We have an HP laptop that came with Vista pre-installed.
I then updated it to make it dual boot with Ubuntu, and somehow this grew to two different versions of Ubuntu - 9.04 and 11.04.
After updating RAM to improve its woeful performance, I realised that the issue with speed was less to do with RAM, but more to do with the OS.
Amazon were offering an upgrade facility to Win 8 from Vista for just under £40, so I took advantage of this.
I took the "upgrade" rather than clean install option, and that proceeded well.
However, the default screen shown was a bit confusing, and some of the non Microsoft products I'd installed were no longer there.
I finally got around yesterday to resolving this.
I additionally installed:
Avast!
Chrome
iTunes
VLC
SequioaView
Google Drive
Libre Office
All good so far. I then noticed not a lot of free disk space, but this was in part due to the large amount of room (30gb-ish) of Windows.old - the OS I upgraded.
Disk cleaning - including System Files - sorted this.
So there was still a nagging problem - all those erroneous entries on the boot screen. I put in an Ubuntu install disk and looked at the options - install over current, alongside, or "something else" which requires re-partitioning.
There isn't the ability to say "please install Ubuntu" HERE and leave that to happen.
Here comes the (almost fatal) mistake. Ubuntu offers the option to remove an entire OS - easy!
Basically it means doing (from a Terminal prompt):
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/os-uninstaller
and then:
sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install -y os-uninstaller && os-uninstaller
And then you get a dropdown offering you the choice to remove the relevant OS. So off goes 9.04 - hooray!
And then off goes 11.04 too........ooops..... nothing wrong at this stage, but a reboot takes you into a loop with the HP recovery console.
Realisation began to dawn. Having dual boot means the choice is handled by Grub. Grub that sits in Ubuntu. Ubuntu that I have just deleted.
Easy, I think. Simply put the Ubuntu disk in, reinstall and Grub will come back.
Mistake.
I have various disks of Ubuntu from 9.04 through to 12.10. None of them would load.
Am I going to have to reinstall? And will I even be able to, as my Win 8 disk is an upgrade, not the main install? Or is that just what Microsoft want me to believe?
Fortunately I didn't need to find out. I Googled "reinstate Windows 8 master boot record" and got this.
There are several command line options highlighted there, and I tried them all. There was still a problem in finding the Win8 OS though. However, within that same "Repair your computer" menu is an option of "Refresh your computer". I gave this a go, and lo and behold, all is back now.
End result - a Win 8 install that boots automatically with a good 30gb of free space!
Showing posts with label Windows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windows. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Windows: Hidden shares
1 Open Windows Explorer
Navigate to the Network folder in the tree, and select your own PC to see all (visible) shared folders.
2 Expose the Hidden Shares
To see a hidden share, type it into Windows Explorer's address bar, complete with trailing $, and press Enter. Easy—if you know the name.
3 See Everything That Can Be Seen
Use the Computer Management tool (comp mgmt.msc) to see a complete list of all hidden and visible shares on your PC. You can right-click any shared item here and select Stop Sharing to get rid of it, but Windows will share it again when you restart unless you disable the feature altogether.
4 Plug the hole
In the Windows Registry (Start | Run, regedit), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters, and create two new DWORD values, AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks, both set to zero.
5 Reboot
You'll need to restart Windows for the change to take effect.
Navigate to the Network folder in the tree, and select your own PC to see all (visible) shared folders.
2 Expose the Hidden Shares
To see a hidden share, type it into Windows Explorer's address bar, complete with trailing $, and press Enter. Easy—if you know the name.
3 See Everything That Can Be Seen
Use the Computer Management tool (comp mgmt.msc) to see a complete list of all hidden and visible shares on your PC. You can right-click any shared item here and select Stop Sharing to get rid of it, but Windows will share it again when you restart unless you disable the feature altogether.
4 Plug the hole
In the Windows Registry (Start | Run, regedit), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters, and create two new DWORD values, AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks, both set to zero.
5 Reboot
You'll need to restart Windows for the change to take effect.
