# Tutorial:Windows Tips/Tricks



## Ron (Jan 13, 2007)

Hey frens,
     This may not be a new tactic for most of u guys but      still I thought it might be useful for the ones who are not aware of      it…………..
     As we know…After creating a shortcut, still we have to      go to the desktop or any other window to open it which makes the user to      lose time as well as energy….Therefore; there is a simple and easy method      for creating a shortcut key…
     Steps For Creating A Shortcut Key……..
     1. Create a shortcut of the file/folder in the Desktop.      Simply right-click the folder >click Send To>and then click Desktop.(*Note*:     *Shortcut Must Be Created in Desktop*/Start Menu. Creating in any other window is      useless.)
     2. Now, on your desktop, right-click the new shortcut,      and then view its Properties.
     3. Click On the "Shortcut" Tab and then on "Shortcut      Key" box.
     4 .By Default it will be "None" .So press the letter in      the box…..on your keyboard that you want to use to open the folder. (*Note:*      In the Shortcut key box CTRL*+ALT*  is automatically added before the      key you press)
     5. Click Ok
      Now frens…..the combination of three keys CTRL+ALT      +(LETTER YOU CHOOSE) Will open the folder. ……..No need of searching the      shortcut…..just remember the shortcut key………...
========
Pls Reply


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## n2casey (Jan 13, 2007)

*Re: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder*

Old trick, already knowing that.
Might b helpful for beginners.

One more thing, It is not necessary to put shortcut on Desktop, U can put it into *Start Menu* too & also U can assign a keyboard shortcut to previously existing shortcuts in the Start Menu.


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## ajayashish (Jan 13, 2007)

*Re: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder*

i use it for some important folders and programs


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## anandk (Jan 13, 2007)

Nice Tut *i144.photobucket.com/albums/r168/happyandy/coolthumb.gif Keep posting.


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## Ron (Jan 16, 2007)

*Re: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder*

thks..........


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## Tech Geek (Jan 16, 2007)

*Re: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder*

nice post


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## thunderstorm_08 (Jan 20, 2007)

*Re: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder*

nice 1 ron ,i m new to this forum.Ur trick helped me Thx


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## Ron (Jan 22, 2007)

*Re: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder*

it's my pleasure buddy........


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## Ron (Jan 23, 2007)

*Guest Account!!*

Hey,
  This may not be a new tactic for most of u guys but still I thought it might be useful for the ones who are not aware of it….
  In an ordinary PC…..We find that there is no option set to apply the password option on the Guest account…..

*img223.imageshack.us/img223/4558/983345978yq.jpg

  But this function can be fulfilled by applying some simple steps……………..
*Steps To make the Guest Account Protected……….*​     Log on to the PC with an Administrator account
  Click Start>Run> CMD and click OK 
  Input the following command and press Enter
*"Net user guest password" *
  Go to the Control Panel>User Accounts. Click the Guest account and now you can change the password

*img225.imageshack.us/img225/3347/478205536vy.jpg


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## nileshgr (Jan 23, 2007)

*Re: Guest Account!!*

How did you take such a huge screenshot?????????


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## Ron (Jan 23, 2007)

*Re: Guest Account!!*

Sometimes *Error* happens buddy!!


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## ashisharya (Jan 23, 2007)

*Re: Guest Account!!*

gr8 info


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## Ron (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Guest Account!!*

Hey,
This may not be a new tactic for most of u guys but still I thought it might be bit useful for the beginners
STEPS TO RENAME A GUEST ACCOUNT!!

1. Run GPEDIT.MSC 

2. Navigate To
		Local Computer Policy>Computer Configuration>Windows Settings>Security Settings>Local Policies>Security Options

3. Now, Search the Policy Named 
		"Accounts-Rename Guest Account"

4. Double click On it

5. Give a new name for the Guest Account………..


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## nileshgr (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: Guest Account!!*



			
				Ron said:
			
		

> Hey,
> This may not be a new tactic for most of u guys but still I thought it might be bit useful for the beginners
> STEPS TO RENAME A GUEST ACCOUNT!!
> 
> ...




