Tag: scripts » Page 3 » Winhelponline

How to Find Windows Installation Date and Time

Last Updated on: August 3, 2022 by Ramesh

You may sometimes think of reinstalling Windows, especially when its performance goes down after a few years due to several different factors. And, you may like to know the date and time of your current Windows installation.

This post shows you the different methods using which you can determine the original installation date and time of your Windows installation. The information applies to all versions of Windows, including Windows 10.

Note that in Windows 10, the following methods show the installation date of the most recent feature update you installed, and not the install date and time of your 1st Windows 10 build.

How to Add a Custom Folder under “This PC” in Explorer

Last Updated on: September 13, 2022 by Ramesh

You can add custom folders to the Explorer navigation pane in pretty much all versions of Windows. This post has the instructions on adding a custom folder under This PC in the navigation pane in Windows 10/11 File Explorer.

Show Hidden and Protected Files via Right-click Menu Toggle Option

Last Updated on: September 7, 2022 by Ramesh

In order to view protected and hidden files in Explorer, it takes a minimum of six mouse-clicks, which can be a big inconvenience for users. So here comes a script and registry edit that adds the “Show Hidden and Protected Files (toggle)” option to right-click menu.Read more

How to Change Win + E Shortcut Target in Windows 10/11

Last Updated on: July 10, 2022 by Ramesh

The WinKey + E keystroke, as well as the File Explorer shortcut on the taskbar, open Quick access view by default. You can change the default folder to This PC using Folder Options General tab, or make it open to the Downloads folder using a registry method.

But, how to make Windows 10’s File Explorer default to a custom folder or the Libraries section?

The user interface provides no option to set a custom destination for WinKey + E keystroke or the File Explorer pinned taskbar item. As you may have noticed, the File Explorer Pinned taskbar shortcut target can’t be modified via Properties, as it’s a special shortcut with the Target field grayed out or read-only.

However, you change the WinKey + E or the File Explorer shortcut target using a registry edit without breaking any other setting.Read more

List All Assigned Shortcut Keys for Shortcuts on Windows

Last Updated on: June 18, 2023 by Ramesh

If you’re not able to assign a particular hotkey combination for a shortcut, then it may have already been registered. But which shortcut is currently using the hotkey, and from which folder path? You can find it out by running the script attached to this article.Read more

Google Chrome Start Screen Tile Icon Large (Fix)

Last Updated on: July 19, 2021 by Ramesh

Based on the fix posted at Krusted.com for the Google Chrome tile icon size issue in the Windows 10 Start screen, I wrote a small VBScript to automate the process. This script might come in handy as you need to repeat the fix again every time after updating Google Chrome.Read more

How to Reset Taskbar Settings to Windows Defaults

Last Updated on: July 31, 2023 by Ramesh

Corruption of Taskbar settings can cause it not to retain your customizations, such as auto-hide, icon size, or toolbar preferences. Also, in some situations, the taskbar may not be docked to a particular position. This post has a script that quickly resets the taskbar configuration for your user account to defaults.Read more

How to Create Automatic System Restore Points Daily in Windows 10/11

Last Updated on: January 24, 2022 by Ramesh

system restore list of restore points in windows 11 - 24 hrs frequency

This post tells you how to schedule the creation of daily System Restore point during startup or logon in all versions of Windows, including Windows 10 and Windows 11.

The first method involves a VBScript that I wrote to create restore points, and the 2nd method uses the WMI command-line tool Wmic.exe. The script method has an advantage where you can force the creation of restore point even if a previous restore point was created within the last 24 hours.Read more

How to Disable Full Row Select and Auto Arrange in Windows 10?

Last Updated on: May 12, 2019 by Ramesh

The magical registry edits that I provided several years back to disable auto-arrange and full row select features in Windows 7, also work fine in Windows 10 just as they did in Windows 7. For a detailed explanation about the registry edits (fflags values), check out my earlier posts How to Disable Full Row Select in Explorer in Windows 7? and How to Disable Auto Arrange in Folders in Windows 7?. The registry edit in the latter article is even better, as it disables Auto Arrange in addition.

How to Save Windows 10/11 Spotlight Wallpapers

Last Updated on: September 3, 2022 by Ramesh

Windows Spotlight brings to you some fantastic images that are worth storing. Unfortunately, at present, Windows 10/11 doesn’t have a GUI option to save these lock screen wallpaper images; this has to be done manually or using a custom app or script. This post tells you how to save Windows Spotlight lock screen images automatically or manually.Read more