How to Clear the Thumbnail Cache in Windows 10 or 11

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Clear the Thumbnail Cache in Windows

Windows keeps a copy of all of your picture, video, and document thumbnails in a cache database so they can be displayed quickly when you open a folder. Sometimes due to thumbnail cache corruption, thumbnail previews may not work for some files, for a particular icon size or for all icons sizes.

In some cases, the thumbnail for some items will appear in grayscale although the original image is a color image. Sometimes, the thumbnail quality is mediocre that you can barely recognize the item by looking at it.

Thumbnail preview problems can be resolved by clearing the thumbnail databases and let the system rebuild it as required. To reset the thumbnail cache in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and Windows 10, use one of the methods in this article.Read more

Restore Point creation disabled by Group Policy

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sr policy

When you start the System Restore utility (rstrui.exe), the message System Restore has been turned off by your system administrator. To turn on System Restore, contact your system administrator.” appears.

Also when you open System Properties and select the System Protection tab, the Create button may be grayed out, and the following message is displayed.Read more

OpenWithAdd 1.2 – Supports Windows Vista

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openwithadd supports windows vista - screenshots

When you right-click a file and choose Open With, and click the Choose Program… option, the list of registered applications are displayed in the Open With dialog. Programs that are not already listed in the Open With dialog can be added manually using the Browse… option.

OpenWithAdd tool which I wrote, can be helpful in circumstances where, when you browse to locate an application, it does not get added to the Open With dialog. It can now (v1.2 onwards) run under Windows Vista as well. Here are some screenshots:Read more

How to Launch a Vbscript in Elevated Mode (Run as Administrator)

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automatically elevate vbscript runas

With the introduction of User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista, you usually open an elevated Command Prompt in order to run batch files and scripts that need administrative privileges. Applications can make use of manifest files (using the RequireAdministrator flag) to automatically run elevated.

For scripts, this article provides you some neat little tricks using which you can automatically elevate using the ShellExecute “runas” parameter.

(See also How to Automatically Elevate a Batch file to Run it as Administrator? for another auto-elevation method.)Read more

Desktop.ini file automatically opens when you start Windows

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desktop.ini opens at login

When you start your computer, the desktop.ini file may automatically open in Notepad. It may have the following contents: [.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787 Desktop.ini is a configuration file which can be used to customize folder icons, caption, etc., on a per-folder basis. The desktop.ini file (in your the Startup folder)  may open at startup if the hidden … Read more

Shell Commands to Access the Special Folders in Windows 10/11

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The shell: protocol can be used to open a special folder directly from the Start → Search or the Run dialog. For example, the command shell:sendto opens the “Send To” folder of your user profile. To launch the Documents folder of your user profile, you’d type shell:Personal. Below is a complete shell: commands listing for … Read more

[Fix] .EXE Files Open in Notepad or Other App when Double-clicked

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exe files open in notepad

Summary: Double-clicking .exe or .lnk (shortcut) files may open Notepad or any other application, displaying junk characters.

Did you accidentally use the Default Programs or Open With dialog to associate .exe file types with an application like Notepad? This causes every program to open in that chosen application. Unfortunately, Windows provides no option to reset the .exe file associations. You need to fix the association settings using a .reg file or script.Read more