Posts Tagged ‘Tips’

Which Files Does the Windows 7 System Maintenance Tool Delete?

In Microsoft Knowledgebase article KB978980 Microsoft states that when there are more than four broken shortcuts on the desktop, the System Maintenance troubleshooter automatically removes all broken shortcuts from the desktop. It implies that it only removes "broken" shortcuts.

Well! Look at this screenshot. (more…)

How to Add Microsoft Answers Search Connector and Search Provider

Microsoft Answers, one of the biggest community forums which is run by Microsoft is a great place where you can search, browse, and post questions and answers. They’ve made available a search connector so that you can search answers via Windows Explorer in Windows 7. Also, there is a Microsoft Answers search provider for Internet Explorer 7 and higher. (more…)

How to Disable Aero Shake (Another Method) in Windows 7?

As we recently saw the Aero Shake feature can be disabled by enabling the Turn off Aero Shake window minimizing mouse gesture option in the Group Policy Editor, or by creating the NoWindowMinimizingShortcuts registry value. I found another way to disable Aero Shake, and this is a different registry edit. (more…)

How to Add “Desktop Background File Location” Option to Desktop Right-Click Menu 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. (more…)

Fix for 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 in your PC all of a sudden and you’ve tried running the Aero Troubleshooter, here are some other things that you can try. (more…)

How to Disable Start Navigation or the Clicking Sound in Internet Explorer

The Start Navigation sound can be sometimes annoying. We understand that the clicking sound is generated when you click a hyperlink in Internet Explorer. That’s obvious! Have you wondered why the clicking sound is generated even though you don’t click on a link? It could be possible that the page you’re viewing is set to refresh automatically after some time. But that’s not the only action that triggers the Start Navigation sound event. (more…)

How to Add UAC Shield Icon to Static (Right-Click) Context Menu in Windows 7

Most users customize the right-click menu by adding additional verbs in the registry in order to launch programs or scripts. Windows 7 lets you add the UAC Shield icon for static context menu items as well. If a verb you add to the right-click menu launches a program which runs elevated by default, then it’s a good idea to add the UAC shield icon so that users know that the task requires elevation. (more…)

How to Install and Run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility if Windows Installer Fails to Work

If you’re greeted with the Windows Installer setup screen for an existing product everytime when you try to install a new program, you usually repair the existing application, or use the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility to remove the installer information of the existing application before reinstalling it. The problem is the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility Setup itself uses Windows Installer and hence it may not run in the above scenario. Here is an option which can be used to launch the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility without installing it. (more…)

How to Remove Blank Entries From the MSConfig Startup Tab in Windows XP

Sometimes after uninstalling software, you may end up with blank entries in the System Configuration Utility (MSConfig.exe) in Windows XP. This happens if the startup entry is present in the registry with blank value data. This article tells you how to remove those orphaned entries by editing the registry.

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How to Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews Quickly Using Right-Click Menu in Windows Vista and Windows 7

If you had disabled thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer for performance, but want to have a means of enabling or disabling thumbnail previews in a jiffy, here is a solution for you. To enable or disable thumbnail previews in Windows Vista and Windows 7, you normally click on the Organize button in the folder view, choose Folder and Search Options, select the View tab and then select or deselect the Always show icons, never thumbnails. (more…)