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1. PC Safeguard
I rarely let anyone use my PC because I’m afraid he will mess it up, but it seems Microsoft has been thinking at me and came with a solution. The PC Safeguard doesn’t let anyone mess your PC settings, because after the user logs off, the configurations are reset back to normal. Of course it will not restore the configurations changed by you, but only the ones done by other users you define.
To use PC Safeguard, go to Control Panel -> User Accounts and create a new account, then select “Set Up Pc Safeguard” and switch it on. Then you can stay relaxed when others use your computer, because you won’t find anything changed, including configurations, downloaded software, installed programs.
2. Screen Calibration
Fortunately, Windows 7 comes with a display calibration wizard that lets you set up the screen brightness properly, so you won’t have any problems viewing photos or text. The problem was that on one PC a photo could look sharp and bright and on another it looks awful. Now the problem can be fixed by pressing theWindows logo key and then typing “DCCW”.
3. AppLocker
If you are usually sharing your computer with someone else, then you might want to restrict their access to your applications, files or documents. Using the AppLocker tool, you have a few options to do this by blocking other users to access Executables, Windows Installers, Scripts, a specific publisher or path.
You can simply do this by pressing the Windows key then typing Gpedit.msc. Then go to Computer Navigation -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Application Control Policies -> AppLocker. Right click on one of the options (Executables, Installers, or Script) and create a new rule. That should save you from a lot of headaches.
4. Burn Images
We all had trouble with image burning in Windows, because it couldn’t do it itself, a standalone software being needed. With Windows 7 this will not be a problem anymore. All you have to do is double-click the ISO image and burn it on the CD or DVD that’s inserted in the drive.
5. Display Empty Removable Drives
Windows 7 will not show empty drives by default, so if you connect an empty drive to your PC, don’t worry, just go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and uncheck “Hide empty drives in the computer folder”. This doesn’t seem like a good idea and it should not be default setting, because it will be hard for inexperienced users to figure it out. I bet a lot of users will return their newly bought drive thinking it’s broken.
6. Dock The Current Windows To The Left Side Of The Screen
This new feature seems useful because sometimes it’s disturbing that windows seems to float like crazy on the screen and it’s hard to attach them to one side of it. Now this can easily be done using a keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows key + Left key (arrow) to dock it to the left side of the screen.
6.1 Dock The Current Windows To The Right Side Of The Screen
Press the Windows key + Right key to dock it to the right side of the screen.
7. Display Or Hide The Explorer Preview Panel
Press ALT + P to hide it then once again to display it.
8. Display Gadgets On Top Of Other Windows
Press ALT + G
9. Background Photo Slideshow
If you are like me, lazy and bored, then you will want to change the background from time to time, wasting a lot of time. Now you don’t have to do this anymore, because you can set up a slideshow.
Right click on the desktop then go to Personalize -> Desktop Background and hold the CTRL key while choosing the images. Then you can choose the time intervals between images and opt to display them randomly or in a row.
10. Make The Taskbar Smaller
If you feel like the taskbar is using too much of your screen space, you can choose to make the icons smaller. To do this, right-click on the Start button, then go to Properties -> Taskbar and set it to “Use small icons”
11. Combine Taskbar Icons
When you have more windows or applications opened, the taskbar’s space might not be enough for them all, so you need to combine them, just like you would in Windows XP or Vista. To do this, right-click the Startbutton, then go to Properties -> Taskbar and check “Combine when taskbar is full”.
. Preview Photos In Windows Explorer
While in Windows Explorer, Press ALT + P and a preview should appear on the right.
17. Desktop Magnifier
Press the Windows Key and the Plus Key to zoom in or Windows Key and the Minus Key to zoom out. You can zoom anywhere on the desktop and you can even configure your magnifier. You can choose to invert colors, follow the mouse pointer, follow the keyboard focus, or the text insertion point.
18. Minimize Everything Except The Current Window
Press the Windows Key + Home Key.
19. TroubleShoot Power Management
Windows 7 can tell you how much power your system uses or provide detailed information about the power usage and issues caused by each application and device. This way you can optimize the way your battery is used, making It last longer.
Press the Windows Key and type “POWERCFG –ENERGY –OUTPUT ”, and it will create a file called energy-report.html in the folder specified by you, after observing your PC for 60 seconds.
20. Web Searches From Your Desktop
Windows 7 lets you search for online resources, by adding a connector that be downloaded for free.