Buddy, See a simpler method in this link. You need to register. *www.iforum.cq.bz/index.php?showtopic=13&view=getnewpost


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## Ron (Mar 8, 2007)

Guys,
To find out how many folders there are on your Windows XP hard disk, you can open a Command Prompt and use the Tree command. You'll get a very nice looking graphical tree structure showing all the folders on your hard disk. The only problem is that the display will scroll by your screen so fast and exceed the buffer size, so you'll never be able to see it.
  Instead, try using the old MS-DOS pipe to funnel the output of the Tree command to an RTF (Rich Text Format) file. You can then import that RTF file into a specially formatted Word document and have the same graphical tree structure showing all the folders on your hard disk in a document. Here's how:
Open a Command Prompt window.
Use the CD \ command to access the root folder.
Type Tree > Tree.rtf
Close the Command Prompt window.
Launch Word and open a new document.
Go to File | Page Setup.
In the Page Setup dialog box, choose the Landscape Orientation, and set the left and right margins to 0.
Click OK and click the Ignore button in the margins warning dialog box.
Go to Insert | File.
In the Insert File dialog box, locate the Tree.rtf file and click the Insert button.
In the File Conversion dialog box, select the MS-DOS option and click OK.
You can save the document and then scroll through the graphical tree structure showing all the folders on your hard disk.
_Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.__
Source_


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## Ron (Mar 9, 2007)

*Tutorialelete Hiberfil.sys in Windows XP before defragmenting*

Guys
Source:-Tech Republic

If you use the Windows XP's Hibernation feature on your PC, you may want to delete the Hiberfil.sys file from the hard disk before defragmenting. When you put your computer in hibernation, Windows XP writes all memory content to the Hiberfil.sys file before shutting down the system. Then, when you turn your computer back on, the OS uses the Hiberfil.sys file to put everything back into memory, and the computer resumes where it left off. However, Windows XP leaves the Hiberfil.sys file on the hard disk, even though it's no longer needed.       The Hiberfil.sys file, which can be very large, is a special system file that Disk Defragmenter cannot defragment. Therefore, the presence of the Hiberfil.sys file will prevent Disk Defragmenter from performing a thorough defragmenting operation.     

   Follow these steps to remove the Hiberfil.sys file from the hard disk:     
Access the Control Panel and double-click Power Options.
Select the Hibernate tab in the Power Options Properties dialog box.
Clear the Enable Hibernation check box and click OK.
  As soon as you clear the check box, Windows XP automatically deletes the Hiberfil.sys file from the hard disk. Once you complete the defrag operation, you can re-enable the Hibernation feature.

Comment:

"Hi, its a very good idea to delete the file befor defragmenting, because once the fragments are put together, it will give windows a chance to recreate the hiberfil.sys file again.This would also help in putting all the fragments together and then leave the sys file at a later part of the hard disk."

"     Must delete Hiberfil.sys so defragmenter will do a better job of speeding up the computer."


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## piyush gupta (Mar 9, 2007)

@Ron very nice tips specially Tree structure
Keep ur gud work buddy rep u


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## uchiha.sasuke (Mar 9, 2007)

thanx for d info.........


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## Ron (Mar 18, 2007)

*Task Sheet: Add Safe Mode to the standard Windows XP boot menu *

*Warning 

* Editing the boot.ini should be handled with extreme care. If you make an inadvertent error then you can make a system unbootable
. 
_This Task Sheet is based on a tip that was originally published in TechRepublic's __Windows XP newsletter__. 

_ *Problem 

* When experiencing a problem with Windows XP, you may need to boot the system into Safe Mode. However, getting to Safe Mode isn't intuitive or user-friendly task. You have to press the F8 key at the right moment during the boot process (or do like most admins and simply tap the F8 key repeatedly during the boot process so that you don't miss the opportune moment). Then you have to select Safe Mode from yet another menu. If you end up having to do this more than once, it can be a tiresome process

 Wouldn't it be nice if Safe Mode were available from the standard Windows boot menu?

 *Solution 

* Fortunately, it's relatively easy to add a Safe Mode option to the Boot menu. Follow these steps: 

 1. Open the System Properties dialog box (go to System in Control Panels or right-click on My Computer and click Properties) 

 2. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery section

3. In the System Startup section, click the Edit button (this opens the Boot.ini file) 

 4. When the Boot.ini file opens in Notepad, locate the line that ends with the /fastdetect switch 

 5. Highlight and copy that line, and then paste a copy of it in the line below 

 6. Change the section on the line that reads WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" to WINDOWS="Safe Mode" 

 7. Then add the following to the end of that line: _/safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog _
You will end up having two lines that look something like this: 

 _multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Safe Mode" /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog 

_ The next time you restart your system, you'll have two boot selections, one for Windows XP and one for Safe Mode. 

