Tweaking enables you to makeWindows 7 do interesting and useful things that it doesn't necessarily do directly out of the box.
Some tweaks are easier to action than others but all of them help you to customise your PC and make it run closer to the way you'd like.
A simple tweak might be learning a keyboard shortcut you hadn't heard of before to perform a task you undertake regularly.
A more advanced tweak might be assigning a custom shortcut to a program that includes your most recent settings preloaded. An expert tweak may involve Registry editing.
Go deeper
Over the coming pages, we'll provide you with the advanced user manual that never came with Windows. Whether you use XP, Vista or Windows 7, we've hunted down a wide range of tweaks and modifications that aren't immediately obvious, but can make your life easier or stamp your personality on your PC. Some are straightforward, others involve a degree of skill.
Where we suggest Registry editing, it's important to have a recent backup. Windows backs it up automatically, but it doesn't hurt to back up manually as well. If you have a drive imaging program such as Macrium Reflect, back up your main Windows drive to an external hard disk before making any major changes.
Remember that it's your computer, so don't be shy – claim it for yourself and make it work smarter.
01. Remove programs from Open with… Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
You can remove unwanted programs that appear on the Open with… list when you're trying to open an unknown program.
In the Registry, browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\Applications and you'll see a list of programs installed on your PC as subkeys in the left-hand pane.
To remove an unwanted program from this list, select it and then right-click in the right-hand pane. Choose New > String Value, and name it "NoOpenWith".
02. Copy to folder Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Add a "Copy to folder" option to the context menu so you can right-click a file to quickly copy it.
In Registry Editor, browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenu Handlers, and create a new key called Copy to.
Change its (Default) value to "" and check it works.
03. Move to folder Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
You can also add a "Move to folder" option in this way.
From the same ContextMenuHandlers key as in tip 2, create a new key called "Move to" and change its (Default) value to "".
04. Quick folder Properties Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
To move quickly to a folder's Properties dialog, double-click it and hold down [Alt].
05. Correct file sorting Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
By default, a file named 2.jpg is sorted after one called 20.jpg. Many people work around this by starting single digit numbers in file names with a leading zero, but you can change this behaviour by making a Registry edit.
Browse to the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explore.
Then create a new DWORD value and name it "NoStrCmpLogical". Right-click and modify its value to "1".
06. Change the mouse pointer in Vista and Windows 7 Works with: Vista, Windows 7
Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize > Mouse Pointers. Select the scheme you want to use from the drop-down list. You can modify individual pointers by selecting one in the current scheme and clicking Browse – then replace this with any static cursor file with the extension .CUR, or an animated cursor file, which will have the .ANI file extension.
You can also download sets of mouse pointers online. These are generally distributed in sets of .CUR or .ANI files, grouped together in a zip archive. Download the file, unzip it and then replace the pointers you want to with the new files as in the above tip. A good place to start looking is here.
You can also make your own cursor files by creating suitable bitmap images in a graphics program and saving them with the .CUR extension.
07. Mouse pointers in XP Works with: XP
To change the mouse pointer scheme in Windows XP, open Control Panel and switch to Classic View. Double-click Mouse and choose the Pointer tab.
You can now select a different scheme, or browse for a new pointer in exactly the same way as in Vista and Windows 7.
08. Send To expansion Works with: Windows 7
When you right-click a file or folder in Windows 7 and choose Send To, there's a limited number of options. But hold down [Shift] as you right-click and you'll open an expanded menu containing My Documents, Downloads and more useful locations.
09. Edit your theme Works with: Vista, Windows 7
Right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Personalize > Theme. Select an option from the drop-down list to use an existing theme.
Alternatively, choose "Window Colour and Appearance", open the Classic Appearance dialog to select a classic scheme and modify fonts and colours. Click Advanced. Pick the item you want to modify and enter the new colour or font.
10. Folder toolbar Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
This tweak enables you to turn any folder on your hard drive into a toolbar, similar to the Quick Launch toolbar that gives you quick and easy access to the folder's contents.
First, minimise all your open windows, then move the mouse pointer to the Taskbar and right-click it. Choose Toolbars > New Toolbar from the expanding menu, which will launch the New Toolbar dialog.
