100 Expert Windows Tips
Staff writers
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Jun 11, 2008 9:28 AM
Climb the steps all the way to Windows guru status with our invaluable selection of tips and shortcuts for XP and Vista.
You probably use Windows every day. You probably know it backwards. But we can guarantee this collection of expert tips, advice and shortcuts will save you time and move you one step closer to Windows guru status. Over the next ten pages you’ll learn how to send documents where you want with just a single click of the mouse, kill off unwanted services and optimise the resource-hogging swapfile. And plenty more.
There’s so much advice we’ve had to split it up. There are simple first steps, and if you want to improve the way you work, tips for that too. We show you how to fix problems, and you'll discover how to make Windows run faster. And, for those who truly crave guru status, we’ve got some in-depth advice.
The end result is something we hope you’ll refer to time and again: shortcuts to master, in-depth advice that could change the way you work, and daily routines to keep you and your data organised. We can’t promise you’ll never get another blue screen of death, but we can assure you a happier, quicker, more reliable Windows life.
And if you’ve got a tip you think everyone else could benefit from, let us know by sending an email to inbox@pcauthority.com.au.
First steps
1) Create homepage tabs
Both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox allow you to have more than one homepage. Simply navigate to Tools | Internet Options (press Alt to bring up the old-style menu in Internet Explorer) and where the URL of your current homepage is entered, hit Enter and type as many URLs as you want. Each new line means a new tab, so you’ll have pages of material to read each time your browser starts. Why not try www.pcauthority.com.au!
2) Run Windows Update
You might think Windows Update only grabs a handful of essential security updates once in a blue moon, but it’s a really useful utility if your PC is misbehaving. Not only should Windows Update be turned on and set to automatically install, but there’s even more at www.windowsupdate.com, where essential software updates are available, including optional but invaluable downloads such as hardware drivers. In Vista, the process is fully integrated into the Windows Update control panel.
3) Defragment your hard disk
One Windows time-saving tip is as true under Vista as it was with XP, 98, 95
and beyond: defragment your hard disk. Although the icon that represents a file makes everything look tidy, the actual data may be spread in thousands of random sections of a disk. Defragging will move all files to contiguous segments of memory, speeding up access times and reducing the wait when you open or save files. You can schedule it to run at night, or in the background, so you don’t have to waste time during your work day. Both XP and Vista have a defragmenter built in. Type defrag in the Start Search box in Vista
and head to All Programs | Accessories | System Tools to find it in XP.
4) Tidy your desktop
Make it easier to find files on your desktop by setting your PC to auto- arrange files in name, size, type or modification date order. In XP, right-click on the desktop and ensure auto-arrange is checked under Arrange Icons By. In Vista, right-click and choose Sort By. You can also reduce desktop clutter by organising and storing files neatly in Documents (My Documents in XP) and placing shortcuts to your most-used folders on the desktop.
5) Uninstall unused programs
Over time, your hard disk’s free space will dwindle. This is partly down to the number of redundant or temporary files on it (see tip 44), but having lots of unused applications on your system is bad news as well. Not only will your old applications be passively occupying hard disk space, they’ll be actively slowing down your PC because many load up “optimisations” at startup.
Spend some time in the Add/Remove Programs console of the Control Panel to help free your hard disk and RAM.
6) Turn on System Restore
Windows’ System Restore feature is invaluable when installing programs or making significant changes to your PC. Found in Control Panel | System Properties (System | System Protection in Vista), System Restore is enabled by default, and you can choose the amount of hard disk space it consumes. It will then store images of your system at regular intervals – or before major changes – allowing you to restore your system should anything go awry.
7) Use the Quick Launch toolbar
The Quick Launch toolbar (right-click on the taskbar and make sure Quick Launch is ticked on the
Toolbars option) is great for launching frequently used applications. To remove an icon, right-click it;
to add one, drag an application shortcut onto it.
And there’s an accompanying crafty shortcut in
Vista – Windows + 1 opens the first application on
the menu, Windows + 2 the second, and so on.
Tailor Your PC
8) Try Google Desktop
Why not use Google’s obvious expertise to search your local files? Google Desktop is a free download that scours not only your personal documents, but also your email and the web. As well as saving time hunting for files and emails, the software can make tasks such as checking the weather or reading news sites easier, with a range of attractive widgets for your desktop. Two points of warning: if you don’t want your search queries being sent to Google, head to Preferences | Other and make sure Advanced Options is unticked. Second, Google Desktop is best used on systems with plenty of spare disk space.