 Source: TechRepublic
Download Link In PDF Format:*downloads.techrepublic.com.com/5138-6240-5599052.html
  ======
 Guys thnxs for ur feedbacks and comments........@Piyush.....i didn't get any reps from u..


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## Ron (Mar 20, 2007)

Hey Guys,
  The given tips may not be a new …...for u all …….but I am still posting as this tactic's may help the beginners………

*10 customization tricks for Windows XP*​ 
  This post contains:

  Create your own Sleep button in Windows XP
  Liven up your desktop with Windows XP's animated pointer schemes
  Simplify copy and paste operations in Windows XP
  Make the Windows XP Favorites menu more useful in Windows Explorer
  Add a Safe Mode option to the Boot menu in Windows XP 
  Modify the Open With list in Windows XP 
  Switch to Windows' basic search tool in XP 
  Add UNC information to the command prompt in XP 
  Create a drive menu for My Computer 
  Use registry shortcuts to disable and enable screensavers in Win XP 

*Create your own Sleep button in Windows XP

* _Is the Sleep button on your Windows XP machine in an inconvenient location for regular use? If so, follow these simple steps to create your own. _
Many computers or keyboards have a Sleep button, which when pressed puts the computer into either Stand By or Hibernate mode depending on how Windows XP's Power Options are configured. However, the Sleep button might not be in convenient location for regular use. For example, it might be on the front of a mid-tower case that's under your desk. 
You could activate Stand By or Hibernate mode from the Shut Down Windows dialog box. An alternative to this method is to create your own Sleep button by creating a shortcut on your desktop. Here's how. 

1. Right-click on the desktop. 
2. Select New | Shortcut. 
3. Type *rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState *in the text   box. 
4. Click Next. 
5. Type *Sleep *in the text box and click Finish. 

Now when you click the Sleep icon, Windows XP will put the computer into either Stand By or Hibernate mode depending on how the When I Press The Sleep Button On My Computer setting is configured on the Advanced tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box. 

*Liven up your desktop with Windows XP's animated pointer schemes

* _Windows XP has a variety of built-in animated pointer schemes. Here's how you can start using some of these little-known tricks. Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Professional and Home. 
_ Let's face it. There are times in every IT person's week when the urgent need for high-powered technical intelligence wanes a bit—especially on a slow Friday afternoon. Those are the times when technical prowess turns to such tasks as fine-tuning the advanced settings of the ultimate OpenGL 3D screen saver or other system tweaks. The next time you find yourself in this situation, why not investigate some of Windows XP's built-in animated pointer schemes? 
Here's how. 

1. Go to Start | Control Panel and double-click the Mouse tool to   access the Mouse Properties dialog box. 
2. Select the Pointers tab. 
3. In the Scheme drop-down list, select a scheme from the list. (Keep   in mind that not all of the pointer schemes in the list are animated, and   some of the pointer schemes are designed for Windows Accessibility features.)   
4. Once you select a pointer scheme, you can view the various animated   pointers in that scheme by scrolling through the Customize list and selecting   the pointer. When you do, you'll see the animation in a frame adjacent to the   Scheme drop-down list. 
5. Click OK. 
   [FONT=&quot]
 [/FONT]    If you wish, you can create your own animated scheme by double-clicking a pointer in the Customize list, selecting from one of the available pointers, and then clicking the Save As button in the Scheme panel and providing a unique name. 

 *Simplify copy and paste operations in Windows XP

* _Copying and pasting in Windows XP is simple enough—but how would you like to make it even easier? Teach some old keys new tricks and simplify the copy and paste process in both Professional and Home versions. _
Do you spend a lot of time on your Windows XP machine researching IT-related topics on the Internet? If so, chances are that you probably spend time copying text from interesting Web sites and then pasting that text into word processing documents for later reference. That's four separate keyboard strokes—[Ctrl]C to copy and [Ctrl]V to paste—each time you want to save snippets of text. Wouldn't it be nice if you could reduce each operation to a single keystroke? Well, you can! 
If you have a Microsoft keyboard that provides a special set of buttons across the top, you can use the IntelliType software to reassign any of the special buttons to perform the copy and paste operations. 
Here's how. 