Now select the item you want to use as a toolbar. If necessary, browse through My Documents or My Computer to find the folder you want. Alternatively, you can click "Make new folder" to create a custom one with specific contents.
Click OK, and your new toolbar appears as a button on the Windows Taskbar, then click this to see an expanding menu of its contents. Sub-folders also become their own expanding menus, and you can then select a particular file to open it in its associated application.
11. Active windows Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Press [Alt] + [Esc] to cycle through your active items in the order in which they were opened. Then press [Alt] + [Tab] to pick the window you want to work on.
12. Hanging time Works with: XP, Vista
By default, Windows waits for five seconds to allow time for any hung applications to be closed when you shut down your computer.
If you want to reduce this period of time slightly, you can change the length with a quick Registry edit, so browse to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Control Panel\Desktop. In Vista, create a string entry called "HungAppTimeout" (if you use XP, it's already there).
Right-click this and choose Modify. The number is in milliseconds, so the default of 5000 equates to a wait of five seconds. If you're using Windows 7, you should avoid using this tweak, because it causes glitches.
13. Tweak performance Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
1. Best performance
Choose Start, right-click Computer and go to Properties > Advanced system settings. In Performance, click Settings > Visual Effects. Tick "Adjust for best performance". This removes most animations to improve PC performance.
2. Processor scheduling
In the Advanced tab, both Processor Scheduling and Memory usage are optimised for programs' performance. Change to Background services and System cache if you use your PC as a server, and programs' performance is secondary.
3. Virtual memory
In Virtual Memory, click Change > Custom size, and enter an upper and lower limit for your virtual memory. Try one and a half times the amount of RAM as your lower limit, and two to three times your RAM for the upper limit.
14. Disable paging file Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
If you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, have more than 4GB RAM installed, and don't perform memory-intensive operations, you could improve performance by disabling the paging file. In "Advanced system settings", choose Performance > Advanced, click Change under Virtual memory and choose "No paging file".
15. Clear paging file at shutdown Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Windows uses the paging file on your hard drive as if it were RAM, and this routinely holds temporary data to free up your RAM. When you shut down your PC, this file is normally preserved, which can lead to inefficiency, because it slowly clutters up your system.
If your data is sensitive, this could also be a security threat, since it remains accessible even after you've deleted or destroyed the files it contains.
This edit flushes out the swap file whenever you shut down. Open the Registry Editor and browse to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management.
This contains a number of configurations for RAM and virtual memory. Either create or modify the DWORD value called "ClearPageFileAtShutdown", which defines whether the memory flush happens. To turn it on, set the value to "1".
16. Quick access to Task Manager Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
You may be used to accessing Task Manager by pressing [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] and then selecting it from the resulting screen. You can also get quick access to it that's less intrusive, however – rightclick the Taskbar and choose Task Manager.
17. Change user picture Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Click the Start button and then click your user picture. In the resulting dialog, choose Change your picture > Browse for more pictures. Locate the photo you want to use and click OK. Click Change Picture, followed by OK to confirm your choice.
18. Autohide the Taskbar Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
You can free up more screen space by hiding the Taskbar. Right-click it, choose Properties and select Auto-hide. To access it when you want it, just drag the mouse to the bottom of your screen and it'll pop up.
19. Get past the welcome screen Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
You can automatically log on and bypass the welcome screen with this simple tweak. Choose Start > Run and type "control userpasswords2" into the Open bar.
Click OK to see a dialog with each user installed on the PC. Clear the box marked "Users must enter a username and password to use this computer". Click OK. Now restart, and you'll go directly to your desktop.
20. Custom keyboard shortcuts Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Create keyboard shortcuts to launch any program shortcut. Right-click the shortcut icon and choose Properties. Select the Shortcut key box and press a letter on the keyboard, (such as [H]) and click OK. Now [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [H] will launch the shortcut.
21. Invert selection Works with: Vista, Windows 7
To select the majority of files in a folder, it's quicker to highlight the ones you don't want by holding down [Ctrl] to make the multiple selection. Now choose Edit > Invert selection.
22. Explorer menu bar Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
The menu bar in Windows Explorer is hidden by default in Vista and Windows 7. If you need to use it, browse to the folder you want to use and press the [Alt] key. Pressing [Alt] again hides the menu bar once more.