Win XP: Custom Notifications
Launch Regedit from the Start menu's Run dialog. Navigate to HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\TrayNotify. In the right-hand pane, locate the Binary values named IconStreams and PastIconStreams and delete them. That's not sufficient, though, because Windows Explorer still has the current list in memory.
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the Task Manager. Click on the Processes tab, highlight the entry for Explorer, and click on the End Process button. Still in the Task Manager, select New Task from the File menu, type Explorer, and click on OK.
Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the Task Manager. Click on the Processes tab, highlight the entry for Explorer, and click on the End Process button. Still in the Task Manager, select New Task from the File menu, type Explorer, and click on OK.
Win XP: Prevent reboots
Click Start, then Run. Then type regedit and press Enter. Be careful in the Registry, following the directions slowly and reading twice before clicking once. With the Registry Editor opened, click and expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies and finally Microsoft\Windows. Right-click on Windows and select New\Key with your left mouse. Type WindowsUpdate and press Enter. This will create a new folder.
Now right-click on that folder and create another new key, this one named AU, and press Enter. AU stands for Auto Update. Turn to the right-hand pane, where an entry reads (Default); right-click on the white space and select New DWORD Value. Enter the string NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers, and press Enter. Now double-click that entry and change the Value Data to a 1, with the Base button of Hexadecimal selected.
Click on File | Exit, after which the Registry autosaves (just as other applications ought to but don't), and reboot. Once Windows loads this value it should never force a reboot when you are not present.
Now right-click on that folder and create another new key, this one named AU, and press Enter. AU stands for Auto Update. Turn to the right-hand pane, where an entry reads (Default); right-click on the white space and select New DWORD Value. Enter the string NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers, and press Enter. Now double-click that entry and change the Value Data to a 1, with the Base button of Hexadecimal selected.
Click on File | Exit, after which the Registry autosaves (just as other applications ought to but don't), and reboot. Once Windows loads this value it should never force a reboot when you are not present.
Win XP: Add Print Directory feature
To create the Printdir.bat file, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK:
notepad
2. Paste the following text into Notepad:
@echo off
dir %1 /-p /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"
start /w notepad /p "%temp%\Listing"
del "%temp%\Listing"
exit
3. On the File menu, click Exit, and then click Yes to save the changes.
4. In the Save As dialog box, type the following text, and then click Save:
%windir%\Printdir.bat
Create a new action for file folders
1. Click Start, click Control Panel (or, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel), and then click Folder Options.
2. On the File Types tab, click File Folder.
3. Click Advanced, and then click New.
4. In the Action box, type
Print Directory Listing
5. In the Application used to perform action box, type:
: printdir.bat
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK, click OK, and then click Close.
1. Click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK:
notepad
2. Paste the following text into Notepad:
@echo off
dir %1 /-p /o:gn > "%temp%\Listing"
start /w notepad /p "%temp%\Listing"
del "%temp%\Listing"
exit
3. On the File menu, click Exit, and then click Yes to save the changes.
4. In the Save As dialog box, type the following text, and then click Save:
%windir%\Printdir.bat
Create a new action for file folders
1. Click Start, click Control Panel (or, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel), and then click Folder Options.
2. On the File Types tab, click File Folder.
3. Click Advanced, and then click New.
4. In the Action box, type
Print Directory Listing
5. In the Application used to perform action box, type:
: printdir.bat
6. Click OK.
7. Click OK, click OK, and then click Close.
Win XP: Refresh thumbnails
Select Search from the Start menu (in some older Windows versions this menu item will be named Find), choose to search for files or folders, and search your local hard drives and their subfolders for files named Thumbs.db. When the search is finished, you'll have a list of all the thumbnail files. Click within the results area, press Ctrl+A to select all of them, and press Del to delete them. You'll have to confirm that you want to delete them, and you'll get a second confirmation request because Thumbs.db is nominally a system file; click on the Yes to All button. Now all of your folders with pictures will get new, fresh thumbnails the next time you view them.
