Download Ultimate Windows Tweaker On Windows 7

We have covered few tweak utilities here, I’ve also mentioned a small teak utility called “Windows 7 little Tweaker 1.1” that designated for Windows 7 to save your time and speed up your machine. However, with the little Tweaker it only works for 32 bit machine, people have requested 64 bit and it won’t work. Thanks to theWindowsClub we now have an “Ultimate Windows Tweaker” with a much richer UI and function that works for both Windows 7 32bit and 64bit. Most importantly, this utility also works on Vista as well, depend on which Windows OS you are running, the program will automatically adjust the functions for each OS.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.0 is a freeware Tweak UI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows 7 & Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, it can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks. The tweaker detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only.

The tweaker is a 345KB .exe file which does not require an install, but yet packs over 150 tweaks & settings. Simply download the zip file, extract its contents and run Ultimate Windows Tweaker. Please don’t detach Empty Iconfrom executable’s root, the Empty Icon is copied to system directory and referred in runtime.

Download the Ultimate Windows Tweaker Now

[Source thewindowsclub via lifehacker]

Why Windows 7 Named As Seven?

Saw this guy asked this question up on twitter yesterday:Good question. Instead of replying him with my own answer on twitter, I am writing a post here explaining what the reason behind is. First of all, I should point it out that there was actually another version, Windows 2000, released between Me and XP. The whole series of Windows client Operation System Microsoft released over the time are Windows 3, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, and soon 7. So if we follow the numbers, Windows 7 should really been Windows 10. Well, Microsoft named them not by the official releases but the actual build of OS foundation. If we take look them closely, Windows 95, 98, and ME are built up on the same foundation, and Windows 2000/XP are built on the different but also the same foundation. So really, Windows 95, 98, and Me are a series of Windows 4. And Windows 2000 and XP are actually Windows 5, followed by Windows Vista as Windows 6, and then Windows 7. But wait, it still didn’t apply to Windows 7 because Vista and 7 are actually pretty similar. If we look closely, a lot of things are pretty much the same on both versions. Maybe, Microsoft wanted to have a fresh start that would eventually put the bad Vista way behind. However, it’s just my own version of guess why, but it seems to make pretty good sense to me.  Here are the collection of Windows Logos way back since version 3.

  

  

 

Adding More Apps To Windows 7 With Windows Live Essential Application

Guys at Windows7 News passed on a tip from End User Blog, that’s worth sharing out here.

In fact, there are some pretty important things missing in Windows 7 that were in Windows Vista. This includes things such as the Windows Mail program along with its Calendar, the Photo Gallery along with its ability to organize and fix pictures on your machine, and the Family Safety application for making your computer a little more safe for kids and others.

While some people may feel disappointed, I am actually seeing this as an appropriate done-right marketing strategy by Microsoft. It seems like that Microsoft has made the Live Application Package as a more essential application package that can be used by any Windows end users on any Windows platform (XP and later) for free, absolutely no cost. And with IE completely removed from Windows 7 E, we may be seeing IE 8 showing up as one of the component in this Live Essential Package later on.

If you haven’t looked at it,  I strongly suggest you go and check it out. I just noticed there are two new components in the package that weren’t there last time when I used it, Microsoft Office Outlook Connector, and Microsoft Outlook Live Add-in. I am particularly interested in the former, which not only integrates hotmail into your Outlook profile, but also synchs Contact, and Calendar with your live account.

You can download the setup file right from http://download.live.com. Once you launch it, it will prepare an installer which generates a list of available apps for you on the fly, so you don’t need to download the setup file each time to see the updated list.

How To Merge Folders In Windows 7

One small tips for the day, as probably you’ve experienced many times before, when you try to merge two folders into one you will probably copy/past or cut/past all the content inside one folder into another folder. Well there is actually  an easy way, a much easier time saving way (especially when you want to merge two large folders and their files/documents/subdirectories) It applies when the two folder are in the same leave, meaning they are under the same root or higher directory.

Just simply rename the folder into the same name as another folder, for example here I have two folders “images” and “tinymce” just rename one of them into the same name, in this case I want to merge them into both “images” folder.

Click Yes to complete the operation.

How To Enable Classic Start Menu Button On Windows 7

In Windows 7, Microsoft has change the Start menu button again, now it looks more “Shinny”. But if you are those folks that have been using Windows for decade and would like to keep the classic look in Windows 7, there is a way to re-enable the classic start menu button again in Windows 7 without losing any functions including the text search field since Windows Vista.

You need few freeware to complete the whole tweak:

• CSMenu
• Start Killer
• Executor (optional for the missing search text filed at the bottom of the start menu)

Because of the fact that Microsoft has remove the option for start menu to appear as Classic mode, the CSMenu is designed for Windows 7 to fullfill the missing “Menu”.

The video has a clear instruction on how to install it and run it properly. In summary what you need is to

• download the CSMenu
• install the program
• run the program (first time)
• log off for the program to take effect
• pin the new program onto the task bar

After you’ve done the process you will still see the original start menu button, now this is where you need theStart Killer in order to remove the original Windows 7 button.