23. Show the Run command Works with: Vista, Windows 7
The Start menu search covers much the same job, but if you miss having the Run command from Windows XP on the Start menu in Vista and Windows 7, you can use this tweak to get it back.
Right-click the Start button and choose Properties. Ensure that the Start Menu tab is showing, and click Customize. Scroll down to the box marked Run Command and tick it, then click OK twice to complete the process.
24. Ditch the Recycle Bin Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
If you'd like to clear your desktop completely, perhaps to show off a stunning wallpaper image, you can remove the Recycle Bin from it with this clever Registry tweak. You can then simply use [Shift] + [Delete] to dump your old files and folders, instead of dragging them to the bin.
Open the Registry Editor and browse to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel.
Right-click in the right-hand pane and choose New > DWORD value. Right-click the newly created value and give it the following name: "". Then double-click on the value and change the Value data box to "1".
Quit the Registry Editor, right-click an empty space on your desktop and choose Refresh – the Recycle Bin icon will now magically disappear from view.
If you begin to miss the bin after a while, you can get it back again by going back into the Registry Editor and changing the DWORD value data back to "0".
25. Quick Launch toolbar Works with: Windows 7
If you miss the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7, you can get it back by right-clicking the Taskbar and choosing Toolbars > New Toolbar.
In the folder location, enter the following: "%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch". Click Select Folder, and drag your toolbar to the left.
26. Disable startup entries Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Click Start, type "msconfig" and click OK. MSconfig differs slightly between Windows versions, but does the same job.
Click "Selective Startup" and go to the Startup tab. Look in the list of startup entries for any you think you don't need, uncheck them, click Apply, and restart your PC to check if the items were needed for a successful boot.
Some startup entries are important, however, so go back to MSconfig and reinstate them if you had a problem. If your PC started as normal you can permanently remove them, so use the details in the Location column of MSconfig to find out where the startup entries exist. Try to remove the startup option in the parent program, or delete the Registry entry or startup shortcut.
27. Alter keyboard options Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Speed up your keyboard's response time by opening Control Panel and choosing Classic View.
Double-click Keyboard, and use the sliders to adjust the Repeat rate and Repeat delay to suit your typing style. You can also alter the cursor blink rate here by dragging its slider. Try out your new settings in the text box.
28. Cut back services Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Free up resources by disabling unnecessary services, or setting them to start manually. There's a list of possible candidates for disabling them here.
To turn off services in Windows, go to Start > Run and type: "services.msc". Double-click on the service you want to alter and change the Startup Type to Disabled or Manual. The Remote Registry Service is a serious security threat if it's turned on, so make sure this is disabled.
29. Manage servicesWorks with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
1. Computer Management
Right-click (My) Computer on the Start Menu and choose Manage. This launches the Computer Management console. In here, you can fi nd a number of key ways to tweak your Windows system.
2. Service properties
Click Services (and Applications) > Services. You can see each process that Windows runs. Those that show Started under the Status column are currently running. Rightclick a process and choose Properties.
3. Manual or Disabled
In the General tab, change the Startup Type drop-down menu setting to Manual. This means that the service will only start if you want it to. If you select Disabled, this means that the service won't run at all.
30. Remove text from icons Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Windows won't let you rename a desktop shortcut to a single space. However, you can force it to accept a space by holding down [Alt] and typing "255" on the number pad. For multiple items, use an increasing number of spaces.
31. Mute shortcut Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Right-click the desktop and choose New > Shortcut. Enter the following for the shortcut location: "C:\Path\To\nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 2". Name the shortcut "mute_unmute". Doubleclick it to mute your speakers and do so again to turn them back on.
32. Pin the Recycle Bin to the Taskbar Works with: Windows 7
Right-click on the desktop and choose New > Shortcut. Enter this as the shortcut location: "%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe shell:RecycleBinFolder".
Click Next and enter "Recycle Bin" as the name. Complete the wizard, then right-click the shortcut and choose Properties > Change Icon. Select the rubbish bin icon from the list provided and drag your new shortcut to the Windows 7 Taskbar.
33. Add Windows Update to the TaskbarWorks with: Windows 7
Choose Start > All Programs, and right-click and drag Windows Update to the desktop. Release the right mouse button and choose "Create shortcuts here".
Right-click this shortcut and choose Properties, then change the contents of the Target box to: "cmd/cwuapp.exe".
