70 Useful Windows 7 Tips & Tricks

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 the Win 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 to dock it to the left side of the screen.

7. 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.

8. Display Or Hide The Explorer Preview Panel

Press ALT + P to hide it then once again to display it.

9. Display Gadgets On Top Of Other Windows

Press ALT + G

10. 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.

11. 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”

12. 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 Start button, then go to Properties
-> Taskbar and check “Combine when taskbar is full”.
 13. Multi-threaded File Copy

If you are a more advanced user, you’ve heard already about Robocopy. Now it’s
included in Windows 7 and lets you perform multi-threaded copies from the
command line. You can choose the number of threads like this “/MT[:n], which can
be from 1 to 128.

14. Maximize Or Restore The Foreground Window

Press Windows Key + Up Key.

15. Minimize The Active Window

Press Windows Key + Down Key

16. Activate The Quick Launch Toolbar

The Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows XP in Vista seems a very good idea that you
might miss when using Windows 7. Fortunately though, you can get it back in a
quick few steps. Right click the taskbar, go to Toolbar -> New Toolbar and type
“%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” into
the folder box, then click Select Folder. To make it look like it would in Windows
Vista, right click the taskbar, uncheck “Lock the Taskbar”, then right click the
divider and uncheck “Show Title” and “Show Text”. Then right click the taskbar
and check “Show Small Icons” and you should be done.

17. Preview Photos In Windows Explorer

While in Windows Explorer, Press ALT + P and a preview should appear on the
right.

18. 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.

19. Minimize Everything Except The Current Window

Press the Windows Key + Home Key.

 20. 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
<path\filename>”, and it will create a file called energy-report.html in the folder
specified by you, after observing your PC for 60 seconds.

21. 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.bizzntech.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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.
 26. Stretch The Window Vertically

You can stretch the active window vertically to the maximum display height by
pressing the Windows + Shift + Up Keys. Press Windows + Down Keys if you want
to restore it.

27. Open Windows Explorer

Press The Windows + E Keys to open a new instance of Windows Explorer.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.
 33. 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.

34. Run A Program As An Administrator

You can easily run a program as an administrator by pressing Ctrl + Shift while
opening it.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. 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”.

38. 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 Key, type
“regedit”, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set
WindowArrangementActive to 0. After you reboot your system the smart
arrangements will be turned off.

39. 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”.

40. 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 spaces and takes less time.
 41. Turn Off ‘Send Feedback’

The current Beta version of Windows 7 is all about feedback from its testers, but if
you feel disturbed by it, there is a way to turn it off. Press the Windows Key and
type ‘regedit’, then go to HKEY_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 FeedbackToolEnabled to 3.

42. Improved Calculator

Windows 7 features an improved calculator that can do unit conversion, date

calculation, gas mileage, lease, and mortgage. Also you can choose between
Standard, Scientific, Programmer, and Statistic calculator.

43. Open A Folder In A New Process

Windows 7 opens all folders in the same process in order to save resources, but
this means if one folder crashes, they all crash. So if you feel like that’s a risk you
don’t have to take, then you have to open them all in their own processes. To do
this, hold down Shift, right-click the drive and “Open in New Process”. Now you
will be safe.

44. Problem Step Recorder

The Problem Step Recorder is a great tool that can be used in more circumstances.
You can turn it on by pressing the Windows Key, then typing “PSR.exe” and click
Record. Now it will record all your moves and save them as a HTML document that
you can view or write descriptions to it. This can help you with troubleshooting or
when writing a guidance or tutorial.

45. Free Codecs Pack

Unfortunately, Windows Media Player still isn’t able to play many audio and video
files, so you will still need some codecs. But with the free codecs pack you can
download here you shouldn’t have any problems.

46. Start Windows Explorer From My Computer

Windows Explorer opens in the Libraries directory by default. Most of us are used
to see the My Computer page instead. To change it to My Computer, press the
Windows Key, then type “explorer”, select Properties and in the Shortcut tab type
“%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-
08002B30309D}”. Now you have to right-click the Explorer icon in the Taskbar and
hit “Unpin this program from the taskbar” and then drag it back from the Start
Menu.
 47. Clear The Desktop

If there are too many windows on the desktop, you can clear it by shaking a
window from left to right and all others will minimize. To restore the other
windows you have to shake the active one again.