Win XP: Folder settings
By default, Windows XP remembers the last 400 folder settings. After 400, it's supposed to discard the oldest settings, so that it always remembers the most recent 400. In some cases, however, it just stops remembering new settings when the number of settings hits 400. Note that the steps that follow will clear all your old folder settings so Windows XP can remember more, and this method also raises the limit higher than 400.
1. Launch REGEDIT from the Start menu's Run dialog.
2. Navigate to the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell. If this key is not present, skip to step 8.
3. If a subkey named BagMRU is present, delete the entire subkey.
4. If a subkey named Bags is present, delete the entire subkey.
5. Look for a value named BagMRU Size (with a space between BagMRU and Size).
6. If this value is not present, select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu and name the new value
BagMRU Size.
7. Double-click on the BagMRU Size value, choose Decimal, and enter the desired number of folder settings for Win XP to remember (for example, 1,000).
8. Navigate to the Registry key HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\ShellNoRoam. If present, repeat steps 3 through 7.
1. Launch REGEDIT from the Start menu's Run dialog.
2. Navigate to the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell. If this key is not present, skip to step 8.
3. If a subkey named BagMRU is present, delete the entire subkey.
4. If a subkey named Bags is present, delete the entire subkey.
5. Look for a value named BagMRU Size (with a space between BagMRU and Size).
6. If this value is not present, select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu and name the new value
BagMRU Size.
7. Double-click on the BagMRU Size value, choose Decimal, and enter the desired number of folder settings for Win XP to remember (for example, 1,000).
8. Navigate to the Registry key HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\ShellNoRoam. If present, repeat steps 3 through 7.
Win XP: Booting into safe mode
Just select Run from the Start menu, type MSCONFIG,and hit Enter. Click the General tab, click the Advanced button, check the box Enable Startup menu, then click OK and OK. When you reboot (and until you uncheck that box) the Startup menu will appear during the boot process and remain visible for 30 seconds or until you make a selection.
Win XP: How to clean boot
Note You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to follow these steps. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from follow these steps.
1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then clear the Process System.ini File, Process WIn.ini File, and Load Startup Items check boxes. You cannot clear the Use Original Boot.ini check box.
3. On the Services tab, select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
4. Click OK, and then click Restart to restart your computer.
5. After Windows starts, determine whether the symptoms still occur.
Note Look closely at the General tab to make sure that the check boxes that you cleared are still cleared. Continue to step 6 if none of the check boxes are selected. If the Load System Services check box is the only disabled check box, your computer is not clean-booted. If additional check boxes are disabled and the issue is not resolved, you may require help from the manufacturer of the program that places a check mark back in Msconfig.
If none of the check boxes are selected, and the issue is not resolved, you may have to repeat steps 1 through 5, but you may also have to clear the Load System Services check box on the General tab. This temporarily disables Microsoft services (such as, Networking, Plug and Play, Event Logging, and Error Reporting) and permanently deletes all restore points for the System Restore utility. Do not do this if you want to retain your restore points for System Restore or if you must use a Microsoft service to test the issue.
6. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
7. On the General tab, select the Process System.ini File check box, click OK, and then click Restart to restart the computer. If the issue continues, the issue is with an entry in your System.ini file. If the issue does not continue, repeat this step for the Process Win.ini File, Load Startup Items, and Load System Services check boxes until the issue occurs. After the issue occurs, the last item that you selected is the item where the issue is occurring.
How to start the Windows Installer service
Note The Windows Installer service does not start if you disable Load System Services. To use Windows Installer in this case, you must start the service manually:
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. In the left pane, click Services and Applications, and then click Services.
3. In the right pane, right-click Windows Installer, and then click Start.
If you run a Setup program without manually starting the Windows Installer, you may receive the following error message:
The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. Contact your support personnel to verify that the windows Installer service is properly registered.
How to return from a clean boot state
1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Normal Startup - load all device drivers and services.
3. Click OK, and then click Restart when you are prompted to restart your computer.
1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then clear the Process System.ini File, Process WIn.ini File, and Load Startup Items check boxes. You cannot clear the Use Original Boot.ini check box.