9) Shut down redundant processes.
Even when you’re not using any programs, Windows will be running many processes in the background. Lots of these perform vital tasks, but some are unnecessary. Print spooler, for example, is pointless if there’s no printer connected. Turning these off will free up memory and processor cycles, and could give a small productivity boost. To see a list of running processes press . Under XP, this will bring up the Task Manager, but in Vista you’ll have to select it from the list that appears. Close down those you know you don’t need, but Google any you’re unsure of.
10) Turn off AutoPlay.
You’re unlikely to forget that you’ve just popped in a DVD or a USB flash drive, so why bother with AutoPlay? It’s fine having games auto-start, but when Vista attempts to scan a stuffed 250GB portable hard disk, things slow down considerably. In Vista, head to the Control Panel, then enter AutoPlay in the search box. You get a huge number of options, plus the ability to dictate what happens with devices you’ve already used on your PC. You can turn off AutoPlay in Windows XP by downloading the TweakUI application (tip 15).
11) Map network drives
Most PCs are now on a local network, but browsing remote folders can be a pain. Finding shared resources through Network Neighborhood involves clicking through a tediously lengthy hierarchy of icons, while unwieldy UNC paths (network addresses that start with “\\”) are a nightmare to work with from the Command Prompt. You can save a lot of bother by mapping a drive letter to the remote folder, which makes it accessible directly from My Computer as if it were a local disk. You can map network drives from the Tools menu in XP’s Explorer, or simplyby clicking Map network drive in the Vista Explorer.
12) Move your taskbar
You don’t need many windows open before you can’t see which is which in the taskbar, and searching through them every time you need to switch is a pain. Try dragging your taskbar to the left or right of the screen (just click on an empty patch and drag it. If this doesn’t work, right-click the taskbar and untick Lock the taskbar). This provides more slots for listing open windows and frees up vertical pixels– more valuable than horizontal ones when working with portrait documents.
13) Tweak your mouse settings
The ability to tweak how your mouse behaves has been around for ages, but there are some useful options (select Control Panel | Mouse). The ability to automatically move the mouse pointer to the default button in a dialog box is a thoughtful addition, for instance. Also, you can set your mouse pointer to show a radar-style effect when you tap the Ctrl key: useful if you’ve got a multi-monitor setup and find yourself sporadically wiggling your mouse and hunting for the pointer.
14) Automate your PC with the Task Scheduler
If you find yourself regularly repeating a simple task – such as backing up a folder or deleting temp files – get it done automatically.
Hidden away under System Tools in the Accessories section of the Programs menu, you’ll find an icon labelled Scheduled Tasks (XP) or Task Scheduler (Vista). You can instruct Windows to launch any program or batch file according to a regular schedule or at system startup. See p26 for a step-by-step guide to backing up your data to an external hard disk.
15) Download PowerToys
Microsoft PowerToys is a venerable name in the world of Windows customisation – so much so, it isn’t available for Vista. That’s a pity because PowerToys provides fabulously easy access to a number of otherwise-buried features. Some of the tools are streamlined into Vista, while others, such as the simple but handy Image Resizer, are not. TweakUI remains one of our favourite applications of all time, mainly because it allows you to customise aspects of Windows you didn’t even know you wanted to change. Download from
www.pcauthority.com.au/download/tweak-ui.aspx
Work Faster
16) Invent your own keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts, as you can see from our guide on p30, are hugely useful. But you can also assign your own favoured keyboard shortcuts to applications, so they’re launched in a jiffy. Right-click on the icon of the program you want to add (it doesn’t need to be the .exe itself), and click Properties, select the Shortcut Tab and replace the ‘None’ entered alongside the Shortcut Key field with the letter or number of your choice. Windows will add to the beginning of the shortcut. Click OK and three key-presses will spring applications to life.
17) Use the Favorite Links pane
Vista takes XP’s Places bar and integrates it into the Explorer. At the upper left of every Explorer window you’ll find a section headed Favorite Links. By default, these are shortcuts to your Documents, Pictures or Music folders, but you can add instant links to this pane by dragging them in. It’s a great timesaver and even works with remote and removable resources. If the pane’s too small to hold all the links, drag its bottom down to expand it, or click on More for a menu containing the overspill.