48. Use Gadgets With UAC Turned Off

Maybe you noticed that once you turn off UAC you can’t use the gadgets anymore,
as a security measure. But if you want to risk using them, there a simple way to do
it, even with UAC turned off. Press the Windows Key, type ‘regedit’, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Sett
ings and create a DWORD value named AllowElevatedProcess and set its value to
1. Now you should be able to use your gadgets. If not, then reboot your PC and
you should be done.

49. Fix The Media Player & Media Center MP3 Bug

Both Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center come with a bug that can
damage your MP3s by filling missing metadata automatically on imported MP3
files. This can cut a few seconds from the beginning of the tracks and can prove
really disturbing. This problem was fixed by Microsoft using the fix located here.

50. Search Everything In Your Computer

Windows 7 offers the possibility to search all file types, including unknown ones
and this could help you in some cases. Though it is not recommended, because it’s
much slower than normal search, you can give it a try by doing the following:
Launch Windows Explorer, go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and check “Try to
search the content of unknown file types”. If you don’t need it anymore, don’t
forget to clear it for an increase in speed.

51. Mouse Gestures

Windows 7 has not only brought gestures for those who use touchscreen devices,
but for mouse users too. So, instead of right-clicking a Taskbar icon to access the
jump list, you can hold left-click and drag upwards to smoothly call it up. In
addition, clicking and dragging down the address bar in Internet Explorer will open
the browsing history. There might be more gestures yet not discovered.

52. Configure Your Music Favorites

If you’ve already fixed the Windows Media Center, now you might think of ways to
improve your experience with it. The Media Center creates a list of favorite songs
based on how often you play them, your ratings and date you’ve added them. If
you aren’t comfortable with the way they thought it out, change the way it sorts
your favorites by going to Tasks -> Settings -> Music -> Favorite Music.
 53. Turn Off Recent Search Queries Display

Windows 7 holds and displays the recent search queries by default. This can often
prove to be irritating. No need to stress though because it can be disabled. Press
the Windows Key, type gpedit.msc, then go to User Configuration ->
Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer and
double click on “Turn off display of recent search entries”.

54. Advanced Disk Defragmentation

Fortunately, Windows 7 offers much better defragmentation than Vista and also
lets you configure it a bit from the command line. To do it, press the Windows Key
and then type CMD. You can defragment your hard disk from the command line by
typing “defrag” and you have the following options: /r will defrag multiple drives
simultaneously, -a performs a defrag analysis, -v prints the report, -r treats files
with at least 64 Mb of fragments like are not fragmented, -w will defrag
everything. An example is “defrag C: -v -w” to defrag the whole drive C.

55. Make Internet Explorer 8 Load Faster

If you want Internet Explorer 8 to load faster, you need to disable the add-ons that
slow it down, so go to Tools -> Manage Add-ons and check the load time for each
one. You can choose for yourself the ones you can live without and ones that
would increase the load speed.

56. Media Center Automatic Download

Windows Media Center 12 allows you to schedule data downloads, so it can be

done without disturbing you. To do it, go to Tasks -> Settings -> General ->
Automatic Download Options and you can configure it to start and stop the
download whenever you want.

57. Remove The Sidebar

Windows 7 doesn’t seem to feature the sidebar anymore, but it still exists and
runs in the background, being launched automatically at startup. So if you want to
get rid of it, there are two ways. The easier one is to press the Windows Key, type
MSCONFIG.EXE, click the Startup tab and clear the Sidebar box. The hard way is to
press the Windows key, type “regedit”, find and delete the registry key at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. This can
save you some RAM consumed with no use.
 58. Volume Tweaking

Don’t you like that Windows 7 automatically reduces the volume when it detects
PC calls? You can turn off this feature by right-clicking the speaker icon in the
taskbar, go to Sounds -> Communications and get rid of it.

59. Run A Program As Another User

Windows 7 comes with the possibility to run a program both as an administrator or

another user, by right clicking on the executable or shortcut while holding down
the Shift key. Then you have to select “Run as another user”.

60. Use Virtual Hard Disk Files

You can now create and manage virtual hard disks files in Windows 7 as if they
were real disks. This can allow you to use a live Windows installation on the virtual
disk without the need to boot the virtual Computer. To create a virtual disk you
have to press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, then go to Manage ->
Disk Management -> Action -> Create VHD. There you can specify the location and
size of your virtual hard disk file.