3. On the Services tab, select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
4. Click OK, and then click Restart to restart your computer.
5. After Windows starts, determine whether the symptoms still occur.
Note Look closely at the General tab to make sure that the check boxes that you cleared are still cleared. Continue to step 6 if none of the check boxes are selected. If the Load System Services check box is the only disabled check box, your computer is not clean-booted. If additional check boxes are disabled and the issue is not resolved, you may require help from the manufacturer of the program that places a check mark back in Msconfig.
If none of the check boxes are selected, and the issue is not resolved, you may have to repeat steps 1 through 5, but you may also have to clear the Load System Services check box on the General tab. This temporarily disables Microsoft services (such as, Networking, Plug and Play, Event Logging, and Error Reporting) and permanently deletes all restore points for the System Restore utility. Do not do this if you want to retain your restore points for System Restore or if you must use a Microsoft service to test the issue.
6. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
7. On the General tab, select the Process System.ini File check box, click OK, and then click Restart to restart the computer. If the issue continues, the issue is with an entry in your System.ini file. If the issue does not continue, repeat this step for the Process Win.ini File, Load Startup Items, and Load System Services check boxes until the issue occurs. After the issue occurs, the last item that you selected is the item where the issue is occurring.
How to start the Windows Installer service
Note The Windows Installer service does not start if you disable Load System Services. To use Windows Installer in this case, you must start the service manually:
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. In the left pane, click Services and Applications, and then click Services.
3. In the right pane, right-click Windows Installer, and then click Start.
If you run a Setup program without manually starting the Windows Installer, you may receive the following error message:
The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. Contact your support personnel to verify that the windows Installer service is properly registered.
How to return from a clean boot state
1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Normal Startup - load all device drivers and services.
3. Click OK, and then click Restart when you are prompted to restart your computer.
Win XP: Folder view
1. Right-click on an empty area of the folder.
2. Click View and select your preference.
To change the default view for all folders, perform the following steps:
1. Change the view for the current folder, as previously described.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Click the Like Current Folders button.
2. Click View and select your preference.
To change the default view for all folders, perform the following steps:
1. Change the view for the current folder, as previously described.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Click the Like Current Folders button.
Win XP Tips
Clean out Prefetch: Run on the Start menu and type "prefetch" and an Explorer-type dialogue box will open. Press Ctrl A to highlight all of the shortcuts and hit the Delete key to zap them.
Information about PC and XP, including the time system has been running since it was last booted up: Go to Start > Programs > Accessories and click on Command Prompt to open a DOS type window, at the flashing cursor type "systeminfo" and all will be revealed.
To keep a permanent record of this data type instead "systeminfo > info.txt" and this creates a text document in whatever directory you launched Systeminfo from.
File search: Go to Change Preferences again and this time click on "Change Files and Folders Search Behaviour" then select "Advanced - includes options to manually enter", and the Search window will return to the traditional layout.
Remove unnecessary services: Go to Run on the Start menu and type 'services.msc'. This will bring up a list of all of the programs that can run or are presently running in the background. To find out what each one does simply right click on it and this will display a dialogue box with a description and a 'Start Type' drop-down menu with Automatic, Manual or Disable options. Here are some Services that you may find, these are not usually needed by non-networked home PCs and can be safely disabled:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
DHCP Client
Distributed Link Tracking Client
DNS Client
Fast User Switching
FTP Publishing Service
Human Interface Access Devices
IIS Admin Service
IPSEC Policy Agent
Indexing Service
Messenger
Net Logon
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry Service
RIP Service
Run As Service
Server
SSDP Discovery Service
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Upload Manager
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration
World Wide Web Publishing Service
Workstation
Edit the Send To Menu: When you right-click on a file and choose Send To, menu options let you copy that file to the A: drive, the My Documents folder, or various other places. You can add a menu item that will send files to any folder you want. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo for Windows 2000 and XP, or C:\Windows\SendTo for Windows 98 and Me. If you don't see the folder you want, select Folder Options from the Tools menu, click on the View tab, and check Show hidden files and folders. In a second Explorer window, select the folder in question. Right-drag it into the Send To folder and choose Create Shortcuts Here. Rename the shortcut as you want to see it in the Send To menu.
