Right-click an empty section of the Taskbar and select toolbars, then New Toolbar. Navigate to the My Documents (XP) or Documents (Vista) folder and click the OK or Select Folder button. In its default position to the far right of the Taskbar, the toolbar provides menu access to the entire contents of the folder.
2 Extra speed with Readyboost (Vista)
Plugging in a USB memory key is one of the easiest ways to speed up Vista. When the Autoplay menu appears, select ?Speed up my system?, or right-click the drive in Computer and select Properties. Move to the Readyboost tab, tick ?Use this device? and use the slider to choose how much space should be given up. Not all USB memory keys are fast enough to provide this boost.
3 Save folders after a crash (XP)
If you have lots of folders open in Windows XP, when one of them crashes, they will all close. This can be avoided by using a hidden option. Open the Control Panel, then choose Folder Options. Move to the View tab and scroll down through the list of options until you get to one called ?Launch folder windows in a separate process?. Place a tick next to it, then click OK.
4 Disable Aero Glass (Vista)
Vista?s Aero Glass transparency effects may look great, but they also drain a computer?s processing power. To speed up a struggling computer, right-click the desktop and select Personalize. Click the link ?Window Color and Appearance? at the top of the screen and untick the ?Enable transparency? box before clicking OK.
5 Save memory (XP)
When you run programs, Windows XP stores files known as DLLs in memory. When you close the programs, it usually leaves them there for later use but this can slow down the computer. If you are fine editing the Windows Registry, this can be fixed ? but make suitable backups first and take great care. Click Start, then Run, type regedit and press Enter.
Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then SOFTWARE, then Microsoft, Windows, and Current Version. Select the Explorer folder. Click Edit, then New, then DWORD Value. Name the new entry AlwaysUnloadDll, press Enter, then double-click the item and assign it a value of 1. From now, DLL files will be removed from memory when programs are closed.
6 Partition a hard disk (Vista)
Vista makes it possible to divide a hard disk into two or more partitions that Windows sees as separate disks. Click Start, right-click Computer and select the Manage option. Select Disk Management from the left-hand pane, right-click the disk that is to be split and select Shrink Volume. Enter a new size for the partition and click Shrink.
Now right-click the drive space marked as Unallocated and select New Simple Volume. Follow the wizard to create and format the new partition.
7 Make room for Start menu favourites (XP)
The Start menu includes space for six shortcuts to the most frequently used programs, but this can be increased if it is not enough. Right-click the Start button, select Properties and click the Customize button. In the Programs section in the centre of the dialogue box, use the up arrow button to increase the number of icons that should be displayed and then click OK.
8 Restore a deleted Recycle Bin (Vista)
If you right-click the Recycle Bin, there?s a Delete option ? this makes it easy to accidentally remove the bin from your desktop. To get it back, right-click the desktop, select Personalize and then click ?Change desktop icons?. Tick the box next to the Recycle Bin option and click OK ? it will reappear on the desktop.
9 Automatically log in to Windows XP
If your PC has only a single user account, it might seem silly to type in a password every time you start it up. To avoid this, click Start, then Run, and type control userpasswords2 before pressing Enter. Select your account and untick the box labelled ?Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer?. Click OK, enter the password when prompted and click OK again.
10 Add Run to Start menu (Vista)
After moving from Windows XP to Vista, some people miss the Run option from Windows XP?s Start menu. To add a Run link in Vista right-click on Start, select Properties and move to the Start Menu tab before clicking Customize. Scroll down through the options, tick the box labelled ?Run command? and click OK.
11 Make it easier to select files (Vista)
To make it easier to select a number of files or folders, it is possible to add a tick-box feature to all icons. Open a folder and click Organize, then on ?Folder and Search Options?. Move to the View tab, tick the box labelled ?Use check boxes to select item? and click OK.
12 Restore the Show Desktop icon (XP)
The Show Desktop icon in Windows XP?s Quick Launch toolbar is very handy, but it?s also easy to delete. Getting it back is rather convoluted, but Microsoft has provided a guide ? scroll down the page and click Download Guided Help. Opt to Run the file, and follow its instructions. For a quicker way to show the desktop, press the Windows key and the M key together.
13 Extend Send To (Vista)
We?ve explained how to add items to the Send To menu in Windows XP numerous times, but the process is a little different in Windows Vista. Open the Control Panel, then Folder Options, then move to the View tab and select the option labelled ?Show hidden files and folders? before clicking OK. Now click Start, Computer, and open the C drive.
Open the folder called users, then the one with your user name, then the folders AppData, Roaming, Microsoft, Windows and SendTo. Add any shortcuts you want in the Send To menu to this folder.
14 Hide Recent Documents from Start menu (XP)
The Windows Start menu normally shows which files have been opened most recently. This can be handy, but it?s possible to remove this feature. To do so, right-click the Start button, select Properties and move to the Advanced tab. At the bottom of the dialogue box, untick the option labelled ?List my most recently opened documents? and click OK.
15 Quick Launch keyboard shortcuts (Vista)
The Quick Launch bar makes it very easy to start the most frequently used programs. As well as clicking the shortcuts, though, it?s possible to start the programs in Quick Launch using the keyboard. Press the Windows key, then the number key relating to the position of the icon you want ? for example, to start the program that?s second from the left in the Quick Launch bar, press the Windows key and 2 together.
0 comments:
Post a Comment