1. Download and install the most current version of the IntelliType   software for your keyboard from the Microsoft Hardware site. (This step is   optional because the IntelliType software you have installed will allow you   to reassign the special buttons.) 
2. Access the Control Panel and double-click the Keyboard icon to   display the Keyboard Properties dialog box. 
3. Select the Key Settings tab, choose a key in the list, and click   the Edit button to launch the Reassign A Key wizard. 
4. Select the Choose From A List Of Commands option button in the   Custom section and click Next. 
5. In the Select A Command From The List scrolling list box, select   the Copy command and click Finish. 
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 and assign another key to the Paste   command. 
7. When you return to the Keyboard Properties dialog box, click OK. 

Now, anytime you want to perform a copy or paste operation, all you have to do is press the buttons that you reassigned. Likewise for a paste-only operation. 

 *Make the Windows XP Favorites menu more useful in Windows Explorer

* _Your favorite menu just got better at dealing with your Favorites. This shortcut will let you cut through the maze of folders on your Windows XP machine running Windows Explorer. Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Professional and Home. _
Similar to Internet Explorer, the Favorites menu in Windows XP appears in Windows Explorer. This makes it easy for you to access the Internet from within Windows Explorer. However, it really serves no other purpose in Windows Explorer—even though it has the potential to do so much more. 
You can make hard disk and network navigation much easier and more efficient if you use the Favorites menu as a place to keep shortcuts to deeply nested folders on your hard disk, as well as to network drives you access frequently. Doing so just takes a bit of rethinking about how you use and organize the Favorites menu. 

 Here's how. 

1. Press [Windows]R to access the Run dialog box, type *Favorites *in   the Open text box, and click OK to open the Favorites folder in Windows   Explorer. 
2. Use the Make A New Folder command in the File And Folder Tasks pane   to create three new folders, naming them Internet, Local Folders, and Network   Folders. 
3. Move all of your Internet links, except the folder titled Links,   into the newly created Internet folder. 
4. Navigate to some of the deeply nested folders on your hard disk   that you access frequently and use the Add To Favorites command on the   Favorites menu to create links in the Local Folders folder. 
5. Navigate to some of the network shares that you access frequently   and use the Add To Favorites command to create links in the Network Folders   folder. 

Now, when you're in Windows Explorer you can use the Local Folders and Network Folders shortcuts on the Favorites menu to make quick work of your regular hard disk and network navigation. 

*Add a Safe Mode option to the Boot menu in Windows XP 

* _Follow these steps to add a Safe Mode option to the Boot menu. _
When you're experiencing a problem with Windows XP, you may need to boot the system into Safe Mode more than once. However, doing so can be a tiresome process. When the Boot menu appears, you must press [F8], and then you must select Safe Mode from yet another menu. 
Wouldn't it be nice if Safe Mode were available from the Boot menu? In fact, it's relatively easy to add a Safe Mode option to the Boot menu. 
Here's how. 

1. Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box. 
2. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And   Recovery section. 
3. In the System Startup section, click the Edit button. 
4. When the Boot.ini file opens in Notepad, locate the line that ends   with the /fastdetect switch. 
5. Highlight and copy that line and paste it in the line below. 
6. Change the section on the line that reads WINDOWS="Microsoft   Windows XP Professional" to WINDOWS="Safe Mode." 
7. Add the following to the end of the line: 
   [FONT=&quot]/safeboot:minimal   /sos /bootlog [/FONT]

*Modify the Open With list in Windows XP 

* _Follow these steps to modify the Open With list. _
If you open certain types of files in more than one application, you probably use the Open With command. To do so, right-click a file, and select Open With from the resulting shortcut menu. This displays a secondary menu listing the programs that can open this type of file. 
In most cases, the Open With list presents only those programs that you'll want to use. But if the list contains programs that you never want to use, you can remove them with a simple registry edit. *Note: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before making any changes. *

 Here's how. 

1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). 
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\   CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts. 
3. Double-click the key associated with the file extension of the file   type whose Open With list you want to modify. 
4. When that key opens, double-click the OpenWithList key. 
5. Delete the value associated with the program that you want to   remove from the list. 

