Customize Your Windows 7 System IN FIVE WAYS

We all long to be recognized as individuals. Consequently, we find ever more ways to express our uniqueness. As a result, fashion and design have extended their reach into all corners of our lives, making everyday items not only nice to look at, but also easier to use.

Windows 7 provides plenty of internal options to change the look and feel of your computer. It’s easy to give the operating system a unique style and at the same time enhance your experience as a user. For most of the coolest ways to customize Windows 7, you don’t even have to mess with hacks or additional software.

Let me show you how you can dress up your installation of Windows 7 and make using your computer a visual and functional joy.

1. Change The Welcome Screen

There are two basic things you can change that will affect the welcome screen. First of all, you can change your profile picture. Secondly, you can apply a hack or software to change the background image.

To change your profile picture, go to > Start and type > User Accounts into the bar that says > Search programs and files, then open the respective entry under > Control Panel. Next, select > Change your picture. You can now choose a default image or click > Browse for more pictures… at the bottom of the list to access your own files.

Once you have selected an image click the > Change Picture button and you’re done.

To change the logon screen manually, check out the procedure described in this article - How To Change Windows 7 Logon Scr
een

Using a tool rather than the manual steps doesn’t make you less geeky. Rather it will save you time and give you access to further logon page customization options, for example changing buttons or Windows branding. Simon has reviewed three programs here - The Best Ways To Customize The Welcome Screen In Windows 7.

2. Add Desktop Gadgets

Gadgets are tiny tools that sit on your desktop. They add functionality and quickly let you complete tasks without launching a large program. Some of my three favorite Windows 7 gadgets are:

• Clipboard Manager - Manage your clipboard history, search entries, store favorite clips, and more.
• Skype Gadget - Keep a minimized Skype interface on your desktop and save space.
• The Magic Folder - Automatically sort files into pre-defined folders based on their file extension.

To browse, discover, and install gadgets, visit the Windows Live Gadget Gallery. To launch existing gadgets, go to > Start and type > Desktop Gadgets into the bar that says > Search programs and files, then open the respective entry under > Control Panel.

Also have a look at The 7 Best Windows 7 Gadgets and the Top 7 Coolest Windows 7 Desktop Gadgets You Have To Use.

3. Change The Windows Theme

Changing the theme will have the greatest impact on your system in terms of look and feel. And you’ll be surprised how easy it is. > Right-click desktop and select > Personalize. You can now select a default theme, get more themes online, or create your own.

For some suggestions and detailed instructions on how to create your own custom theme, open this article: Top 5 Windows 7 Themes You Might Want To Try.

4. Create A Custom Desktop Slideshow

To add some variety to your desktop or showcase your own photos, you can create a custom desktop slideshow that will regularly change your wallpaper.

> Right-click desktop, select > Personalize, and click on > Desktop Background. To create a slideshow, you need to select any entry from the > Picture location drop-down menu other than the default ‘Solid Colors’. Now > Browse for the folder that holds your pictures, > Selectthe ones you like, choose a > Picture position and time interval to > Change picture. Finally click the > Save changes button and enjoy.

Like the > Desktop Background you can also customize > Window Color and > Sounds and so create your own custom theme. Don’t forget to > Save theme!

5. Add Toolbars To Taskbar & Enable Quick Launch Bar

A toolbar located in your taskbar can provide instant access to often used programs, for example iTunes. Simply > right click Taskbar, expand > Toolbars, and check the ones you would like to see.

For those mourning the Windows XP Quick Launch bar, don’t despair. There is a hack to bring it back. Follow the same steps outlined above and select > New toolbar…, enter the following path > %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launchand click > Select Folder. The Quick Launch bar will appear, but it needs more customization. > Right-click Quick Launch and uncheck > Show title and > Show Text to make it more compact. You can also uncheck > Lock the taskbar and then > drag and drop Quick Launchinto place.

Even more cool ways to customize your Windows 7 experience using easy hacks and some cool tricks can be found in the following article series:

Speeding Up Windows 7: Everything You Need to Know

No matter which version of Windows you use, you will find your PC slowing down after a few months of regular use. This holds true for the latest incarnation as well ““ Windows 7. There are several third-party utilities that optimize Windows, but it is not safe to run system programs from unknown developers

.

In this guide, we will cover speeding up windows 7 and how to optimize your Windows 7 PC or Laptop in a safe manner. These steps do not involve any “hacks”, so you can safely use them without harming your system in any way.

