Windows fact of the day thread.

XP, man...if you switched to Classic view it was possible to set the color scheme as black/white with green to replace grey. Very nice contrast with low brightness and bonus points if you made your own 1bit 8x8 wallpapers to sort virtual desktops from the XP powertoys.

XP's IE6 could morph to/from Windows Explorer context as you browsed, similar to Konqueror. A pity they broke that awesomeness for security reasons and we still don't have tabbed Explorer.

Sorting icons on the desktop has been a typical nightmare for many years, between new program icons being cryptically sorted and crashed games messing up screen rez. So, disable the display of desktop icons and pin your actual Desktop folder in the Start menu. Goes well with the Shift-Del trick as the Recycle bin will not be visible on desktop either.

 

I freed up almost 1 GIG on my SSD Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? - How-To Geek

 

or just don't put anything on the desktop anymore as all apps are already in the startmenu, and files should belong in your document libraries of fitting file types.

i typically use my desktop for what i use a real desktop for: temporary stuff i'm working on. then, arangement and stuff doesn't matter at all anymore. to help me with that, i make the icons all 'very large', so i can have only like 10 items on desktop at max.

 

In case you wish to move your "My" Libraries, right-click, properties, location tab.. designate location.. click move.

Your entire library will now be situated a the new location. I keep all my "My" Libraries on a separate partition.

 

There is no "Properties" for "Libraries" it's for each individual library below it that has to be moved individually.

 

No need to do it individually for each folder:

Just remember RIGHT CLICK. Most people have never used it for moving files or folders.

 

Intended to say that.

Didn't know that! Thanks.

 

HTWingNut you might want to update your main post with all the posts we make? I mean it's rather normal if someone makes a repost or two

Btw - Got 2 windows open? Want to have them side by side quickly? Click on either of them and then hit WINDOWS KEY + LEFT ARROW then click on the other window and do the exact same except you click the RIGHT ARROW key on the other window and voila you've got the two windows side by side

 

^^^ To add to that, focus on the window in question and either press WINKEY + up arrow to maximize it, or WINKEY + down arrow to minimize it.

 

For those who really miss unix when using windows, you can download SUA for Windows 7 Ultimate, or SFU 3.5 for XP (not sure about Vista).

 

Interesting, I had completely forgotten about that. I have CygWin installed on my machines. Am I missing anything? From what I can tell, CygWin can give me a superset of what's included in the SUA packages.

 

IF I open CP- IE options - search settings - tracking protection - My list is diabled and get Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: rundll32.exe_shell32.dll
If I try to click settings if it is disabled or if I enable it first

(If I open from within IE9 it works fine and I do have it enabled).

 

For those who can't always have Firefox as their default browser here is an easy way to open up a specific webpage in Firefox. This would also work the other way around, just shortcut to IE instead.

Simply place the webpage behind the shortcut to the program as noted in the circled box in the photo. Also helps to give it a name so you know what it is for.

I specifically did this for a work project where I'm accessing a server based interface not necessarily a web site.

Many other ways to do this but this was the easiest for me.

 

Not functional with Chrome..

Alt + Left = Back
Alt + Right = Forward

 

Backspace works perfectly good for "back" too.

 

In Chrome - Middle click to open a link in a new tab.

 

Interesting, didn't know this one. Works in IE, but not Opera (although you could customize a shortcut in Opera to do the same).

This holds true for all modern browsers, I think.

 

Yup, it's true. Also click on the tab with MMB to close it. Not sure what this has to do with Win7...

But there's other neat feature of MMB. You can close running programs/windows with MMB when you click on the thumbnail in the taskbar.

 

When you click on some icon in taskbar with MMB it launches another instance of a program i.e. Firefox, Explorer, ect. If the program doesn't support running in few instances, like WMP, it just brings it back to the screen.

 

Drag and Drop are pretty universal in W7 too. For example you can drag a picture straight from your browser to a folder or your desktop.

 

Disable animations (minimize, maximize, etc.)
- Control Panel > Ease of Access > Make it easier to focus on tasks > Turn off all unnecessary animations (when possible)

Reduce window border padding & title bar height
- Right-click desktop > Personalize > Window Color > Advanced appearance settings > Item > Border Padding
- I set mine to 2. Any less and the windows look unbalanced.

- Item > Active Title Bar
- It can go to 17 but at 17 the taskbar icons get distorted for me (this setting affects the space allocated for icons in the bar also). 18 is fine though.

Note: In Windows 8 they appear to be taking this panel out, but the settings can still be tweaked via the registry.

 

"ip"

Discovered couple days ago. Works also.

 

on my machine, the first choice is 'iphone configuration utility', second one is 'view network'

 

It obviously displays everything with letters ip in them.

However if you are going to actually use it, it will move to the top of the list after a while for quicker access.

