Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1 Tips,
Tricks, & Tweaks
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Contents |
About
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As usual, nothing
out of the box is good enough. Change
is good especially if and when it improves things. These are basically
my notes gathered from Googling around for
customizations wanted and used regularly. Some of the below
are done via the registry, if comfortable, go for it, if not, do not! Either way, I’ll help! Use at your own
risk! Happy Tweaking! Windows
7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1, Mozilla Firefox, on an Acer Aspire 5150 Laptop AMD
Phenom(tm) II N660 Dual-Core Processor
(self-upgraded from single-core V120) 3.00 GHz, 8GB RAM, 250GB HDD |
Context Menu
add copy to and move to folder… enables you to conveniently
copy or move any file or folder
1. go to HKCR\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
2. for Copy To
folder... add key {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
4. for Move To
folder... add key {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
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Create Invisible
Folders
only
you’ll know it’s there
1. create the
folder(s), 3 for the example
2. rename them
consecutively using the Alt and number key pad keys like so: Alt0160,
Alt0160Alt0160, Alt0160Alt0160Alt0160. etc,
etc
3.
go to the properties of the folder and change the icon
to any 1 of the 3 available invisible ones
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Keyboard Shortcuts
the less known useful ones
Winkey + D: show / un-show the desktop
Winkey + E: open Windows Explorer (see here to change from libraries to computer)
Winkey + L: lock the desktop (if not launching the screen saver to do so)
Winkey + R: open the run dialog
Ctrl
+ +: zoom
in
Ctrl
+ -: zoom out
Ctrl
+ 0: zoom
reset
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Encryption
send encrypted e-mail
attachments
Hi,
Have you ever thought twice about e-mailing sensitive information because you
knew it was unsecured? Regardless of secured
connections or applications, your ISP, the destinations ISP, and all hops in
between, can easily view its contents.
The text itself cannot be encrypted but anything attached can be in
three simple steps after completing the below three phases initially.
You’ll create an OpenPGP key pair (see Wikipedia
about), one is openly shared (public key) and the other is kept private
(secret key). Let’s say you’re
collaborating with me on our family tree and want to provide birth dates,
maiden names, and the like, with supporting docs. Using my public key, you’ll encrypt it all and send it as
an attachment. I, with the only paired
secret key, will be the only one that can open it in a readable state. All others, due to its 2048 bit algorithm,
will only see unrecognizable code even the FBI could not break.
PHASE 01. Download & install Gpg4win (see Wikipedia about) with only these three components: GnuPG (pre-selected), Kleopatra, and GpgEX, complete the install with no changes.
PHASE 02. Create your OpenPGP key pair:
01. click "Start, All Programs, Gpg4win, Kleopatra".
02. click "File, New Certificate".
03. click "Create a personal OpenPGP key
pair".
04. enter with no space "yourFIRSTLASTname and YOUREMAIL@ADDRESS.COM",
click Next.
05. confirm your name and e-mail address is correct then click "Create
Key".
06. in the Certificate Creation Wizard window, type randomly while also doing
step 07.
07. enter at least a 100% quality passphrase (password) as many times as needed
and click "Finish".
Note that it is not possible to recover a lost passphrase, anything encrypted with it is lost forever. Moving forward, you will simply have to create a new key pair.
PHASE 03. Export Certificate (it's your public key):
08. ensure your secret key is selected/highlighted in the Kleopatra window.
09. click "File, Export Certificates" (not “export secret keys” below
it).
10. save it to the desktop keeping the default file name, i.e.
8597777311961A49918E9D8F2HH40P70Q94K31RP.asc
After doing the above three phases initially, here's how to Encrypt and/or Decrypt with three simple steps
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1. |
click “Start, All Programs, Gpg4win, Kleopatra”. |
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2. |
drag and drop the attachment into the Kleopatra window. |
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3. |
select to Encrypt or Decrypt and follow the instructions. |
All the best and don't hesitate to ask for help.
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Music CD
fit about 150
tracks per disc
1. using your favorite burning software,
create a data disc with all the MP3 files you can fit onto it, with or without
folders.
