Really Hidden Windows 7 Tricks! Part 2

This Post is Part of Series [FIRST ONE]

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Restore Previous Folder Windows at Login:

Usually, after software updates or virus scans, users HAVE TO Log-off or (worst) Restart the computer. If you do not want to lose your Opened Windows after the reboot, you can follow this tutorial to “Automatically” Restore them.

1. Fire up “Windows Explorer” by pressing (Windows key) + E.

2. Go to Tools –> Folder Options…

3. In Folder Options window, switch to View tab, check on Restore previous folder windows at logon and hit OK.

4. Now, you can leave your folder windows open and perform the Log-Off or Restart. The OS will open ALL your previous windows at the next logon.

This has helped me a lot when installing number of softwares post an OS Crash!

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How to Execute Programs from the Search Run Box “As Administrator”:

Many of us make extensive use of the search run box provided in the Windows 7 start menu. However, if we normally start a task from the start menu, it does not execute With Administrator Rights. Here is how to change that.

Go to the Start menu and type the application name in the run box.

Then instead of just pressing the Enter key, press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run the task As an Administrator.

The task should be started As An Administrator (With Administrative Privileges). Just in case, If you have User Account Control (UAC) Enabled, then the UAC screen is opened which you have to Accept.

This is an extremely easy and time saving method to run applications as an administrator.

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[Eye-Candy… Can be Ignored]

How to Change the “Icon” For a Drive:

Want to change the icon for your hard drive or CD/DVD drive? This tutorial describes how to change the graphics on these icons to whatever you wish.

Option 1:

1. Put your icon file (.ico) in the root of your drive. (example: C:\icon.ico)

2. Open Notepad and type the following:

[autorun]
ICON=icon.ico

3. Save the notepad file by going to File->Save as.

4. Save it to the same root location with the icon file (example: C:\). Set All Files in Save as type drop down menu, name your file: autorun.inf and then hit Save.

5. After that, Restart or Log-off your computer to take effect.

Option 2:

1. Press Windows key+R to open the Run box, type in Regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\ and look for Applications key. If you don’t have that key, then right click on Classes—>New—>Key. Name that new key Applications.

3. After that, right click on the Applications key and choose New—>Key. Name it Explorer.exe.

4. Right click on Explorer.exe key –>New—>Key. It must be named Drives. After you created the Drives key, right click on it –>New—>Key. This time, change key’s name to the drive letter you want to change (example: C). It should look something like below:

5. Now, create a New Key inside C key. Right click on it and choose New—>Key. Name it DefaultIcon.

6. Locate you icon find. Hold-down Shift and then right click on the icon file, choose Copy as path.

7. Back to Registry editor window, double click on (Default) value of DefaultIcon key.

8. Pasted the path you copied in step 6 to Value data. Click OK to save. After that, close the Registry editor. It should take effect immediately. If it doesn’t, please restart your computer.

To restore default icon:

With option 1: Delete the autorun.inf file.

With option 2: Delete the C key (or your drive letter key).

Just in Case you WANT to Change the Drive Icon, I will suggest the Second Option as it is a LOT SAFER than the Autorun.inf Method. Virus Free!!

Personally, I really like the Windows 7 Default Icons. They are simple & Informative.

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Prevent Windows 7 from Appending “Shortcut To” to New Shortcuts:

When a shortcut is created, typically Microsoft Windows 7 will append the “Shortcut To” suffix to the icon’s text. This tech-recipe describes how to prevent Windows from adding that suffix when a shortcut is created.

Many of us dislike the fact that “Shortcut To” is appended to the end of all of our new shortcuts.…

1. Press Windows key + R to bring up the Run window.

2. Type in Regedit and hit Enter to open Registry editor.

3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer and double click on link on the right pane.

4. When the Edit Binary Value window pops up, change its value from 0000 1A 00 00 00 to 0000 00 00 00 00 and click on OK.

5. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Then whenever you create a new shortcut, the “Shortcut” suffix will not reappear.

Note:

Please don’t try to do it right after you close the Registry Editor. If you don’t restart and try it immediately, you may fail and this cause the value back to the default and you may have to do it again.

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Right-Click to Open a Command Prompt:

How to open a command prompt by Right-Clicking on a Folder in Explorer.

Many of us still like to drop to the command console for particular tasks. Executing cmd.exe from the RUN box still forces you to navigate to the particular folder in question using archaic Command Prompt Commands (Yikes!). Wouldn’t it be easier to just Right-Click on a Folder to open a Command Prompt Window which is “Actively” in that particular directory?

1. Select the folder you want to open in the command prompt
2. Right-Click on it while holding the Shift key
3. Select Open command window here

SIMPLE!!

PS: Many “New” Commands are revealed when SHIFT Key is Pressed while Right-Clicking. Try it out. You will be pleasantly surprised!

Conclusion:

I Hope these Tips are useful to our Readers. As always, comments are Welcome!!