18) Move your personal data folders to a second drive
Your personal files reside on the same drive as your system files. If you have two drives, though, it’s sensible to move personal data to a different disk. This makes backups simpler and can improve performance, letting you work with documents without interference from Windows constantly accessing system files. Moving your entire profile is complicated (see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 236621), but in XP you can move personal folders such as My Documents easily, using the downloadable TweakUI PowerToy. In Vista, it’s easier: simply right-click on Documents (or other personal folders), select Properties and go to the Location tab. Type a new address for the folder, or hit Move... to send it to a new home.
19) Bring back classic menus
Switching to Vista can be a little disorientating at first, and the lack of menus in Explorer often trips people up. To bring back classic menus under Vista, open an Explorer window and click Organize | Layout | Menu Bar. You can also show them temporarily by pressing Alt. A second press of Alt will hide them again.
20) Create your own ‘SendTo...’ links
When you double-click on a document, Windows opens it with its default application. But if you regularly use more than one program to open the same type of file, the SendTo folder can make life easier. In XP, this folder is located by default at \Documents and Settings\\SendTo; in Vista, it’s hidden away at:
\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo.
Open it up and copy into it a shortcut to each of your commonly used applications. You’ll then be able to right-click on a document in Explorer and pick your target application from the SendTo submenu.
21) Extend your screen
Buying a 19in screen now costs less than $300, but it can radically speed up your working day. In the PC Pro office, the favoured route is to put Outlook on the smaller screen (if you use a laptop, use its display) and then use the larger display as the main working area.
It’s simple to set up: right-click on the desktop, choose Properties and, under XP, select the Settings tab. If you have an extra monitor connected, you’ll be able to click on the second monitor and check the ‘Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor’ box. In Vista, choose Personalization and then click Display Properties before checking ‘Extend the desktop onto
this monitor’.
22) Easily find recent documents
Quite often, you’ll find that the file you need is the one you’ve just closed or the one you were reading yesterday afternoon. Even if your documents are beautifully organised, there’s an easier way to access recently used documents other than trawling to the appropriate folder: the My Recent Documents folder (Recent Items under Vista) on the Start Menu.
23) Use networked folders offline
All of those network folders you use at work can be accessed from home, and you don’t need to delve into virtual networks – or even be online. Simply right-click on a network folder or file and select Always Available Offline. Windows will create a copy of that file on your computer automatically, and sync any changes you make when it gets a chance.
24) Make the Start Menu your pinboard
Windows automatically adds frequently used programs to the Start Menu, but you can save time by dictating a few yourself. Simply right-click on an application shortcut and select Pin To Start Menu – it will be added above the automatic icons. You can add anything, including documents.
25) Customise your Start Menu
There’s no reason to keep the Start Menu the way Windows arranges it. Why not have work-related programs in one separate folder and games in another? To customise the Menu, right-click the Start button, go to Properties and select the Start Menu tab. From here, choose the Classic Start menu option, and clicking on Customize | Advanced will then let you add, move and delete folders.
26) Increase your screen resolution
Usability tests have proved that one factor affects Windows productivity more than anything else: the resolution of your Windows desktop. A higher resolution means more desktop space, and more space means less shuffling windows around while you’re working. Many people run their monitors at less than maximum resolution; you can tell if you’re one of them because graphics and text will look fuzzy.
To change the resolution in XP, right-click on the desktop, select Properties, click on the Settings tab and drag the Screen Resolution slider. If the slider has space to the right, the chances are you’re not running at native resolution so drag it all the way to the right and hit OK. If the resolution doesn’t work and the display goes blank, hit Escape and Windows will revert to the previous setting.In Vista, right-click on the desktop, choose Personalize, then click on the Display Settings link.
27) Set a custom Places bar
Down the left-hand side of many XP file open/save dialog boxes, you’ll
see a dark grey bar containing one-click shortcuts to a selection of filesystem locations. It’s a decent selection, but you can make it more useful with the TweakUI PowerToy (See Tip 15), which lets you edit which locations appear.
For example, ditch My Network Places and replace it with a shortcut to your favourite data folder. Next time you want to open a file, it will just be a click away.
28) Use Mouse Gestures in Firefox
Using keyboard shortcuts is often quicker than using the mouse, but the Mouse Gestures add-on for Firefox could change that.
This plug-in lets you open links, tabs and new windows – and go back or forward a page – with mouse movements. It can be found on the Mozilla website.
29) Quick Launch your data
The Quick Launch toolbar (just to the right of the Start button) is a great timesaver for launching applications. But it can also hold any type of shortcut. Why not drop a folder there? Fill that folder with shortcuts to your data folders, network drives and so on and you’ll never be more than three clicks away from your desired file.
