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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 & Me1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. Now goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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