Once you’ve done that you will have the classic start menu look again, but this will limit you the most useful function that have been out since Vista, that is the text file quick search. In order to bring back the text field quick lunch, you can install the Executor freeware that will basically does what you expect to do, search any text and it will find the program/file/folder/documents etc. The nice thing is that its actually faster then the windows build in search bar from the start menu button.

You can also train the program to learn new keywords to suit your habit.

The executor also comes with few different skin you can customize it on your own. That’s it hope you enjoy the tip to bring back the classic Windows Start Menu and yet not losing any functions.

Remote Control And Manage Windows 7 Through Remote Desktop Protocol

If you don’t know what RDP is, you probably had missed a great feature all years long since Windows XP. Yes, it’s a protocol that allows you remote control and manage your pc that runs XP or later, and it’s built right in the operation system since Windows XP. If you had used a paid 3rd party that does the same thing, sorry, you had wasted your hard earned money on something that’s already offered in the system for free.

In order to use it, you will have to first enable it on the system that you want to remote control. To do so, you can right-click My Computer and go to Properties, and click Remote Settings on the left panel that opens another window.

Choosing either option 2 or 3 enables the remote desktop on the computer. The difference between these two options is whether you allow a more secure connection connecting through. The option 3, “Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication”, is only available since Vista, which also only allow Remote Desktop Client version 6 or later connect through. If you are not so sure, option 2 is fine in the most cases as well.

And of course, if you want to turn it off, you can choose the first radio button which states “Don’t allow connections to this computer”. Click OK to have the change taken effect.

Also, if you don’t have the physical access to the computer that you want to control, you can also remotely enable this by using this trick:

1. Open Regedit from Start, Run, “regedit”, ok
2. Select Connect Network Registry option from the File Menu.
3. Once connect to the remote computer’s registry, browse HKLM to find the following registry key
   KLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
4. Double-click the REG-DWORD fDenyTSConnection, and change the value from 1 (disabled) to 0 (enabled).
5. The computer might need to reboot to take the change effect.

Once all set, you can use Remote Desktop Connection which is installed by default during the OS installation to connect to the remote computer and start enjoying the moment taking over the computer remotely.

Click Start Menu, typing in Remote Desktop, and hit OK, the following window pops up.

Typing in the computer name or IP address in the computer box, and click Connect. Once connected, you will be on the desktop on the remote computer in either full screen or the designated screen resolution. Sometimes, the following keyboard shortcuts may help you operate the remote computer just like you are sitting in front of it.

That’s it for now, and we will be covering more on this topic a little later.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Checks If Your PC Can Handle Windows 7

Windows 7 has a much lower entry point than its previous versions. Its enhanced compatibility feature gives Windows 7 much more capability of running more kinds of apps as well. However, if you still wonder whether your PC can handle this modern operation system, or you want to know if upgrade path from your current system is doable, you can try Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to find out.

The whole process of downloading, installing, and running the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor is quite straightforward. Once you have it downloaded and installed on your computer, simply launch it and you will get a report in a few minutes telling you if your PC can run Windows 7 and if there are any known compatibility issues.

Please note that the result seems to based on the minimum hardware prerequisite for Windows 7 recommended by Microsoft:

• 1GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1GB of system memory for 32-bit and 2GB for 64-bit
• 16G of available disk space
• Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)

Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

A few screen captures of launching and running the program.

Hidden Windows 7 Theme By Region

Windows 7 has added more default themes than in Vista. It also added the long waited Desktop Background Slide Show (Although it was there in Windows Vista Ultimate, most users don’t have the feature). In the 2 public release of Windows 7 test version, beta and RC, Microsoft has yet improved and added additional themes in the RC, but do you know there are hidden themes in Windows 7 that are not shown in Personalization!

There are 5 additional hidden theme by Region, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, United States and South Africa. You can enable this with the following Steps:

• Go to folder options, there are 2 ways to do this, (Press Alt inside Windows Explorer you will see the hidden Tools > Folder options OR Click Organize > Folder and search options) Either way it will lead you to the same dialog

 

• Go to view > Show Hidden files, folders and drivers then Click Apply

• Now navigate to the following folder (C:Windows\Globalization\MCT\ )

• The 5 folder are the 5 different hidden Region theme. Lets go to Canada for example.

• Click the theme CA icon will enable your theme to Shift to Canada

So by doing this you can view and add more theme to your Windows 7 without downloading or making any addition changes. Lastly remember to turn off the show hidden file for your safety protection.

Zoom In And Out Your Desktop With Windows 7 Magnifier

The new Windows Magnifier is a long missed tool that should have been included in the previous versions. With larger and larger monitors get more and more popular, a tool like this becomes a must-have for many savvy users. It also makes doing presentation much more enjoyable for both presenters and audients.  Microsoft finally covered that piece and killed all other similar 3rd party apps to death.

You can simply use the keyboard shortcuts to launch and close it to magnifier your entire desktop, i.e.