30) Use Vista’s Search box
It makes sense to use Search when you can’t find a file. But on Vista, even if you know exactly where your file is, it’s almost always quicker to type its name into the search box than to navigate to the right folder and locate the file.
31) Search intelligently with Smart Keywords
You can search your favourite websites without even visiting them by using Smart Keywords in Firefox. You have to visit the site to set this up, however. Right-click on the search box of your target site’s homepage, select Add a Keyword For This Search and choose a descriptive name and short, memorable keyword. You can then search simply by typing that keyword and your search term into Firefox’s address bar. We have them set up for articles on www.pcauthority.com.au (“pc authority [search term]”), but they also work brilliantly on Wikipedia entries and Amazon products.
32) Navigate with the keyboard
Windows is designed so that any task can be accomplished without a mouse, including controlling most third-party applications. We don’t recommend ditching the mouse, but you can often save time by keeping your hands on the keyboard. Everyone knows to use to switch between windows, but Tab also moves you around within forms and requesters. Hit the spacebar to activate the selected button in a dialog box; type a letter when looking at a list to jump to items that begin with that letter, and press Return to launch the selected item. Menus are activated with the Alt key, and contextual menus can be opened with the menu button .
33) Follow the crumb-trail
The Address Bar in Vista’s Explorer doesn’t just show you the name of the folder you’re looking at – it shows you a “crumb-trail” that leads back to a top-level container (such as Computer or Network).
This can save you a lot of time when navigating up the directory tree: rather than clicking Back three times in the Explorer window, click directly on the relevant crumb to leap straight there.
Fix Problems
34 Use Device Manager
Computers work poorly for a number of reasons, but one place to visit earlier than most to make a diagnosis is Device Manager. Right-click Computer (My Computer in XP) | Manage | Device Manager. This will instantly highlight any missing drivers with a yellow warning triangle. Double-click on the entry with the exclamation mark, and you’ll be presented with options to search the internet for the latest device driver, or roll back to the last driver, in case you’ve recently installed an update that’s gone horribly wonky. If all else fails, you can disable the device here.
35) Create a system health report
Generating a System Health Report in Vista is a bit like a check up and service for your computer. It’s simple to do and will check the operating system, hardware and security settings, providing solution tips for any problems it throws up.
To run a check, go to Control Panel | System and Maintenance | Performance Information and Tools | Advanced tools, and then choose Generate a system health report. It will take about a minute for Windows to generate the report, and any major problems are highlighted at the top.
36) Monitor system performance
Right-click on Computer then select Manage | Reliability and Performance. The screen you’ll see is one of Vista’s crowning glories: an in-depth analysis of how your PC’s performing. You can access all manner of graphs from the Reliability and Performance snap-in, the most useful of which is the Reliability Monitor: a chart showing the past month of your PC’s life, including application and hardware failures. Access it by pressing the arrow next to Reliability and Performance and clicking on Monitoring Tools.
37) Stop unnecessary services
As well as disabling Startup programs using msconfig, you can use it to disable Windows’ Services: click on the Services tab to see what’s running. You need to be slightly careful, though, because stopping the wrong ones can render your PC unbootable.
To avoid this, click the Services tab and the check the Hide Microsoft Services box.
38) Use the Preview Pane
If you regularly open files only to copy a cell value or piece of text, the Preview Pane should be your first port of call. This optional view in Explorer gives you a preview of the selected file and even lets you copy and edit text – all without opening the file.
It supports Office documents, PDFs, web pages and text documents, and you can enable it within Explorer by clicking Organize | Layout.
39) Get Windows downloads & add-ons double-quick
The next time you find yourself on Microsoft.com, going round in circles looking for the latest update, try heading to Google’s little-known dedicated Microsoft search page. You’ll find it at www.google.com/microsoft.html
40) Go beyond Windows Update
Windows Update (see tip 2) is great for keeping your system patched and up-to-date, but applications also contain vulnerabilities, especially complex applications such as those that make up Microsoft Office.
Point Internet Explorer at www.update.microsoft.com and you’ll automatically receive the latest updates, for Windows and any other Microsoft products on your system, including Office applications and back-end components
41) Choose your own default programs
Fed up with iTunes sparking into life every time you open an MP3 file, or Internet Explorer hogging your web browsing? Under Vista, you can easily set the default program for several tasks from one window. Click on the Start Menu | Default Programs | Set program access and computer defaults, and then choose Custom from the options list.
You can now select which browser, email client and media player are used by default.