Control Launch Order: You may need to launch multiple start-up programs in order, perhaps to connect to a VPN before launching a program that needs that connection. Create a new folder called C:\Ordered Launch and drag any shortcuts that currently reside in Start | All Programs | Startup to this new folder. If the shortcuts don't already exist, create them in the new folder.
Open a command prompt, navigate to C:\Ordered Launch, and issue the command DIR /B /S > ordered.bat. Enter notepad ordered.bat to open the resulting batch file in Notepad. Copy and paste the lines in the desired launch order. Surround each line with quotes and precede it with the start command and a space; for example, start "C: \Ordered Launch\First Program.lnk".
Double-click on the batch file to test it. The programs will start in the specified order, but if one takes longer to initialize, it may appear out of order. In that case, insert a delay line after the slow-starting program. This line will insert a 5- second delay: ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > nul. Edit the value after -n to set a different delay. After testing the file, open Windows Explorer and right-drag it to the Startup folder, selecting Create Shortcuts Here.
Move the My Documents Folder: Keeping the My Documents folder on a partition separate from the operating-system files can save you pain if you have to reformat the boot partition. You may also want to store it on a network share that gets backed up regularly. Right-click on My Documents on the desktop or in the Start menu and choose Properties. Click on Find Target to select the new location, and click on OK. In the Move Documents box, click on Yes to move the documents.
Restore a Lost Status Bar: When you open Windows Explorer, the Status bar may be absent even if you previously checked View | Status Bar in the menu. To make Windows remember that setting, first close all Windows Explorer windows and launch just one. Size it the way you want and put a check next to Status Bar in the View menu. Now close the window by holding down the Shift key while clicking on the X icon at top right. This also works in Internet Explorer.
Specify a Starting Folder for Windows Explorer: Windows XP launches Windows Explorer in My Documents by default. To make Windows Explorer start in another folder, edit the shortcut that launches it. Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. Click in the Target field on the Shortcut tab and press the Right Arrow key. Append this text " /e,C:\"—that is, space, slash, e, comma, C, colon, backslash—to the existing command. You can substitute another folder for C:.
Shut off Indexing System: Launch Services.msc from the Start menu's Run dialog. Find the Indexing Service (Cidaemon.exe) and double-click. Click on the Stop button and then set Startup type to Disabled.
Disable Recent Documents History:
1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.
4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.
5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.
Remove unwanted fonts:
1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.
2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.
3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.
4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.
5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.
6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.
7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder.
Information about PC and XP, including the time system has been running since it was last booted up: Go to Start > Programs > Accessories and click on Command Prompt to open a DOS type window, at the flashing cursor type "systeminfo" and all will be revealed.
To keep a permanent record of this data type instead "systeminfo > info.txt" and this creates a text document in whatever directory you launched Systeminfo from.
File search: Go to Change Preferences again and this time click on "Change Files and Folders Search Behaviour" then select "Advanced - includes options to manually enter", and the Search window will return to the traditional layout.
Remove unnecessary services: Go to Run on the Start menu and type 'services.msc'. This will bring up a list of all of the programs that can run or are presently running in the background. To find out what each one does simply right click on it and this will display a dialogue box with a description and a 'Start Type' drop-down menu with Automatic, Manual or Disable options. Here are some Services that you may find, these are not usually needed by non-networked home PCs and can be safely disabled:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
DHCP Client
Distributed Link Tracking Client
DNS Client
Fast User Switching
FTP Publishing Service
Human Interface Access Devices
IIS Admin Service
IPSEC Policy Agent
Indexing Service
Messenger
Net Logon
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry Service
RIP Service
Run As Service
Server
SSDP Discovery Service
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Upload Manager
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration
World Wide Web Publishing Service
Workstation
Edit the Send To Menu: When you right-click on a file and choose Send To, menu options let you copy that file to the A: drive, the My Documents folder, or various other places. You can add a menu item that will send files to any folder you want. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo for Windows 2000 and XP, or C:\Windows\SendTo for Windows 98 and Me. If you don't see the folder you want, select Folder Options from the Tools menu, click on the View tab, and check Show hidden files and folders. In a second Explorer window, select the folder in question. Right-drag it into the Send To folder and choose Create Shortcuts Here. Rename the shortcut as you want to see it in the Send To menu.