To attach the virtual disk file, press the Windows Key, right-click Computer, then
go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Attach VHD and you have to
specify the location and if it’s read only or not.

To initialize a virtual hard disk, press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer,
go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Attach VHD, specify the location,
click Ok, then right click on the virtual disk and click on Initialize Disk. Select the
partition style you want to use and then right-click on the unallocated space and
click “New Simple Volume” and follow the instructions wizard. Now, a new hard
drive appears in Windows Explorer and you can use it as a real partition.

61. Remove The Windows Live Messenger Tab In The Taskbar

To get rid of the Windows Live Messenger Tab and put it back in the system tray,
where it belongs, go to C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger, right-click
msnmsdgr.exe and set its compatibility mode to Windows Vista.

62. Lock The Screen

There is no Lock Screen button in the Start Menu anymore, so you have to press
the Windows Key + L to lock it, now. It seems easier, in case you don’t forget the
shortkey.
 63. Create A Screen Lock Shortcut

In case you don’t like shortkeys or you keep forgetting them, there’s another
option for screen lock. Simply create a new shortcut to
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation and place it
whenever you want.

64. Enable Run Command In Start Menu

If you miss the old Run Command button in XP, then there’s an option to get it
back in Windows 7. Right-click an open area in Start Menu, go to Properties ->
Start Menu -> Customize and check “Run Command. Now you should be done.

65. Improve Desktop Window Manager For Nvidia Graphics

Sometimes the animations for Desktop Window Manager don’t look very well and
aren’t smooth enough and this is cause because Desktop Window Manager renders
effects with no transparency and blurring, but you can turn off animations for
more pleasant graphics. Press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, go to
Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Performance -> Settings and clear
“Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing”. Click OK to finnish.

66. Change Default Save Location For Files

Windows 7 is a bit different from Vista, because it saves Documents, Pictures,

Videos and Music under the Public folder inside C:\Users. You might not want to
save your documents, pictures, videos or music to this location, but create your
own locations and you can do it quite easy. Press the Windows Key, Click your
username and double-click on the folder you wish to change. Then you will see
Includes: 2 library locations. Click on that text, right-click on the folder you wish to
set like default and click “Set as default file location”, then click Ok.

67. Make 64bit Windows Media Player Default ( only for X64 users )

Windows comes with the 32bit version of Media Player by default. If you are a x64
user, you can keep the system cleaner by only installing one set of codecs. To do
this, press the Windows Key, type “command”, right-click on Command Prompt
and hit “Run as administrator”, then type “unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:64″. After that,
press the Windows Key, type “regedit”, go to
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wmplayer.exe\,
double click on value and change “%ProgramFiles(x86)” to “%ProgramFiles%”.
Now you should be using the 64bit Windows Media Player.
 68. Open Multiple Instances Of Windows Explorer Via The Taskbar

If you want to run more instances of the Windows Explorer just by hitting the
startbar, you can do it by following these steps: Unpin Windows Explorer from the
Taskbar, then press the Windows Key, go to Accessories, right-click Windows
Explorer, go to Properties and change the shortcut path to %SystemRoot
%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} ( if you want
it to default to My Computer ) or %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{031E4825-
7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5} ( if you want it to default to Libraries ). Now
repin Windows Explorer to your Taskbar and you’re done. All that is required for
opening more instances of it is just a click of the middle mouse button. If you
aren’t pleased with what you’ve done, change the shortcut path back to
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe.

69. Make The System Tray Clock Show The AM / PM Symbols

By default Windows 7 does show the time in 24 hour format, so if you want to get
the AM / PM symbols, press the Windows Key, type intl.cpl to open Regional and
Language Options, go to Addition Settings -> Time where Long Time is set to
HH:mm and change it to HH:mm tt, for example, where tt is the AM or PM symbol (
21:12 PM ). To change it to the 12 hour format, you need to type it like this
hh::mm tt ( 9:12 PM ).

70. Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility Mode

If your websites don’t render correctly, you might need to enable Internet Explorer
8 display them in compatibility view. This issue is because of the updated
rendering engine, which causes a lot of trouble. To do it, open Internet Explorer,
go to Tools -> Compatibility View Settings and check “Display all websites in
compatibility view”, then click Ok.