*Switch to Windows' basic search tool in XP 

* _Learn how to switch from the Windows XP Search Companion to the basic search tool. _
As you probably know, the Windows XP Search Companion provides users with a lot of bells and whistles designed to make searching for files on hard drives much easier. But sometimes all of these extra features just get in the way. 
If you're longing for Windows 2000's basic search tool, it doesn't have to be in vain. The basic search tool is still available in Windows XP, and you can activate it with a quick registry edit. *Note: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before making any changes. *
Here's how. 

1. Open the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). 
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\   CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState. 
3. Go to Edit | New | String Value. 
4. Name the new value Use Search Asst. 
5. Double-click the new value, type *no *in the Value Data text   box, and click OK. 
6. Close the Registry Editor, and restart the system. 

To switch back to the Search Companion, just go back to the Registry Editor, and change the Value Data to yes. 

*Add UNC information to the command prompt in XP 

* _Here’s a trick for configuring the command prompt to display the full UNC of a mapped drive letter. _
If you're like most system administrators, you more than likely prefer to perform common tasks using Windows XP's vast array of command-line tools. If so, here's another trick to add to your toolbox. 
Did you know that you can configure the command prompt to display the full UNC of a mapped drive letter? The ability to tell at a glance which server a particular driver letter maps to can save you both time and frustration when working at the command line. All you have to do is add a special character to the Prompt command. 
Here's how. 

1. Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box. 
2. On the Advanced tab, click the Environment Variables button. 
3. In the System Variables section, click the New button. 
4. Enter PROMPT in the Variable Name text box. 
5. Enter *$m$p$g *in the Variable Value text box. 
6. Click OK three times to close all open dialog boxes. 

Now, when you open a command prompt and access a mapped drive letter, you'll see the UNC path in the prompt. 

*Create a drive menu for My Computer 

* _Set My Computer to work like a menu for easier access to the drives you need. _
By default, the My Computer item on the Start menu is configured to work like a standard folder window. If you need to access a specific drive, select My Computer from the Start menu, wait a moment for the window to appear, and then double-click the icon for the drive you need to access. 
When you're in a hurry, this two-step procedure can be time-consuming and frustrating—especially if My Computer contains a large number of drive icons. However, Windows XP makes it easy for you to configure My Computer so it works like a menu, with each drive listed as a menu item. 
Here's how. 

1. Right-click the Start button, and select Properties. 
2. Click Customize, which is adjacent to the Start Menu radio button,   and select Advanced. 
3. Scroll through the Start Menu Items list box until you see My   Computer. 
4. Select Display As A Menu, and click OK twice. 

Now, when you select My Computer from the Start menu, you'll see a menu of individual drives. To access the contents of that drive, just select the drive letter from the menu. 

*Use registry shortcuts to disable and enable screensavers in Win XP 

* _The steps in this tip will show you how to edit the registry for a time-saving shortcut for enabling and disabling your screensaver. _
When you perform maintenance operations such as defragmenting or backing up the hard disk, you probably disable your screensaver before you begin to prevent it from interfering with the maintenance operation. However, disabling your screensaver manually is a multistep operation that involves accessing the Display Properties dialog box, navigating to the Screen Saver tab, and setting the screen saver to None. Then, you need to re-enable the screen saver after you complete the maintenance operation. 
Fortunately, you can automate the disabling and enabling screen saver procedures with a couple of registry shortcuts. *Note: Editing the registry is risky, so make sure you have a verified backup before making any changes. *
Here's how. 

1. Launch Notepad and type the following four lines. (Note: The second   line must be blank.) 

   [FONT=&quot]Windows   Registry Editor Version 5.00 [/FONT]
   [FONT=&quot][HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control   Panel\Desktop] [/FONT]
   [FONT=&quot]"ScreenSaveActive"="0"   [/FONT]

2. Save the file to your desktop with the name Disable Screen   Saver.reg. 
3. Change the 0 to a 1 in the fourth line. 
4. Save the file to your desktop with the name Enable Screen   Saver.reg. 

Now, when you need to disable the screen saver, just double-click the Disable Screen Saver.reg shortcut. To enable the screen saver, double-click the Enable Screen Saver.reg shortcut. 
When you run either of these files, the Registry Editor will display two confirmation prompts—one before making the change and one after making the change[FONT=&quot]
 [/FONT]


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