Control Launch Order: You may need to launch multiple start-up programs in order, perhaps to connect to a VPN before launching a program that needs that connection. Create a new folder called C:\Ordered Launch and drag any shortcuts that currently reside in Start | All Programs | Startup to this new folder. If the shortcuts don't already exist, create them in the new folder.
Open a command prompt, navigate to C:\Ordered Launch, and issue the command DIR /B /S > ordered.bat. Enter notepad ordered.bat to open the resulting batch file in Notepad. Copy and paste the lines in the desired launch order. Surround each line with quotes and precede it with the start command and a space; for example, start "C: \Ordered Launch\First Program.lnk".
Double-click on the batch file to test it. The programs will start in the specified order, but if one takes longer to initialize, it may appear out of order. In that case, insert a delay line after the slow-starting program. This line will insert a 5- second delay: ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 > nul. Edit the value after -n to set a different delay. After testing the file, open Windows Explorer and right-drag it to the Startup folder, selecting Create Shortcuts Here.
Move the My Documents Folder: Keeping the My Documents folder on a partition separate from the operating-system files can save you pain if you have to reformat the boot partition. You may also want to store it on a network share that gets backed up regularly. Right-click on My Documents on the desktop or in the Start menu and choose Properties. Click on Find Target to select the new location, and click on OK. In the Move Documents box, click on Yes to move the documents.
Restore a Lost Status Bar: When you open Windows Explorer, the Status bar may be absent even if you previously checked View | Status Bar in the menu. To make Windows remember that setting, first close all Windows Explorer windows and launch just one. Size it the way you want and put a check next to Status Bar in the View menu. Now close the window by holding down the Shift key while clicking on the X icon at top right. This also works in Internet Explorer.
Specify a Starting Folder for Windows Explorer: Windows XP launches Windows Explorer in My Documents by default. To make Windows Explorer start in another folder, edit the shortcut that launches it. Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties. Click in the Target field on the Shortcut tab and press the Right Arrow key. Append this text " /e,C:\"—that is, space, slash, e, comma, C, colon, backslash—to the existing command. You can substitute another folder for C:.
Shut off Indexing System: Launch Services.msc from the Start menu's Run dialog. Find the Indexing Service (Cidaemon.exe) and double-click. Click on the Stop button and then set Startup type to Disabled.
Disable Recent Documents History:
1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.
4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.
5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.
Remove unwanted fonts:
1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.
2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.
3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.
4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.
5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.
6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.
7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder.
Windows: Transparent background for icon labels
Right-click My Computer.
Choose Properties.
Click the Advanced tab in the dialog that appears.
Click the Settings button in the panel labeled Performance.
Click the Visual Effects tab in the Performance dialog.
Check the box titled Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop.
Click OK, OK.
Choose Properties.
Click the Advanced tab in the dialog that appears.
Click the Settings button in the panel labeled Performance.
Click the Visual Effects tab in the Performance dialog.
Check the box titled Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop.
Click OK, OK.
Win XP: Bigger Thumbnails
The easiest way to do this is with Microsoft's free (and support-free) TweakUI utility. You can download it from www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx. Launch TweakUI, open the Explorer item in the tree at right, and click Thumbnails. Here you can adjust the thumbnail size from 32 to 256 pixels square (the default is 96). Do note that a 256 by 256 image has over seven times as many pixels as a 96 by 96 image. You may want to also slide the Image Quality slider to a lower setting, so you don't expend too much disk space caching those extra-large thumbnails. After you've made the change, you'll see larger thumbnails in both thumbnail view and filmstrip view.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Windows: Disable searching in ZIP files
From the Start menu's Run dialog, enter this command: regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll. Repeat and enter regsvr32 /u cabview.dll. Each time, you should get a notice that DllUnregister succeeded. Contrary to numerous Web sites displaying this advice, you need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.