#1: Remove Unused Programs & Windows Features

When you buy a PC or laptop, it usually comes pre-installed with a lot of demo-ware, trial-ware, try-before-you-buy kind of software. If you like to play with new applications all the time, you might have yourself installed software downloaded from the Internet. Each program installed on your computer uses system resources that you are wasting if you don’t really need the software. Remove and uninstall all software that you no longer need from Control Panel ““> Programs ““> Uninstall a program. Also see How to Uninstall Applications Efficiently and Remove Obsolete Files.

Also, from Control Panel > Programs ““> Turn Windows features on or off, uncheck any Windows features you don’t need.

#2: Review Startup Programs

The most common cause of slowdown are programs that automatically run when Windows starts and keep running in the background consuming precious system memory.

The simplest way to detect which programs are running when you start Windows is to check the notification area on the taskbar. Click the up arrow to show hidden icons. Uninstall any programs you don’t need, or disable the option within that program to start it automatically.

A better way to review startup programs is to use the System Configuration utility. From the
Start menu, enter msconfig in the search box and start it from the search result. In this utility, click the Startup tab and review each entry. If you see entries of programs you don’t need, uncheck the box to disable that application from running at startup. Note : this does not uninstall applications from your system, it only disables them from automatically running at startup.

Advanced users should use the free Autoruns for Windows utility from the Microsoft website. This is the most comprehensive monitor of all kinds of startup programs and services you will ever need.

#3: Adjust Visual Effects

A pretty Windows is not the fastest Windows. You can adjust visual effects to get better performance from your system. In Control Panel, search for Performance and select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows from the System category in the results.

In the popup window, you can choose the Adjust for best performance option or make a custom selection of which visual effects you need.

#4: Adjust Indexing Options

Windows continuously indexes drives and locations where it thinks you search for your files, including all folders in Libraries. You should tweak these settings so that Windows only indexes those locations where you actually search frequently. In Control Panel, search forIndexing and select Indexing Options. Click Modify.

In the popup dialog, click Show all locations if enabled. Now, clear the check box for those locations where you rarely search, and click OK.

#5: Adjust Power Settings

The default power management setting in Windows 7 is Balanced, conserving power at the cost of performance. If you are not concerned with battery usage and power consumption and more concerned with speeding up Windows 7, you can change the setting for maximum performance. In Control Panel, go to Power Options.

Click the down arrow to Show additional plans, and select the High performance power plan.

#6: Disable Sounds

You can disable unwanted Windows sounds to squeeze more performance. Go to Control Panel ““> Hardware and Sound ““> Change system sounds. In the Sound Scheme drop down, choose No Sounds, uncheck Play Windows Startup sound and click OK.

#7: Tweak Windows Services

This step is for advanced users. Windows Services run in the background and provide critical Operating System functions for your computer. However, most users don’t need all the Services that run by default. Since each running Service consumes system resources, tweaking the default settings for which Services run automatically at startup helps with speeding up windows 7. You can view and modify these settings by entering services.msc in the Start ““> Search box.

Each Service can be set to Automatic (auto-start at boot), Manual (start when needed), or Disabled (cannot start). Which Service settings should you change? An excellent trustworthy reference guide is provided by “Black Viper“. Use the Safe configuration in which settings for 19 services have been changed from their default state. If you know what you’re doing, you can use settings from the Tweaked configuration for maximum benefit.

Speed Up The Windows 7 Shutdown Process IN Three Ways

One of the key improvements of Windows 7 is its lightning fast start-up. Aaron Dietrich of the Windows Client Performance team received a lot of praise for this achievement. However, what the developers apparently failed to optimize and speed up was the shutdown process.

Ever since I switched to Windows 7 on my laptop, which had previously shut down within seconds while running on Windows XP, the slow shutdown has been nagging me. If you also happen to be looking for ways to kick-start a Windows 7 slow shutdown, look no further! Here I will introduce you to 3 ways to optimize or speed up the logoff process, so that you can leave the office or get into bed faster.

Prologue

I tested these tips one after the other on my Windows 7 netbook (which shut down significantly faster after upgrading to 2GB RAM). I booted into Windows, started some standard programs, including Skype and Chrome with several different tabs open, waited until they had fully loaded, and then shut down the computer. In its native state, the shutdown took 32 seconds from clicking the ‘Shutdown’ button until the laptop had fully shut down.