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Shortcut
to text
remove that text
from them all, the curved right-arrow will still remain
1. start, run, regedit,
go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
2. close all windows & programs
3. ctl-alt-del
& start task manager
4. end explorer.exe
5. on the right registry pane, note
original link binary value of 17 00 00 00 and change to 00 00 00 00
6. ctl-alt-del,
log off & back on or shut down & restart
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Startup, Shutdown, & Logon
Screens
use your own
image, all three screens share the same image
1. go to
HKLM-SOFTWARE-Microsoft-Windows-CurrentVersion-Authentication-LogonUI-Background
2. change the value of OEMBackground to 1
3. look for or create Backgrounds folder
here: C:\Windows\System32\oobe\Info\ Backgrounds
4. the image placed in there must be
less than 245k and named BackgroundDefault.jpg
5. to crunch the image down to size, go
to JPEG
Image Byte Reduction Cruncher - Optimizer Generator
6. here’s my BackgroundDefault image
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Unlocking Files
unlocking system
files is not for the inexperienced, please use with care
1. in a DOS window, enter: attrib -h
-r -s oem12.* (where oem12 is the file name)
2. to delete it, enter: del oem12.*
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User Account Logon
automate at boot
so your user is always booted to, you can then logoff if you wish
1. run control userpasswords2 or search
for and open netplwiz
2. select your user account name
3. deselect Users must enter a user name
and password to use this computer
4. click apply and enter your password
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Windows Explorer
Shortcut
open computer
instead of libraries
1. go to the properties of the windows
Explorer shortcut
2. change the target from %windir%\explorer.exe to %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe
/e,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
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Windows Snipping Tool
enable the
snipping of any context menu or start menu
1. launch the Snipping Tool
2. press the Esc button
3. open the context or Start Menu you
want to snip
4. press Ctrl + Print Screen
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Screen Saver Stuff
1. Screensaver Toggler – (872 KB or 1.20 MB, 32 or 64 bit) It
toggles your default screensaver ON or OFF on demand with a keyboard shortcut.
FILE SELECTION:
Choose
32 or 64 bit and with or without “logon screen" depending on whether or
not you are using the option "On resume, display logon screen"
INSTALLATION:
1.
copy SST.exe somewhere in your computer.
2.
create a shortcut to it in the Accessories folder in
your Start menu.
3.
in the properties of the shortcut, assign a shortcut
key combination to launch it, like ctrl + shft + D.
USE:
Launch
it to see it's current state
with a button to toggle it, you could either:
1.
press the Enter key to toggle it, it'll display the
new current state and auto-close in 3 seconds.
2.
or press the Esc key to leave it as is and close it
immediately.
2. Screensaver
Launcher – (3.50 KB) it launches your default screensaver on
demand with a keyboard shortcut.
INSTALLATION & USE:
1.
Copy SSL.exe somewhere in your computer.
2.
Create a shortcut to it in the Accessories folder in your Start menu.
3.
In the properties of the shortcut, assign a shortcut key combination to launch
it, like ctrl + shift + S.
3. My Pictures
Slideshow – (46 KB) the very well-liked screensaver from
Windows XP
INSTALLATION:
1.
copy ssmypics.scr to
C:\Windows\System32
2.
right click it and choose Install
3.
set your options
SLIDESHOW CONTROL:
Left
Arrow key = go
to previous picture
Right
Arrow key = go to the next picture
Down
Arrow key =
pause / play the slideshow
4. Activate a Logon Screen screensaver – (0 KB, no file) enable running a screensaver at the logon screen
1. ensure the screensaver, like ssmypics.scr, of your choice is in C:\Windows\System32\ssmypics.scr
2. go to HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop and add/set these 4 strings with the following names & values:
ScreenSaveActive = 1
ScreenSaveIsSecure = 1
ScreenSaveTimeOut = 300 (value in seconds, 300 sets Windows Screen Saver Properties Wait time to 5 minutes)
SCRNSAVE.EXE = C:\Windows\system32\ssmypics.scr
Selvan Poothamby, January 30,
2012
JavaScript Menu Courtesy of Milonic.com