For instance, go to http://www.istartedsomething.com/flickrsearch/ and download the Flickr connector. After that, you should see the Flickr Search in your searches folder and you will be able to do it directly from your desktop, without needing to visit their website.
21. Add Videos To Your Start Menu
If you were looking for a faster way to access your videos, then Windows 7 has the right answer for you.
Right click the Start button, then go to Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize and set the Videos to “Display as a link” and you’re done, you will now find them in the Start Menu.
22. Shift The Window From One Monitor To Another
If you are using two or more monitors, then you might want to move the Windows from one to another. There is a very simple way to do it.
All you have to do is press the Windows Key + Shift Key + Left or Right Key, depending on what monitor you want to move it to.
23. Custom Power Button
There is an option to replace the “Shut Down” button with another action, if you rarely shut down the computer, but you more often restart it or put it on sleep.
Right click the Start Button, go to Properties and choose the ‘Power Boot Action” to do whatever you want, from the given options.
24. Easily Add A New Font
Adding a new font it’s now easier than ever. Just download the font you want, double click it and you should see the install button.
25. Stretch The Window Vertically
You can stretch the active window vertically to the maximum display height by pressing the Windows + Shift + Up (arrow) keys. Press Windows + Down Keys if you want to restore it.
26. Open Windows Explorer
Press the Windows logo key + E to open a new instance of Windows Explorer.
27. Create A New Instance Of The First Icon In The Taskbar
Press Windows + 1 Keys to open a new instance of the first icon in the taskbar. This could prove really useful in some circumstances.
28. Windows Action Center
Windows Action Center offers you important information about your PC, like the Antivirus Status, updates, troubleshooting and provides a backup scheduling feature.
To access it, go to Control Panel -> System And Security -> Action Center.
29. Windows Troubleshooting Platform
This platform can help you solve a lot of issues you may encounter, like the internet connection, hardware devices, poor system performance and more. You can choose what to troubleshoot and it will come with some possible explanations for the problem that might really help you.
There are a lot of options, guidance and information available there, so give it a try by typing “troubleshoot” or “fix” after pressing the Windows Key.
30. Turn Off System Notifications
System notifications are usually disturbing and aren’t always useful, so you might want to turn some of them off and.
This can be done in Windows 7 by double clicking the Notification Area Icons in Control panel. There you can change notifications and icons for the Action Center, Network, Volume, Windows Explorer, Media Center Tray Applet, Windows Update Automatic Updates.
31. Turn Off Security Messages
To turn off security messages you have to go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Action Center -> Change Action Center Settings and you can turn off the following notifications: Windows Update, Internet Security Settings, Network Firewall, Spyware and related protection, User Account Control, Virus Protection, Windows Backup, Windows Troubleshooting, Check for updates.
32. Cycle Through The Open Programs Via The Taskbar’s Peek Menu
This works just like Alt + Tab, but opens the menu just above the sidebar, doesn’t seem very useful. Give it a try by pressing The Windows Key + T.
33. Run A Program As An Administrator
You can easily run a program as an administrator by pressing Ctrl + Shift while opening it.
34. Same Program Windows Switching
If you have more instances of a program running, simply hold Ctrl while clicking on its icon and it will cycle through all the instances.
35. Auto Arrange Desktop Icons
You can now forget about the Right Click -> Auto arrange. All you have to do is hold F5 pressed for a bit and the icons will auto arrange.
36. Encrypt Removable USB Drives
Encrypting an USB drive has never been easier. Now you can right click on the removable drive and then on the “Turn on Bitlocker”.
37. Turn Off Smart Window Arrangement
If you don’t like Windows 7’s new features that arrange your windows intelligently, there’s an easy way to turn it off.
Press the Windows Logo Key, type “regedit”, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and setWindowArrangementActive to 0. After you reboot your system the smart arrangements will be turned off.
38. Create A System Repair Disc
Windows 7 features a tool that lets you create a bootable System Repair Disc that includes some system tools and the command prompt. To create it, press the Windows Key and type “system repair disc”.
39. Hard-Link Migration Store
The Hard-Link Migration store is only available for new computers and can migrate files, settings, and user accounts. The new Hard-Link Migration Store uses more less disk space and takes less time.
40. Turn Off ‘Send Feedback’
If for some reason, you’re still using the Beta version of Windows 7 and if you feel disturbed by “Send Feedback button”, there is a way to turn it off. Press the Windows Key and type ‘regedit’, then go toHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set FeedbackToolEnabled to 0. After you restart the computer, it shouldn’t be there anymore. Also, if you want to turn it on again, set the FeedbackToolEnabledto 3.