Occasionally Windows Vista may assign incorrect template for folders if the content sniffing goes wrong or the folder view settings in the registry are messed up. For example, when you open a folder containing text files, Windows may incorrectly assign it the Music template, and thereby showing all the irrelevant columns such as Artist Name, Album Title, Track Number, Genre etc. Note that the folder type problem was seen in Windows XP as well, and this continues on to Windows Vista. (more…)
Archive for April, 2008
Fixing Folder Type Problems in Windows Vista
How to Enable or Disable Aero in Windows Vista
Windows Aero is a pleasing graphical user interface which includes transparencies, taskbar thumbnails, animations and other features. Windows Aero is the default theme in most editions of Windows Vista. If you want to turn off Aero for performance gain, use these steps. (more…)
Enable and Disable Built-in CD Burning Features in Windows Vista
If you’re using a third-party CD burning tool such as Nero or Roxio and want to disable the built-in CD Burning features provided by Windows Vista, you can do so using the NoCDBurning Policy setting. Follow these steps to disable the built-in CD Burning features in Windows Vista: (more…)
Error “Windows Cannot Open the User Accounts Control Panel” When Opening User Accounts
User accounts missing from the Welcome Screen, and login can only be possible by pressing the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys twice and typing the credentials in the Classic logon prompt. Also, the following error message appears when opening the User Accounts applet: (more…)
Is the Snipping Tool Missing in Your Windows Vista PC?
The Snipping Tool, a neat little tool included with certain editions of Windows Vista, helps you capture a screenshot of any object on your screen, and then annotate, save, or share the image. Snipping Tool can be launched via Start | All Programs | Accessories | Snipping Tool
Note that the Snipping Tool is part of Tablet PC Optional Components, and is shipped with Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Ultimate Editions only. (more…)
Error “There Is No Script Engine for File Extension” When Running .Vbs Files
If VBScript module is not registered correctly or .vbs file class settings are broken, you may receive one of the following errors when running a VBScript (.vbs) file in your system: (more…)
“Copy Target URL” Context Menu Option for Internet Shortcut (.Url) Files
The Copy as Path shell command that’s built into Windows Vista inspired me to write a script that copies the target hyperlink of an .URL file when passed as a parameter. After following the steps in this article, you’ll see a Copy Target URL context menu option when you right-click on an Internet Shortcut (.URL) file. Clicking this option copies the hyperlink of the file to the Windows 7/Vista Clipboard. (more…)
How to Terminate and Restart Explorer.exe Process Cleanly in Windows 7 and Vista
To restart Explorer in order to test a registry setting without a reboot, we usually terminate explorer.exe process using Task Manager. The Task Manager method is like forcibly killing the process instead of terminating it cleanly. Jeff, a Software Design Engineer at Microsoft posted a great tip on how to cleanly start and stop explorer.exe in Windows XP. Here is how to exit explorer in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
Windows Vista & Windows 7
Although the above method (originally written for Windows XP) would work for the Classic Start menu in Windows Vista, not everyone use the Classic Start menu. Aaron Margosis of Microsoft tells how to cleanly stop Explorer.exe on Windows Vista if you’re using the default Start menu. This is using a hidden GUI option that’s present in Windows Vista and Windows 7 Start menu.
The GUI option named Exit Explorer shows up when you follow these steps:
Click the Start button. Press and hold the CTRL and SHIFT keys, and right-click on an empty area in the Start menu. You’ll see a Popup menu containing the two options namely Exit Explorer and Properties.
Fig 1: Windows Vista Start menu
Note that the above Popup menu can be launched by holding the CTRL and SHIFT keys and then right-clicking on the Start menu power button itself.
Fig 2: Windows 7 Start menu
NOTE After selecting the Exit Explorer command, the shell (Start menu, Taskbar and the Desktop) will the closed and the other applications continue to run. You need to manually start a new Explorer.exe process by launching Task Manager. Use the CTRL+SHIFT+ESC key sequence to launch Task Manager. From the File menu of Task Manager, choose New Task (Run…), type Explorer.exe and press ENTER.
If you’re an avid Keyboard user:
To launch the above Popup menu using keyboard, use the following key sequence:
Press CTRL+ESC to launch the Start menu.
Press Right-arrow, so that the focus is set to the power button.
Press and hold CTRL and SHIFT keys, and then press the Application key. This key has an image of a mouse pointer on a menu. Depressing this key will display the selected item’s shortcut window. This opens the Popup menu containing the Exit Explorer command. Press the X button on the keyboard to run the command.
Key sequence – Option #1: {CTRL} {ESC} {RIGHT} ({CTRL} {SHIFT}) {APPKEY} {X}
Key sequence – Option #2: {CTRL} {ESC} {RIGHT} ({CTRL} {SHIFT}) {F10} {X}
Perhaps you can try KiXtart or AutoIt to automate the above using SendKeys.
Why There Are Two Instances of Sidebar.exe Running
Are you’re wondering why there are two instances of Sidebar.exe process showing up in the Task Manager? If so, this post is for you. (more…)