• Windows logo key  + Plus to zoom in
• Windows logo key  + Minus to zoom out, and
• Windows logo key  + ESC to exit.

You can also use the Len option to only magnifiers an area around the pointer which works just like the real magnifier moving on your desktop, or select the dock mode that shows the magnified area at the top of dock area. You can switch them back and force using the keyboard shortcuts while you are still in the magnifier view.

• Ctrl + Alt + F – Full screen mode
• Ctrl + Alt + L – Len mode
• Ctrl + Alt + D – Dock mode

If you are interested more, you can watch the following video for more visualized impression how it works.

Enjoy, and happy magnifying your desktop

Dive A Little Deep In Jump List Plus How To Create Your Own Customized Jump List

We have touched the Jump List a little on 7 tips on task bar in Windows 7, and thought we should dig a bit of deeper as it’s one of the new nice feature come from Windows 7. First of all,

Jump Lists—new in Windows 7—take you right to the documents, pictures, songs, or websites you turn to each day. To open a Jump List, just right-click a program icon on the Windows 7 taskbar. (You’ll also find them on the Start menu.)

As you can see, a Jump List is a list of files, folders that are completely related to a specific program, which means you can have different Jump List for different programs, as long as the program supports it. For example, IE 8 shows the frequently-viewed links on its Jump List while Windows Explorer has its own set on his. Better, if your Jump List missed a favorite, you can simply drag the file or folder and drop to the program pinned on task bar to pin them onto it.

To open the Jump List, you can

• Right-Click the program, or
• Hold the left button and slightly move up on the program, or
• Simply use the shortcut key Alt + Windows logo key  + number.

While it’s a good feature gathering all frequently used files together, it’s not possible to do the same with applications. However, people at gHacks found a workaround that you can actually do so with a little free tool called Jumplist Launcher, see the detail of how to use the program below.

If you are a Windows developer, you should start looking into the documents and integrating this new feature into your software that will be more compatible and more user friendly running on Windows 7.

Create Your Own Custom Jump List

To create a custom Jump List simply open the program, drag and drop any file, programs, folders into the list.

After you’ve done choosing the items you want to put into the Jump List, click “Create Jumplist”

Now on the taskbar, when you right click the icon your new Jump List will appear.

You can also rename the group name, rearrange the order, rename the program name etc.

Some of the features

– no installation and rubbish in the registry
– Creates jumplists with up to 10 60 programs or files which can then be directly started
(Warning: The setting Max. Jumplist-Items changes the number of possible entries globally for
the whole Windows-environment)
– the jumplist entries can be grouped
– after creating the jumplist, no program needs to run in the background
– you can have multiple Jumplist-Launcher-Icons (with different files/programs) on your superbar by copying the folder
– files can be dragged into the Jumplist-Launcher from Windows-Explorer
– Icon and name of the entry can be customized
– Jumplist-items can be added by dragging single files on Jumplist-Launchers taskbar-icon while holding the shift-key

Known Issues

– There are sometimes weird issues with icons missing where they shouldn’t be missing after deleting some entries
To prevent corruption of the data delete the entries which lost their icons
– Changing the maxmimum number of Jumplist-entries changes the number of recently used files all across Windows 7
This can’t be fixed at the moment because both numbers are represented by only one number in the registry
– The maximum number of Jumplist-items can’t be read from the registry on some computers
– Jumplists can’t be created on some computers
both problems need further investigation

You can download the JumpList utility here

The Use Of Keyboard Shortcuts With Windows Logo Key

This Windows Logo Key (aka ) is getting more and more use on Windows and its application. And it gets utilized even much more in Windows 7. Almost each function and new feature in Windows 7 have the keyboard shortcuts alternative that does the same thing, a lot of which are the combination of Windows Logo Key and the letters. Here are numbers of use in Windows 7 that are quite commonly used.

Windows logo key  + U	Open the Ease of Access Center
Windows logo key  + Tab	Aero 3D program flipper
Windows logo key  + Pause	Display System Properties dialog box
Windows logo key  + D	Display Desktop
Windows logo key  + M	Minimize all windows
Windows logo key  + E	Open Windows Explorer
Windows logo key  + F	Search for a file or folder
Windows logo key  + L	Lock the computer
Windows logo key  + R	Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key  + T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar
Windows logo key  + number	Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
Alt + Windows logo key  + number	Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Ctrl + Windows logo key  + B	Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
Windows logo key  + Spacebar	Preview the desktop
Windows logo key  + Up Arrow	Maximize the window
Windows logo key  + Left Arrow	Snap the window to the left side of the screen
Windows logo key  + Right Arrow	Snap the window to the right side of the screen
Windows logo key  + Down Arrow	Minimize the window
Windows logo key  + Home	Aero shake, minimize all but the active window
Windows logo key  + Shift + Up	Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen
Windows logo key  + Shift + Left or Right Arrow	Move a window from one monitor to another
Windows logo key  + G	Cycle through gadgets
Windows logo key  + Plus / Minus	Zoom in / out

Enjoy the  key and you may find some more hidden tricks