Initial shutdown time on test machine: 32 seconds

1. Reduce Timeout To Kill Service Or App

Before Windows shuts down, it attempts to properly close all running processes. If a service doesn’t close immediately, Windows waits for a few seconds, until it prompts the user that the service is not responding to the shutdown request. The amount of this waiting time is defined by registry keys and you can reduce it.

These are two fairly harmless registry hacks. If you follow the steps outlined in this article, it should in no way harm your system. Nevertheless, I have to issue a warning:

Editing the registry can damage your operating system! I or MakeUseOf take no responsibility whatsoever!  Make a backup of your registry before continuing.

For the first hack, click the key combination > [WINDOWS] + [R], type > regedit into the text field, and click > OK to launch the registry editor.

In the registry editor, navigate to this folder:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

Within that folder (on the right) find and double-click the string > WaitToKillServiceTimeout.

In the > Edit String window, change the > Value data from the default of 12000 (12 seconds) to 2000 (2 seconds). Click > OK to save the change.

For the second hack, navigate to the followin
g location via the registry editor:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

On the right, find and double-click the string > WaitToKillAppTimeout.

If this entry does not exist, you can create it. Right-click into the folder and click through >New > String Value, and name it > WaitToKillAppTimeout.

Set > Value data to 2000, click > OK.

In the same registry folder, if you see an entry called > AutoEndTasks, set its > Value data to 1, then close the registry editor.

Shutdown time: 27 seconds

2. Create a Fast Shutdown Shortcut

As of Windows 2000, Windows has come with a remote shutdown tool to shut down and restart Windows. You can control this tool through the command line, but a much faster alternative is to create a shortcut.

• Right-click your Windows 7 desktop and select > New > Shortcut.
• Enter > shutdown.exe -s -t 00 -f in the location field, click > Next, give the shortcut a descriptive name, e.g. Shut Down Computer, and click Finish.

The letters (options) added above tell the tool to shut down (-s) with a timeout of zero seconds (-t 00), and to force running applications to close without forewarning the user (-f). Basically, it unites the registry hacks from the first tip in the shutdown process. You can see a full list of options when typing > shutdown.exe into the command prompt, which you can open via > [WINDOWS] + [R] then type > cmd into the text field and click > OK.

You can move this shortcut from the desktop to your quick launch bar or pin it to the taskbar. Double-click the shortcut to instantly shut down the system.

This trick is courtesy of Seven Forums.

Shutdown time: 24 seconds

3. Brute-Force Method

This method is also known as hard boot, as it is typically used to shut down and immediately reboot the computer. It should be used with extreme caution!

If you’re in a hurry and cannot wait for 20 seconds or if your computer responds slowly or even froze, simply hold the power button for several seconds and Windows will shut down immediately. Since this method literally kills not only the operating system, but also the hardware, it should not be used as a routine way of shutting down your computer. In a worst case scenario, it could cause your hard drive to crash.

Shutdown time: 5 seconds

Epilogue

Finally, you may experience an issue that can not be solved with the two hacks above. If you see a message saying “1 program sill needs to close: (Waiting for) Task Host Window”, then you should look into this Hotfix released by Microsoft.

Moreover, a slow logoff can be caused by outdated drivers or antivirus software. Therefore update all your drivers, remove antivirus programs like Norton and McAfee and replace them with a better alternative, such as Avast or Avira AntiVir. Note that fingerprint scanners have been known to cause a particularly slow log-off.

LEARN 10 Command Prompt Tricks and Hacks . Don't Miss It's Useful

The Windows Command Prompt tool, and many of its commands, might seem boring or even relatively useless at first glance, but as anyone who has ever used the Command Prompt very often can tell you, there's much to love!

Below are several Command Prompt tricks and other Command Prompt hacks that I guarantee will get you excited about many of the mundane sounding Command Prompt commands like telnet, tree, or robocopy... okay, robocopy sounds pretty cool.

Some of these Command Prompt tricks and hacks are special features or uses of the Command Prompt itself, while others are just neat or relatively unknown things you can do with certain commands. Enjoy!

1. Use Ctrl-C to Abort a Command

Just about any command can be stopped in its tracks with the abort command: Ctrl-C.

If you haven't actually executed a command, you can just backspace and erase what you've typed, but if you've already executed it then you can do a Ctrl-C to stop it.

W
arning: Ctrl-C isn't a magic wand and it can't undo things that aren't undoable, like a partially complete format command. However, for things like the dir command that seem to go on forever or questions you're asked at the prompt that you don't know the answer to, the abort command is an excellent Command Prompt trick to know.

