Fix Error “There was a problem starting PhotoViewer.dll” When Editing Image Files in Windows 7

After upgrading your Windows Vista computer to Windows 7, when you right-click on a JPG/JPEG image and click Edit, the following error message may appear:

There was a problem starting C:\Program Files\Windows Photo Gallery\PhotoViewer.dll

The specified module could not be found.

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How to Create and Use a Password Reset Disk in Windows 10

password reset disk wizard

You can create a password reset disk so that you can regain access to the system quickly in the event of a forgotten local account password, without having to use third-party boot environment CDs.

It’s suggested that you create a password reset disk after creating the user account and assigning the password. The password reset disk is not applicable if you have a Microsoft account (MSA); it works for local user accounts only.

Here is a walkthrough on how to create a password reset disk in Windows 10.Read more

How to Increase the Taskbar Thumbnail Preview Size in Windows 7, 8 and 10

Until last week I was thinking that increasing the taskbar thumbnail window size is not possible natively in Windows 7 (and Windows Vista). After doing a bit of hacking around the registry, I found that Windows 7 has the ability to increase the thumbnail preview size natively, plus much more, through registry edits which I’m … Read more

How to Add “Merge (as User)” Right-Click Menu Option for REG Files

When logged on to an administrator account in a Windows Vista or Windows 7 PC and attempt to merge a .REG file, you’ll see the User Account Control (UAC) prompt asking for your consent to allow the process to start. Regedit.exe uses the highestavailable execution level (as specified in its manifest) and thus it prompts for consent to launch with the highest available privilege.

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NirCmd Elevate Switch Added – Some Useful Uses

We’ve covered the excellent multi-purpose command-line tool NirCmd from Nirsoft earlier. This post talks about the new command-line switches added in the current version of NirCmd. Earlier this month, I sent a NirCmd feature request to Nir Sofer, asking to include an “elevate” switch, which should launch an application elevated (Windows Vista, Windows 7 & 2008.) Nir was kind enough to incorporate this feature in the immediate version update (v2.40). Later another update, to fix a bug I reported, v2.41 was released.Read more

How to Disable Full Row Select in Explorer in Windows 7?

I’m writing this article specifically for Windows 7, because the FullRowSelect registry value that you used in Windows Vista, doesn’t work in Windows 7. (REF: Enable or Disable Full Row Select feature in Explorer in Windows Vista). After some of our readers reported that setting FullRowSelect to 0 doesn’t do anything in Windows 7, I decided to have a look at this issue. Playing with different bitmask values, I finally got what I wanted – to disable full row select feature in Windows Explorer (Details mode) in Windows 7, but with a minor side-effect which is explained in the later part of the article.Read more

How to Find Current Wallpaper (Desktop Background) File Location in Windows 7

Desktop Background Slideshow is a neat little feature in Windows 7 which helps you shuffle your desktop background from a image file store folder, at predefined intervals. But, as Windows doesn’t show the file name of the currently displayed wallpaper, it becomes a problem if you have thousands of images in a store folder and you need to find the file name and the directory location of the currently displayed wallpaper.

Here is a small script which adds the Desktop Background File Location option in the Desktop context menu, which opens the current wallpaper file’s target folder and selects the file.Read more

[Fix] Aero Shake Feature Stops Working in Windows 7

Aero Shake is a feature introduced in Windows 7 using which you can minimize all other open windows, by clicking on the title bar of an application and shaking it using the mouse. This causes all other applications (except that application window) to minimize automatically. This feature is available in Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7.

If Aero Shake has stopped working on your PC all of a sudden and you’ve tried running the Aero Troubleshooter, here are some other things that you can try.Read more