42) Restore Previous Versions of Files
Backups are an easy way to protect yourself from data loss, but rolling back to a previous version of a file can save you from all sorts of other problems. Vista provides this feature by default, cunningly called Previous Versions of Files – think of it as an undo button that can reach all the way back to a file’s creation. All you have to do is right-click on any file and select Restore previous versions to access the automatically created backups. 43 Stop programs auto-matically starting
43) Stop programs automatically starting
Application designers love little applets that start up when Windows does, making the application seem faster. That’s fine if you use the program all the time, but if you’re an infrequent user then you don’t need these running in the background, stealing memory and processor cycles. To kill them, press , and type MSCONFIG. Click on the Startup tab. Uncheck applications you know you don’t use, but don’t disable others until you’ve checked what they do via a Google search.
44) Run with the Disk Cleanup wizard
Your hard disk is home to a huge number of automatically generated files. Error logs, temporary internet files, leftover sync files: the list goes on. And the effect is obvious: hard disk space is devoured by system files you don’t need. Finding all of these could take ages, but Windows makes it easy. Right-click on your hard disk and click on Properties | Disk Cleanup. You can select what to remove, but Windows ensures nothing important is deleted. Running Disk Cleanup once every few months will have a notable effect on your PC’s speed.
45) Optimise the swapfile
Physical RAM is a relatively limited resource and when it’s running low Windows uses the slower hard disk as a virtual memory area called the swapfile. It’s set to change size dynamically, which can lead to fragmentation and slowdown. In addition, it normally resides on the system drive, leading to competition for access between the swapfile and system files. To optimise virtual memory in XP, right-click on My Computer | Properties. Click on the Advanced tab, then the Settings button in the Performance frame.
Once the Performance Options window opens, click the Advanced tab and then the Change button under the Virtual Memory area. If you’re not moving the swapfile to a new disk, just click on the entry for your system disk, check the Custom size radio button and enter the same number in both the Initial Size and Maximum Size fields. The general rule of thumb is to make the swapfile 1.5 times your physical memory size.
You get better performance by moving the whole swapfile to a different physical disk; set the C drive to No Paging File, hit the Set button, click on the drive letter you want to move the file to and follow the same steps. The process is much the same for Vista.
46) Deploy ReadyBoost
A sluggish PC will sap minutes from each day by forcing you to wait for every application and file to load. A little performance boost can help you claim that time back and you don’t even need to delve inside your computer to find it.
Simply using a flash drive or SD card with Windows ReadyBoost can give your PC added zip with none of the effort involved in upgrading internal components. Not all cards and drives are fast enough to be supported, but if you see an option to “Speed up my system” on the AutoPlay screen, then select it and choose to use the device. The difference won’t be phenomenal, but is definitely worth the 30-second installation.
47) Turn off the Eye Candy
Vista is full of slick animations and graphics, which impact on performance. Turning off little touches will speed up your PC. To change these options, right-click on Computer | Properties, click on the Advanced system settings link, select the Advanced tab | Settings, and opt for Best performance. For XP, right-click on My Computer | Properties and go to Performance settings.
48) Turn off Windows Search indexing
If you don’t use Windows Search every day, turn off Indexing to improve performance. Right-click your hard drive Properties. Remove the check from the box that reads “Allow Indexing Service to...” .
Windows search will run more slowly as a result, but that won’t be a problem if you have Google desktop (tip 8) instead. You can also disable the search services: Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools| Services. Right-click Windows Search and under Properties, choose Disabled for the start type. When you next start your computer, stop this service by right clicking and selecting Stop.
Guru Status
49) Master the Command Prompt
The Command Prompt is a dinosaur in IT terms: a holdover from the heady days of Windows 3.1. But it’s still there and can be a saviour in a tight spot. Start it up by typing cmd into either the Run dialog (Windows + R) or the Vista Start Search bar. There are hundreds of commands to use, some highly potent and dangerous if used carelessly. For starters, IPCONFIG allows you to see the status of your network adapter, while attaching a URL after PING sends 32 bytes to an address of your choice. The round-trip time lets you hazard a guess as to the status of your internet connection.
50) Don’t wait for boot up
Waiting for your computer to boot is a tedious and unproductive start to any work day, but leaving your PC on permanently will help to make Bendigo a beachside suburb. Save a few minutes every morning by using Wake-on-LAN to boot your computer just before you get to work. If you don’t happen to have a server handy to do this for you, there are several websites willing to schedule a wake-up call, such as
www.rshut.com/products/wol
51) Simplify your life with scripts
Many people don’t realise there’s a full scripting language built into Windows, called VBScript. It’s hugely versatile, supporting file operations, complex variables and full user interaction. So if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty with VB code, you can create sophisticated scripts to reduce almost any sequence of tasks in Windows to a double-click. Or it can be launched automatically via the Task Scheduler (see tip 14). For simpler scripts, use good old MS-DOS file scripting language.