3. Run Command Prompt as an Administrator Automatically2. View a Command's Results One Page (or Line) at a Time

Ever run a command, like the dir command, that produces so much information on the screen that it's almost useless? You're not alone.

One way around this is to execute the command in a special way so whatever information is generated is shown to you one page, or one line, at a time.

To do this, just type the command, the dir command for example, and then follow it with the pipe redirection operator and then the more command.

For example, executing dir /s | more will generate the thousands of lines of results that you expect from the dir command, but the more command will pause each page of results with -- More -- at the bottom of the page, indicating that the command is not done running.

Just press the space bar to advance by page or press the Enter key to advance one line at a time.

See Command Prompt Trick #7 below for a different solution to this problem.

Many commands require that you execute them from an elevated Command Prompt in Windows - in other words, execute them from a Command Prompt that's run as an administrator.

You can always right-click on any Command Prompt shortcut and chooseRun as administrator but creating a shortcut to do the same thing can be a huge time saver if you're a frequent Command Prompt power user.

To complete this Command Prompt trick, just create a Command Prompt shortcut on the desktop, enter the shortcut's properties and then select the Run as administrator box located in the Advanced button on theShortcut tab.

4. Become a Command Prompt Power User with Function Keys

The fact that the function keys actually do something in the Command Prompt is maybe one of the best kept secrets about the tool:

F1: Pastes the last executed command (character by character)
F2: Pastes the last executed command (up to the entered character)
F3: Pastes the last executed command
F4: Deletes current prompt text up to the entered character
F5: Pastes recently executed commands (does not cycle)
F6: Pastes ^Z to the prompt
F7: Displays a selectable list of previously executed commands
F8: Pastes recently executed commands (cycles)
F9: Asks for the number of the command from the F7 list to paste

Command Prompt Trick #17 is full of arrow key shortcuts, a few of which are similar to these function key tricks.

5. Hack the Prompt Text

Did you know that the prompt itself in the Command Prompt is completely customizable thanks to the prompt command? It is, and when I say customizable, I mean really customizable.

Instead of C:\>, you can set the prompt to any text you want, have it include the time, the current drive, the Windows version number, you name it.

One useful example is prompt $m$p$g which will show the full path of a mapped drive in the prompt, alongside the drive letter.

You can always execute prompt alone, without options, to return it to its sometimes boring default.

6. Get Help for Any Command

Believe it or not, the help command does not provide help for every Command Prompt command. However, any command can be suffixed with the /? option, usually called the help switch, to display detailed information about the command's syntax and often times even some examples.

I doubt that the help switch is the coolest Command Prompt trick you've ever heard of, but it's hard to disagree that it's one of the more useful.

Unfortunately, neither the help command nor the help switch offer much in the way of explaining how to interpret the syntax. See How To Read Command Syntax if you need help with that.

7. Save a Command's Output to a File

An incredibly useful Command Prompt trick is the use of redirection operators, specifically the > and >> operators.

These little characters let you redirect the output of a command to a file, giving you a saved version of whatever data the command produced in the Command Prompt window.

Let's say you're about to post a computer problem to an online forum, like my computer support forum for example, and you want to provide really accurate information about your computer. An easy way to do that would be to use the systeminfo command with a redirection operator.

For example, you might execute systeminfo > c:\mycomputerinfo.txtto save the information provided by the systeminfo command to a file. You could then attach the file to your forum post.

See How To Redirect Command Output to a File for more examples and a better explanation of how to use redirection operators.

8. View Your Hard Drive's Entire Directory Structure

I think one of the neatest little commands is the tree command. With tree, you can create a kind of map of your computer's directories.

Execute tree from any directory to see the folder structure under that directory.

Tip: With so much information, it's probably a good idea to export the results of the tree command to a file. For example, tree /a > c:\treeresults.txt, just as explained in Command Prompt Trick #7.

10. Copy From the Command Prompt9. Customize the Command Prompt Title Bar Text

Tired of that Command Prompt title bar text? No problem, just use the title command to change it to whatever you like.

For example, let's say your name is Maria Smith, and you want to express your ownership of the Command Prompt: execute title Property of Maria Smith and the Command Prompt's title bar will change immediately.

The change won't stick, so the next time you open Command Prompt the title bar will be back to normal.

The title command is usually used to help give a custom appearance in script files and batch files... not that I'm saying titling it with your name isn't a good idea!

As you may or may not know, copying from the Command Prompt is not as easy as copying from other programs, which is part of the reason why saving a command's output to a file, Command Prompt Trick #7, is so handy.