 

After saving webpages in .mht format it is usually sluggish to click them and open in the browser but you can see saved webpages in windows explorer much faster, just select them and have the preview pane opened. You can even select the text in preview pane.

 

If you have a Word document and you want to replace all instances of the word "X" with word "Y", use Ctrl + H and enter your words. Word will replace all of X with Y, and even tell you how many times X appeared in your document.

 

Working with Internet Explorer - Keyboard Shortcuts.

Spoiler

Internet Explorer keyboard shortcuts


You can use the Internet Explorer shortcut keys to perform lots of different tasks quickly or to work without a mouse.

Viewing and exploring webpages

The following table describes shortcuts used to view and explore webpages.

To do this	Press this
Display Help	F1
Toggle between full-screen and regular views of the browser window	F11
Move forward through the items on a webpage, the Address bar, or the Favorites bar	Tab
Move back through the items on a webpage, the Address bar, or the Favorites bar	Shift+Tab
Start Caret Browsing	F7
Go to your home page	Alt+Home
Go to the next page	Alt+Right Arrow
Go to the previous page	Alt+Left Arrow or Backspace
Display a shortcut menu for a link	Shift+F10
Move forward through frames and browser elements (only works if tabbed browsing is disabled)	Ctrl+Tab or F6
Move backward between frames (only works if tabbed browsing is disabled)	Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Scroll toward the beginning of a document	Up Arrow
Scroll toward the end of a document	Down Arrow
Scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments	Page Up
Scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments	Page Down
Move to the beginning of a document	Home
Move to the end of a document	End
Find on this page	Ctrl+F
Refresh the current webpage	F5
Refresh the current webpage, even if the time stamp for the web version and your locally stored version are the same	Ctrl+F5
Stop downloading a page	Esc
Open a new website or page	Ctrl+O
Open a new window	Ctrl+N
Open a new InPrivate Browsing window	Ctrl+Shift+P
Duplicate tab (open current tab in a new tab)	Ctrl+K
Reopen the last tab you closed	Ctrl+Shift+T
Close the current window (if you only have one tab open)	Ctrl+W
Save the current page	Ctrl+S
Print the current page or active frame	Ctrl+P
Activate a selected link	Enter
Open Favorites	Ctrl+I
Open History	Ctrl+H
Open Feeds	Ctrl+J
Open the Page menu	Alt+P
Open the Tools menu	Alt+T
Open the Help menu	Alt+H

Working with tabs

The following table describes shortcuts used when working with tabs.

To do this	Press this
Open links in a new tab in the background	Ctrl+click
Open links in a new tab in the foreground	Ctrl+Shift+click
Open a new tab in the foreground	Ctrl+T
Switch between tabs	Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Close current tab (or the current window if tabbed browsing is disabled)	Ctrl+W
Open a new tab in the foreground from the Address bar	Alt+Enter
Switch to a specific tab number	Ctrl+n (where n is a number between 1 and 8)
Switch to the last tab	Ctrl+9
Close other tabs	Ctrl+Alt+F4
Toggle Quick Tabs (thumbnail view) on or off	Ctrl+Q

Using zoom

The following table describes shortcuts used for zooming.

To do this	Press this
Increase zoom (+ 10%)	Ctrl+Plus Sign
Decrease zoom (- 10%)	Ctrl+Minus Sign
Zoom to 100%	Ctrl+0

Using search

The following table describes shortcuts used for search.

To do this	Press this
Go to the search box	Ctrl+E
Open your search query in a new tab	Alt+Enter
Open the search provider menu	Ctrl+Down Arrow

Using Print Preview

The following table describes shortcuts used to preview and print webpages.

To do this	Press this
Set printing options and print the page	Alt+P
Change paper, headers and footers, orientation, and margins for this page	Alt+U
Display the first page to be printed	Alt+Home
Display the previous page to be printed	Alt+Left Arrow
Type the number of the page you want displayed	Alt+A
Display the next page to be printed	Alt+Right Arrow
Display the last page to be printed	Alt+End
Specify how you want frames to print (this option is available only if you are printing a webpage that uses frames)	Alt+F
Close Print Preview	Alt+C

Using the Address bar

The following table describes shortcuts used on the Address bar.

To do this	Press this
Select the text in the Address bar	Alt+D
Display a list of addresses you've typed	F4
When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to the next logical break in the address (period or slash)	Ctrl+Left Arrow
When in the Address bar, move the cursor right to the next logical break in the address (period or slash)	Ctrl+Right Arrow
Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar	Ctrl+Enter
Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches	Up Arrow
Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches	Down Arrow

Opening Internet Explorer toolbar menus

The following table describes shortcuts used to open Internet Explorer toolbar and Command bar menus.

To do this	Press this
Open the Home menu	Alt+M
Open the Print menu	Alt+R
Open the RSS menu	Alt+J
Open the Tools menu	Alt+O
Open the Safety menu	Alt+S
Open the Help menu	Alt+L

Working with feeds, history, and favorites

The following table describes shortcuts used when working with feeds, history, and favorites.