52) Copy to folder/Send to folder
The right-click menus in Windows are immensely useful, but they can always be made even handier. Adding Copy to and Send to means being able to use the ‘browse’ feature to choose the folder to drop your file into from any right click. It takes a couple of registry changes. Search for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers, create a new key, called Send To, and replace the (default) value with {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
Then create a new key named Move To, replacing the (default) value with {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
53) Convert from FAT to NTFS
The older FAT and FAT32 drive formats are obsolete and new installations of Vista use the more secure and powerful NTFS format by default. If you have any drives still using the redundant ones, you can easily convert to NTFS by opening a Command Prompt and typing convert [Your drive letter]:
/fs:ntfs. Just remember to back up any important files before you try.
54) Add Command Prompt to your start menu
If you use the Command Prompt often, navigating to the right directory is a pain. Try editing the Registry to give access to the Command Prompt with a right-click on the appropriate folder. Open the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Run box, delve down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Classes/Folder/Shell and make a key by selecting Edit | New | Key. Label this Open Command Prompt, make a second key under this and label it Command. Select the Command key, and double-click on default to open the Edit String box. Then, in the Value Data field, type cmd.exe /k pushd %L.
55) Open the Command Prompt where you want to
When you open the Windows Command Prompt, the default working directory is your personal data folder. But what if you want to get to a folder that’s buried deep in your filesystem? You can get there by cd’ing to the right place, but Vista makes it easier: instead of running Command Prompt from the Start Menu, hold down Shift and right-click on the folder you want. You’ll see an extra option – Open Command Window Here – and it does what you’d hope. You can add this to XP by downloading the Command Window PowerToy from Microsoft’s website.
56) Delete from the Command Prompt
Deleting files from the Command Prompt means you can use wildcards, so the following command will delete all Excel spreadsheets in a directory:
del *.xls
This works even for files that Windows’ graphical Delete tool refuses to budge, but beware: files deleted this way don’t go into the Recycle Bin and there’s no confirmation.
57) Make a disk image backup
Sometimes when things go really wrong, there’s no option but to reinstall Windows from scratch, but forward planning will help. Set up your PC with Windows and any commonly used applications, and make an image of your hard disk. This allows you to return to a pristine state with minimum fuss, by ghosting it to your hard disk. If you have Vista Ultimate, Business or Enterprise, you can use the included Complete PC Backup, but there’s lots of freeware that can do it, too. Try ImgBurn – included on our cover disc.
58) Use Tab Completion in the Command Prompt
Nobody wants to go back to the MS-DOS 8.3 convention, but regularly typing long filenames can be highly time-consuming and very boring. Thankfully, if you’re using
the Command Prompt, there’s a shortcut. Simply type the first few letters of a file or folder, then press Tab. Windows will automatically fill in the rest for you!
If there are two or more possible matches, just press Tab again to cycle through the options.
59) Turn Windows Features on or off
In XP, the only way to get rid of certain aspects of Windows was to uninstall them or hide them from view. In Vista, you can turn features on or off – they won’t be uninstalled or removed from your hard drive, but they won’t be running. That way you can choose whether or not to run Windows Fax, or the Tablet PC components, for example. To alter things: Control Panel | Programs| Programs and Features| Turn Windows features on or off. Tick boxes next to features to switch them on, and untick to switch them off.
60) Snip it, snip it good
Whether you want to send an image of an application problem to tech support, or record your eBay purchases and sales in case of problems, Vista has a neat little gadget to take screenshots – above and beyond pressing Print Screen.
The gadget is called the Vista snipping tool, and you can access it from Start | All Programs | Accessories | Snipping Tool, or just type ‘snipping’ in the search box. If you can’t find the snipping tool, you can add it easily enough: Control Panel | Turn Windows Features on or off, then check the box for Tablet PC utilities.
61) Disable the sidebar
The sidebar in Vista is useful, but it takes up valuable screen real estate you may want to put to better use. Before you disable the sidebar, it’s worth noting that you can run gadgets without having the sidebar open. Just drag a gadget from the sidebar to the desktop. Once you’re happy dispose of the sidebar: Right click on the sidebar | Properties | uncheck ‘Start Sidebar when Windows starts’.