But what if you do just want to copy a short section of text to the clipboard? It's not too hard but it's not very intuitive either.

Right-click anywhere in the Command Prompt window and choose Mark. Now, highlight with your left mouse button whatever you'd like to copy. Once your selection is made, press Enter.

Now you can paste that information into whatever program you'd like.

WHAT TO DO AFTER INSTALLING WINDOWS 7 ????? 15 TIPS

1. Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Using the mouse, you can drag-”˜n-dock windows to either side of the screen, or drag it to the top to maximize it. These keyboard shortcuts are even faster:

• Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow dock the window to the left and right side of the screen
• Win+Up Arrow and Win+Down Arrow maximize and restore/minimize
• Win+M minimizes everything
• Alt+Up, Alt+Left Arrow, Alt+Right Arrow navigate to parent folder, or browse Back and Forward through folders in Explorer
• Win+Home minimizes/restores all open windows except the active window
• Alt+Win+# accesses the Jump List of program number ‘#’ on the taskbar

2.Rearrange System Tray Icons

You can rearrange icons on the taskbar as you wish and start new (or switc
h to running) instances of the first ten taskbar programs using Win+1, Win+2, and so on. The cool thing is you can also rearrange system tray icons. Reorder them on the tray or move them outside or back in the tray. Take control of what you want to always keep an eye on, and from which apps you’ll require notifications.

3. Access Jump Lists with the Left Mouse Button

Jump Lists usually show up when you right-click on a taskbar icon. However, they can also be accessed by holding the left mouse button and dragging upwards. If you’re using a laptop touchpad or a touch screen, this is convenient because you do not have to click any button to access a context menu.

4. Add Any Folder to Favorites

You can add any library or folder to the Favorites section in Windows Explorer. To add a folder, navigate to it in Explorer, right-click Favorites in the left navigation pane, and selectAdd current location to Favorites. Now you get quick access to your favorite folders in allFile->Save As dialogs!

5. Pin Frequently Used Folders to the Taskbar

Right-click, drag, and pin your favorite folders to Windows Explorer on the taskbar. They will now show up in the Jump List when you right click on Explorer giving you quick access to your favorite folders.

6. Pin Control Panel to the Taskbar

You cannot pin the Control Panel to the taskbar via the Start Menu or by drag and drop. Open the Control Panel and right-click its taskbar icon to pin it to the taskbar. An advantage of this is that Control Panel’s Jump List allows quick access to recently used functions.

7. Create Keyboard Shortcuts for Programs

You can create keyboard shortcuts for any program in Windows 7. Right-click the program icon and select Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, click in Shortcut key, to set the keyboard shortcut for that program.

8. Open Command Prompt in Any Folder

Like the command prompt? Miss the “˜Open Command Window Here’ Windows XP power toy? Press “˜Shift’ when right-clicking on a folder to get that option in the context menu. This also works on the desktop. No power toy required!

9. View Expanded ‘Send To’ Menu

Press Shift when right-clicking on a folder to get an expanded Send To menu.

10. Adjust Screen Text with Clear Type

Use Clear Type Tuner for the best look on your LCD monitor or laptop screen. Run “˜cttune.exe‘ from the Start Menu search box, or go to the Control Panel Display applet, and select Adjust ClearType Text from the left.

11. Get Exact Colors On Your Screen

If you are an artist or you work with colors, use the Calibrate Color option in the Control Panel Display applet or run dccw.exe from the Start Menu search box. You can adjust gamma, brightness, contrast, and color balance, ensuring that colors are displayed correctly on your screen.

12. Customize the Power Button

If you restart your computer more often than you shut it down, change the default Shutdownpower button to Restart. Right-click on Start, select Properties, and choose the Power button action that you use the most.

13. Customize Number of Items in Jump Lists & Start Menu

Right-click Start, select Properties, click Customize and choose the number of recent programs to be shown in the Start Menu and the number of items displayed in Jump Listsfrom the Start Menu Size section below.

14. Search Internet from the Start Menu

Enable Internet search from the Start Menu using your default browser. Run GPEDIT.MSCfrom the Start Menu search box to start the Group Policy Editor. In the left pane, go to User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane, right-click to Edit and Enable Add Search Internet link to Start Menu.

15. Add Videos to Start Menu

Windows 7 does not place a link to your videos on the Start Menu by default. To add a link to your videos on the Start Menu, right-click Start, select Properties, click on Customize. In the Videos section at the bottom, choose Display as a link.