To prevent a Command Prompt box appearing when you click the shortcut, change the list next to Run to Minimised. Then drag your edited shortcut to the Taskbar for quick access.
34. Disable Jump Lists Works with: Windows 7
For enhanced privacy on your PC, rightclick the Taskbar and choose Properties > Start Menu. Untick the box that's marked "Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar".
35. Tweak Bubbles screensaver Works with: Vista, Windows 7
You can tweak the Vista and Windows 7 Bubbles screensaver by editing the Registry.
Open the Registry editor and browse to HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Screensavers\Bubbles.
Create the DWORD value "ShowShadows" and set it to "1" to enable a shadow effect or set it to "0" to remove it.
Make the bubbles opaque by creating the DWORD value "MaterialGlass" and setting it to "0." To make the bubbles transparent, set it to "1".
You can also change the speed at which the bubbles change colour by creating the DWORD value "TurbulenceNumOctaves". You can set its value to anything between 0 and 255.
36. Schedule a task Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
1. Create a basic task
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Task Scheduler. Give your permission to continue when prompted. Under Actions, choose "Create Basic Task" to launch a wizard that guides you through setting up a task.
2. Set the trigger
Provide a name and a brief description of your task, so that you can identify and edit it later. Click Next and specify when you want the task to run. If you choose Daily, you'll need to supply a time for the event on the next screen.
3. Determine the action
Choose from the actions offered, such as starting a program or sending an email. In the case of running a program, click Next and browse to the executable fi le concerned. Provide any additional arguments if necessary.
37. Disable Vista's User Account Control (UAC) Works with: Vista
UAC in Vista can be frustrating, because it appears for many configuration changes. To turn it off, open Control Panel and type "UAC" into the search bar. Follow the link marked "Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off". Uncheck "Use User Account Control" and click OK.
38. Fake a high Windows Experience Index Works with: Vista, Windows 7
This hack won't actually improve your PC's performance, but you can use it to make it look like you have the most cutting-edge hardware.
Ensure you're logged in as an administrator and browse to the following location on your hard drive: C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\ DataStore. Check the files are sorted by date and that you have write permission. Open the most recent one in Notepad (right-click and choose Open with… > Notepad), then choose Edit > Find and search for "".
Select the text between this and "". You can now enter your scores in this section, starting with "9.9". You can do the same for each of the sub-scores. Set them to any number up to 9.9. Save the file to fake your score until you next rate your system.
39. Speed up USB drives Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
How fast your PC can access data from a USB drive obviously depends on the USB stick itself, but you can actually make your USB drives a little bit faster by choosing "Optimize for Performance" from the Policies tab found when you click on the device in Device Manager.
40. Alter power buttons Works with: Vista, Windows 7
Change the behaviour of the power buttons by clicking Start and entering "Power Options" in the search bar. Press [Enter]. Now click "Choose what power buttons do" and select the new behaviour in from the drop-down lists available.
41. Clear the clipboard Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
When you cut or copy something, it's stored on the clipboard, but you can clear it off by creating a new shortcut. In the Location bar for the shortcut, type "cmd/c" and then "echo off | clip". Call the shortcut "Clear clipboard".
42. Tweak start menu searches Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
1. Start menu settings
Right-click Start and select Properties. Now choose Customize, to enable or disable different items on the Start menu. You'll need to scroll down in the resulting dialog to get to the options for the search bar.
2. Vista search options
To speed up searches, untick the boxes marked "Search communications" and "Search favorites and history". If you only want to use the Start menu search to find programs, select "Don't search for files". This will speed things up a lot.
3. Windows 7 searches
Options are slightly different in Windows 7. To turn off file searching, opt for "Don't search" under "Search other files and libraries". You can also disable searching for programs and Control Panel applets here.
43. Screensaver shortcut Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Launch your favourite screensaver from a shortcut, with location: "%systemroot%\system32\Bubbles.scr/s".
Replace Bubbles.scr with any screensaver in the C:\Windows\System32 folder with the SCR extension.
44. Close all Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Quickly close all your open windows in one operation by using the utility called Close All Windows, available from here.
Download and unzip the file to a suitable place on your hard drive. Launch CloseAll.exe to close all windows. Create a shortcut to this, which you can dock on the Taskbar.