62) Save your searches
Vista now has the ability to save virtual searches as dynamically updating folders. You can save a search for all document files, for example, and then open the folder at any time to view your saved document search, updated to reflect any new, deleted or modified document files since you first made the search folder.
Use Windows + F to bring up a search window, then enter your search terms and choose Save Search. Your named and saved search will appear in the Searches folder of the Search window’s left pane.
63) Turn off User Account Control
User Account Control (UAC) was one of Microsoft’s most-heralded additions to Windows, dimming your desktop and prompting you every time you did anything potentially dangerous – every time! The result is that User Account Control rears its unwanted face far too frequently. Turning it off opens up plenty of dangers, though, so we recommend you only switch it off temporarily when you know you’re going to get an annoying batch of prompts (such as when installing new hardware). Type User Account Control in the Control Panel search box to access the option.
64) Pin folders to the start menu
A quick registry change will allow you to pin folders to the start menu as well as applications (see tip 24). The trick is to add ‘pin to start menu’ as a right-click menu option.
Search for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\ then create a new key called {a2a9545d-a0c2-42b4-9708-a0b2badd77c8} with no value.
65) Improve Windows Task Manager
The Windows Task Manager in Vista has expanded options so you can get more information about your system. To see the extras, head to the Processes tab then use the View menu to add additional columns.
66) Resize the details pane
You can resize the details pane in Vista to show it small, medium or large, just right-click in the empty space and choose your preferred size.
67) Customise the favorite links list
In Windows Explorer, or any file dialogue box, you’ll find the Favorite Links list in the top left hand corner. To add a new favourite link, drag a folder there. Rearrange favourites by dragging them up or down the list of folders.You could even add virtual folders of saved searches – see tip 62. To reset the links to their original state, right-click and choose Restore Default Favorite Links.
Achieving Nirvana
68) Open everything from the start menu
If you want everything at your fingertips, then try adding your desktop folder to the Start menu. That way, you can access all your folders and shortcuts easily. Just right click on the task bar, then choose Toolbars | Desktop.
69) Turn off UAC nagging
When you turn off UAC (see tip 63), you'll then see a pop-up notification screen that warns you that you've turned off UAC. Rather than pull your hair out, you can turn off the notification. To do that: launch regedit and then navigate to:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD6905CE-952F-41F1-9A6F-135D9C6622CC} You can either disable or delete this key to remove the notification. If you want to disable it, then the easiest way is to rename the key entirely, from {FD6905CE-952F-41F1-9A6F-135D9C6622CC} to {FD6905CE Off}.
70) Application sound control
Vista lets you control the level of sound for each application, rather than each application having the default Windows sound level. Open the speaker volume and select mixer to adjust the volume level for any open application.
71) Stack your files
In any folder, right-click and choose ‘Stack By’ to organise files by a wide range of categories, including name (grouped in blocks of the alphabet), by the date modified or by type. Specialised files such as pictures or music have their own stack categories, which include date taken, album and artist. Each stack is treated like a mini-folder, and can be opened, viewed and organised.
72) Fix associations
The three letter file suffix determines which program Windows uses to open a file, but you can change which program goes with which file using file associations. Right-click any file and select Open With to see a list of programs that can run that file. Choose one you’d prefer to use to open the file. Tick ‘Always use the selected program to open this kind of file’.
73) Use tickboxes
In Vista, you can avoid the click-and-miss problems of selecting files using CTRL and Shift keys, opting for tickboxes instead. In the Organize menu | ‘Folder and Search Options’
| View tab | Use check boxes to select items.
74) One-click Administrator
When you type the name of an application in the search bar, press ctrl + shift + enter to run it as administrator – press Alt-C to confirm that you want to run it with admin privileges. Bingo!
75) Always open as administrator
If you need to run an application in Administrator mode every time, set up a shortcut, then right-click on it to modify the Advanced Properties. Tick Run as Administrator. From now on, the application will run as administrator, though you’ll still get a UAC warning.
76) Folder viewing
A long time ago, a little program called X-Tree-Gold showed your computer as a tree structure, so you could move between folders easily. The task pane on the left-hand side can be switched for a tree view, making for an easy way to view folders, and enabling easy drag-and-drop.View | Explorer Bar| Folders.
77) Stop Windows update rebooting
You’re in the middle of something important, and Windows keeps prompting you to restart your computer to finish installing updates. Step away for a even a moment, and it may well reboot and cause frustration galore. Fortunately you can stop it in XP Pro: run gpedit.msc, and head to Computer Configuration | Administrative Template | Windows Components | Windows Update, then double click ‘No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Updates installations’ and choose ‘Enabled’ in the settings window.