To do this	Press this
Add the current page to your favorites (or subscribe to the feed when in feed preview)	Ctrl+D
Delete browsing history	Ctrl+Shift+Del
Open an InPrivate Browsing window	Ctrl+Shift+P
Open the Organize Favorites dialog box	Ctrl+B
Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box	Alt+Up Arrow
Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box	Alt+Down Arrow
Open Favorites Center and display your favorites	Alt+C
Open Favorites Center and display your history	Ctrl+H
Open Favorites Center and display your feeds	Ctrl+J
Open and dock the Favorites Center and display your feeds	Ctrl+Shift+J
Open the Add to Favorites menu (or open Subscribe to feed when in feed preview)	Alt+Z
Open the Favorites menu from the menu bar	Alt+A
Display all feeds (when in feed view)	Alt+I
Mark a feed as read (when in feed view)	Alt+M
Put the cursor in search box in feed view	Alt+S

Editing

The following table describes shortcuts used when editing webpages.

To do this	Press this
Remove the selected items and copy them to the Clipboard	Ctrl+X
Copy the selected items to the Clipboard	Ctrl+C
Insert the contents of the Clipboard at the selected location	Ctrl+V
Select all items on the current webpage	Ctrl+A
Open Internet Explorer Developer Tools	F12

Using the Information bar

The following table describes shortcuts used when working with the Information bar.

To do this	Press this
Move focus to the Information bar	Alt+N
Click the Information bar	Spacebar

 

You know how Windows 7 has that feature where you drag a window to one side and it'll automatically take up that half of the screen? Did you know that older versions of Windows (Vista, XP, 2000, etc.) can do almost the same thing, albiet in a much more crude fashion?

Suppose you want 2 windows open side-by-side, with one window taking up the left half of your monitor, and the other window taking up the right half. Here's how:
1. Minimize all of the windows that you do NOT want to be side-by-side, leaving the 2 windows that you DO want side-by-side open.
2. Make sure that the window you want on the left side is active.
3. Right-click on the Taskbar and click "Tile Windows Vertically".

You can also do horizontal tiling, if so desired.

Also: Pressing Windows-L will instantly lock your screen.

 

Super simple but I never realized it you can drag photos from webpages to a folder and it copies them there.

 

Pin a Library to the Start Menu:

hold ctrl + right click

Pin to Start Menu.

 

Does this works?

 

like a charm on windows 7 anyways don't know about older versions never tried

 

Yup it does. It mainly depends on the browser. I used it even back in the WinXP days. The IE6 back then couldn't do it, but whichever FF version was out there then, was capable of this d&d trick.

 

Ok cool thanks for the tip then... This is very useful

 

windows 7, keep user password but login to windows without entering the password.

-run netplwiz.exe found in C:\Windows\System32
-select (single click) the user that you want to login automaticly without entering his password
-uncheck the check box up top
-press OK,
-confirm you know that users password in the password confirmation dialogue.

 

Bing was recently changed. If you go there in IE 8 or IE 9 and enter a search term the results will only open in a new window or tab, NOT in the same window (the way Google works and the way Bing used to work).

 

That is only your browser. I just tested it with Chrome web broswer, and it opens the links in same window.

 

if you've got way too many tabs open in firefox like i usually do you can hover your mouse over the tabs and scroll and they will scroll sideways of course you can also use ctrl+tab and ctrl+shift+tab also

 

This tip would work for any OS but say you have a web link you want to check out but do not want to actually go to it well then you can go here

PDFmyURL.com - Free & Online: Convert and save PDF from any web page

then you get a pdf of the page so you can see what your getting into....just came across this when checking a link I didn't want to click through

 

The multi-monitor shortcuts have been one of my favorite discoveries of the last year, and I've had dual monitors for years. The vertical max shortcut is new to me, thanks.

 

if you have update to Sp1 you can reclaim 6-10GB of harddrive space by running the following command.

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

 

for Win 7 : Event Viewer - Administrator Events - can not be cleared directly - you need to go to Applications and Services Logs - MS - Windows and clear the individual logs to get rid of most of the aforementioned entries (I had 2000 + now I am down to 8)

 

I didn't know that and I am a major Windows rat since age 12. thanks XD

 

Windows 8: Windows + Print Screen takes a screenshot and saves it in the current users /Pictures/Screenshots.

More info.

 

1. For the command line fanboys: Advance Disk cleanup - for WIN 7 - Open elevated command prompt cleanmgr/sageset:1
This will bring up a GUI with extra options to select
Then from the same prompt cleanmgr/sagerun:1

2. God mode - create a folder named GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} and it will show about 270 Options

3. http://www.it-support.com.au/power-down-to-safely-remove-usb-devices-from-windows-7/2012/10/

(Ubuntu has this function builtin)