears at startup but since you deleted Linux partitions, the boot loader gets corrupted and your system becomes unusable.
So if you are also facing this problem or you faced this problem in past and could not get a working solution, then read this tutorial and you can follow it if you find yourself in a similar situation.
This tutorial will help you in completely removing Linux from a dual-boot system:
1. First you'll need to boot using Windows setup CD. You can use Windows 98 Setup CD or Windows 2000, XP, 2003  CD or Windows Vista, Server 2008, Windows 7 DVD.
A. Using Windows 98 CD:
Boot into Command Prompt and provide following command:

fdisk /MBR

Now exit from command prompt by typing Exit and press Enter.
B. Using Windows 2000, XP, 2003 CD:
Enter into "Recovery Console" by pressing "R", select your Windows installation and enter administrator password. Now provide following command:

fixmbr

Press "Y" to confirm and type Exit to exit from recovery console.
C. Using Windows Vista, Server 2008, Windows 7 DVD:
Boot using setup DVD and click on "Repair Computer" link, then click on "Command Prompt". Now navigate to your DVD drive using CD command and at last provide following command:

bootsect /nt60 SYS /mbr

Exit from Command prompt and restart your system.
Thanks to Ramesh Kumar (Fellow MVP) to provide this trick.
2. The above commands will remove the Linux boot loader from startup and you'll be able to directly boot into Windows.
3. If you have not deleted Linux partitions, then you can delete them using "Disk Manager" tool in Windows.

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Hidden Trick to Exit Windows Explorer Using Start Menu in Windows Vista and 7

Many times we install a software, shell extension which requires a restart. Sometimes logging off or end task of Explorer does the job and we don't need to restart the whole system. We usually End task of Explorer using Task Manager but Windows Vista and 7 provide a lot easier way to Exit Explorer which is better than using Task Manager to forcefully End task of Explorer. Its a hidden option in Windows Vista and 7. Do as following to close Explorer cleanly and safely:
1. Click on Startmenu. Now press "Ctrl" and "Shift" keys and right-click on empty area in startmenu as shown in following screenshot:

As you can see. You'll see a new option "Exit Explorer" which only appears when you use the Ctrl+Shift key combination.
2. Now click on "Exit Explorer" option and Windows will close the Explorer.
3. To get the Explorer back, press "Ctrl+Shift+Esc" keys and it'll open Task Manager. Now click on "File -> New Task (Run...)" option.

4. Type explorer in the text box and click on OK button:

5. That's it. Windows Explorer will be back.

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UAC Tweak: A Small Cute Utility to Tweak UAC (User Account Control) in Windows Vista and 7

Microsoft has added a new feature “User Account Control (UAC)” in Windows Vista and Windows 7 which is a good addition. It prevents malicious programs to install in your system as well as it also prevents basic users to accidentally change system critical settings which can be harmful to the system. Although its a good feature but sometimes it becomes annoying to experienced users who know what they are doing with their system. So if you also find UAC prompts annoying, then here is a very small but excellent utility "UAC Tweak" made by my friend "Tom" which can easily turn off UAC or can set the UAC settings to High, Medium, Low so that you get less annoying UAC prompts.

As you can see in the above screenshots, you can choose any desired option and it'll apply it immediately. Restart your system to take affect.
Download Link

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Create Shortcuts to Themes, Desktop Background, Screen Saver, Display Settings and More

n our daily computer tasks, we use Desktop Properties quite often. Sometimes to change Desktop wallpaper, sometimes to change Windows theme and sometimes to change Display settings like screen resolution, monitor settings, etc.
For each change, we need to go through various steps: right-click on Desktop and select "Properties / Personalize" and then go to the desired tab and make required changes. Will not it be easier if we could create direct shortcuts to these tabs so that we can launch the desired tab just by double-clicking on the shortcut?
So in this tutorial, I'm going to tell some useful commands to open various Desktop Properties tabs. You can use them to create shortcuts, to create programs or you can directly run them from RUN dialog box or Windows Explorer.
So here are the various commands to launch Desktop Properties tabs directly:
Command to open "Themes" page:

control desk.cpl,,@themes

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How to Customize Default Places Bar in Windows Common File Dialog Box?

When you open, save or browse for a file, Windows opens a "common file dialog box" containing a few shortcuts in left side pane which is called "Places Bar" and the shortcuts are called "Places".
As you can see in the above screenshot, My Recent Documents, Desktop, etc are the default places. Many times we want to customize those shortcuts so that we can add our desired shortcuts there.
In this tutorial, I'll tell you how to customize these default places. So here we start the tutorial without wasting our time:
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\

2. Now right-click on "Policies" key and select "New -> Key". It'll create a new key, give it name "comdlg32". Now again right-click on this new "comdlg32" key and select "New -> Key" and give the new key name "Placesbar". So the final key path would be:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar

3. Now select "Placesbar" key and in right-side pane, create a new String value "Place0" and set its value to your desired path. You can set it to a drive like C:\ (make sure you put a slash "\" at last) or you can set it to a particular folder like D:\Wallpapers. You can also use some predefined values to put system elements in Places Bar:

MyComputer
MyDocuments
MyMusic
MyPictures
MyNetworkPlaces
MyFavorites
CommonDocuments
CommonMusic
CommonPictures
Desktop
Printers
Recent
ProgramFiles

You can set upto 5 places. So to change other default places, create new String values Place1, Place2, Place3 and Place4 and set their value to your desired path.

4. That's it. Now you'll see your desired places in common file dialog box:

PS: You can also use "TweakUI" to change the default places. Download it from here and run it. Now navigate to "Common Dialogs -> Places Bar" and in right-side pane, you can change them:

NOTE: This tutorial will work in all Windows versions. Windows Vista uses a new file dialog box which is easy to customize by right-click in the Favorite Links pane and select "Open Favorite Links Folder". It'll open the folder where you can add / remove any shortcut. A few applications still use old common file dialog box in Vista, so this tutorial will work for them.

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Fix Compatibility Tab and System Restore Problem in Windows Vista and 7

We get frequent mails about this common problem in Windows Vista and 7. Sometimes Windows users face a strange problem, when:

• The "Compatibility" tab is missing in Properties window:

• System Restore doesn't open and shows following error message:

• Windows shows frequent Error Reporting messages.
• You face Performance Monitor, Inkball and Winamp related problems.

All these problems occur when 2 system files "wer.dll" and "Faultrep.dll" are missing from "%windir%\System32" folder. Either the files were deleted by mistake or were not installed by Windows because of removing some Windows components from the setup.
The solution of this problem is very simple. Just download following ZIP file, extract it and you'll get both system files. Now copy the files to "%windir%\System32" folder. If you get overwrite prompt message, select NO.
Download Files
Once you copy the files to "System32" folder, your problem will be solved and you'll be able to get "Compatibility" tab back:

Also System Restore will work without any problem:

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