Now, when you search, the operating system will ignore ZIP folders instead of treating them as folders. If you don't care about that feature, you can leave it turned off. But turning it back on is as simple as repeating the two regsvr32 commands without the /u.
Now, when you search, the operating system will ignore ZIP folders instead of treating them as folders. If you don't care about that feature, you can leave it turned off. But turning it back on is as simple as repeating the two regsvr32 commands without the /u.
Windows: Prevent accidental copies
Click the topmost file you want to copy. Hold down the Ctrl key and down-arrow through the list. You’ll see a faint selection rectangle that moves down as you press the arrow. When it reaches another file you want to copy, press the space bar. (If you select the wrong file, press the space bar again to deselect.) When you’ve made your selections, press C without releasing the Ctrl key to copy the files to the clipboard. Navigate to the destination folder and press Ctrl-V to paste in copies of those files.
Windows: Bringing lost or zero size windows into view
First, make sure that the program in question is active, either by using Alt-Tab to select it or by clicking the program's button on the taskbar. Now press Alt-Spacebar to open the system menu of the active window, the one you normally access by clicking the icon at the window's top left. The menu will appear along the edge nearest to the window's off-screen location. Press M to select the Move menu option and then use the arrow keys to bring the window back into view. Actually, once you've pressed any arrow key, the mouse should move the errant window even though you're not holding down a button.
If the window were truly zero-size, you could bring up the system menu in the same way and press S for Size. Press an Arrow key to select the corresponding edge of the window. Continue pressing the same Arrow key to expand the window in the direction of that edge.
If the window were truly zero-size, you could bring up the system menu in the same way and press S for Size. Press an Arrow key to select the corresponding edge of the window. Continue pressing the same Arrow key to expand the window in the direction of that edge.
Windows: List of filenames in folder
Click Start, then Run, and enter cmd—it's faster than digging for Command Prompt in the Start menu. Navigate to the folder in question using your good old DOS skills. This command will get you a list of filenames in sorted order: DIR /B /ON *.* > filelist.txt. The /B switch gives a Bare listing (filename only) and /ON means sOrt by Name. You will have to delete the name filelist.txt itself from the list.
If you're using Vista, this task is much easier. Select the files in Windows Explorer, hold Shift, and right-click them. Choose Copy as Path from the menu. Paste the list into whatever editor you prefer. You get the full pathname for each file, but a simple find/replace will clean that up if necessary.
If you're using Vista, this task is much easier. Select the files in Windows Explorer, hold Shift, and right-click them. Choose Copy as Path from the menu. Paste the list into whatever editor you prefer. You get the full pathname for each file, but a simple find/replace will clean that up if necessary.
Windows: Dispose of Hiberfil.sys
From Control Panel launch the Power Options applet. Click the Hibernate tab and uncheck the box that enables hibernation, then click OK. The Hiberfil.sys file should now be gone. If not, reboot and delete it manually.
Windows: stop "Recent Documents"
Launch Registry Edit (regedit) from the Start menu's Run dialog and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Look in the right-hand pane for a value named NoRecentDocsHistory. If you don't find it, right-click in the right-hand pane and choose New | DWORD Value. Name the newly created value NoRecentDocsHistory. Double-click the value and set its data to 1. In the exact same way create DWORD values named ClearRecentDocsOnExit and NoRecentDocsMenu and set the data of each to 1. Reboot to complete the process.
Windows remove items pinned to start menu
Go to the Registry editor (Start | Run | regedit ). Navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage. Look in the right-hand pane for a value named Favorites. This binary value defines your pinned Start menu items. You can't edit it, but you can get rid of it and start fresh. Right-click it, choose Rename, and name it something like Favorites_not. Reboot the computer.
Your Start menu now has no user-defined items pinned to it, only the Windows-supplied Internet and e-mail items. When you pin your current favorites, Windows will re-create the Favorites value in the Registry.
Your Start menu now has no user-defined items pinned to it, only the Windows-supplied Internet and e-mail items. When you pin your current favorites, Windows will re-create the Favorites value in the Registry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