23 invaluable keyboard shortcuts
F2 Renaming files in a hurry can easily catch you out – click too quickly and you’ve accidentally opened the file. It’s simpler to press F2 when the file is selected.
F6 Whichever side of the browser wars you’re on, F6 will highlight the address bar, shaving microseconds off your browsing time.
Shift + F3 Forget highlighting text, right-clicking on it and changing the formatting to make it UPPER CASE. Simply highlight your text, hit , and the selected text cycles through First Letter Capitalisation, ALL CAPS, and lower caps.
Shift + right-click Right-click was one of the best additions to Windows 95, and you can make it more useful by holding Shift while you click. Do it on a folder for the option to open a command line window. On other files, you get the option to pin the file to the Start Menu, or to add it to the quick launch bar.
Windows + B Amid the clutter of icons in your System Tray are a few essential applications – use this keystroke to select the first System Tray icon, the arrow keys to select the one you want, and Enter to launch it. This is particularly useful because it makes hiding constantly used programs in the System Tray more viable, creating space on the taskbar.
Windows + E Windows Explorer is the gateway to your files and documents, but opening it often involves getting to the desktop or Start Menu. will launch an instance of Explorer from any window, with Computer (My Computer under XP) as the default location.
Windows + F Finding files can be a problem if you’re a document hoarder, and it’s easy to waste time hunting for a file that Windows Search could find in seconds. Use to open a search window and fill in as much information as you can about the file you’re looking for.
Windows + L This instantly locks your PC. No more waiting till your screensaver fires up before you can pop out to lunch.
Windows + M By the end of a working day, everyone’s built up a collection of open windows. will clear these away to reveal the desktop, while will restore things to how they were.
Windows + R The Run dialog box was a huge timesaver under XP, but then came Vista, sweeping it out of view. It’s still there in the background, though, and opens it (the same shortcut works under XP). From here, you can launch all manner of applications without the mouse.
Windows + F1 While F1 will give you the Help file in most applications, will open Windows Help. This can save you time when you can’t remember how to change a setting or find a certain feature.
Windows + Tab Switching between two programs into which you’re typing is a nuisance: you have to stop, reach for the mouse, select the other program, then resume typing. But, in XP, you can switch windows by pressing to select a taskbar item (with a grey – not white – highlight), then scroll up or down with the arrow key. Enter will give that window focus.
Windows + Pause/Break For upgraders and hardware tweakers, accessing Device Manager and performance settings is a regular task. This shortcut brings up the necessary window.
Shift + Delete The Recycle Bin is great for those who delete without thinking, but it has the potential to allow sensitive files to linger long after you’d rather they were consigned to the confidential dump. Hold (or hold Shift while dragging a file or batch of files to the Recycle Bin), and the files will be deleted instantly.
Ctrl + drag There isn’t always an obvious rationale behind Windows’ behaviour when it comes to dragging files to a new location. Sometimes it assumes you want to copy them (indicated by a tiny plus sign), at others it will guess that you’re moving a file from one place to another (no plus sign). If you’d rather do something different, hold Ctrl while dragging files, which will reverse Windows’ decision.
Ctrl + Enter Once you’ve selected the address bar in Firefox or Internet Explorer, you can save time by typing only the middle of a domain name. will add www. and .com for you. gives www. and .org.
Alt + Esc If you need to refer briefly to one window when working in another, you can select it from the taskbar. will despatch the window back to the rear for you.
Alt + Ctrl + full stop Turns a single full stop into ellipses – useful for thriller writers!
Alt + Shift In Microsoft Office, cutting and pasting items in an ordered list can be long-winded because the software’s attempts to reorganise can be disastrous. Select an item in a list, hold , and you can move that item up or down with the arrow keys.
Alt + F4 quits the currently active application, or shuts down Windows if no application has the keyboard focus.
Alt + PrtScrn If you need a screenshot of a single window, you don’t need to take a full desktop grab and crop the image. Just hold to get a grab of an active window.
Alt + Backspace In Microsoft Office, you can undo any auto corrections and auto formatting you disagree with by pressing .
Alt + Ctrl + Vowels Pressing the right-hand Alt key while typing vowels in Office and Windows applications will give you acute accents. The left Alt key held down will give you some of the more unusual characters with the number pad.
This article appeared in the
May, 2008 issue of PC Authority.