45. Delay the Live Preview Works with: Windows 7
Change the delay before seeing a Taskbar preview. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, and create a DWORD value called "ThumbnailLive PreviewHoverTime". Set the value in milliseconds and restart your PC.
46. Open with Notepad Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Add the option to open any document with Notepad to the menu that appears when you right-click the fi le's icon. Open Regedit and browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell. Rightclick Shell and choose New > Key. Call the new key "Open with Notepad".
Create another new key under this key called "Command". Doubleclick the Default Value in the right-hand pane, and modify it to "notepad.exe %1".
47. Change the defrag schedule Works with: Vista, Windows 7
In Vista and Windows 7, Disk Defragmenter is scheduled to run weekly on Wednesdays at 1am by default. If your PC isn't on and idle at that time, you can change the time it kicks in, so as not to disrupt your routine. Click Start, type "Defrag" into the search bar, and press [Enter].
Now click Modify Schedule if you're using Vista, or Confi gure Schedule > Modify Schedule in Windows 7. In this dialog, you can select the frequency of defragmentation, although weekly is probably fine for general use.
You can also set the day and time that it runs. To avoid a slowdown, opt for a time you're likely to have your PC running but won't be using it for work.
48. See more recent items Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Open the Registry editor and browse to HKEY_ CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Create the key if it doesn't exist.
Right-click in the righthand pane, make a new DWORD value called "MaxRecentDocs". Right-click and choose Modify. Select Decimal, and enter the number you want.
49. Get Priorities right Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
By altering the priority of the programs you're running, you can ensure that more important tasks get a bigger share of the available resources.
To alter a priority, open Task Manager by pressing [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete]. On the Applications tab, select the program you want and rightclick it. Choose "Go To Process", which moves you to the corresponding process on the Processes tab. Right-click the process and select Set Priority.
You have six different levels to choose from: Low, Below Normal, Normal, Above Normal, High and Realtime. You can safely set any process to anything up to High, but setting anything to Realtime can disrupt the workings of essential Windows processes.
Changing priorities merely alters the relative importance Windows places on each process. If you set everything to High, everything's at the same level, which has the same effect as setting everything to Low, so keep this in mind as you change settings.
50. Taskbar quicklaunches Works with: Windows 7
In Windows 7, launch any of the programs pinned to the Taskbar by pressing the [Windows] key and the number one to nine that corresponds to the program's position along the Taskbar.
51. Quickly open Explorer Works with: XP, Vista, Windows 7
Press [Windows] + [E] to open up Windows Explorer at My Computer. Press it again to open a new Explorer window.
52. Multiple displays Works with: Windows 7
In Windows 7, you can quickly manage multiple display setups by pressing [Windows] + [P]. This opens a little overlay that toggles through the various basic options.
53. Move to the other monitor Works with: Windows 7
If you have multiple displays and run Windows 7, move the active window to the left or right display by pressing [Windows] + [Shift] + the left or right arrow key.
54. Taskbar thumbnails Works with: Windows 7
You can examine the thumbnails of open windows on the Windows 7 Taskbar without having to use the mouse. Press [Windows] + [T] to scroll through each Taskbar position from left to right.
55. Administrator rights Works with: Windows 7
To launch a Windows 7 Taskbar program with full administrator rights, click on its icon while holding down [Ctrl] + [Shift].
56. Quick magnifier Works with: Windows 7
Zoom in to the current window with the magnifi er in Windows 7 by pressing [Windows] + [+]. Return to the normal view using [Windows] + [-].
57. Older Taskbar Works with: Windows 7
You can get the Windows 7 Taskbar to look more like Vista's. Right-click Start and choose Properties > Taskbar > Use small icons > OK.
58. Wake up your PC with the mouse or keyboard Works with: Windows 7
In the Control Panel, browse to Human Interface Device and right-click an HID-compliant piece of hardware, such as the mouse or keyboard. Select "Allow this device to wake up the computer".
59. Fast transparencyWorks with: Windows 7
Press [Windows] + [Space] to get the same effect as you would when hovering the mouse over the bottom-right corner in Windows 7. It renders all open windows transparent.
60. Half screen Works with: Windows 7
For an easy way to snap the active window to the side of the screen without dragging it, press the [Windows] key plus the left or right arrow.
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