Microsoft Windows Archives - Page 25 of 32

How to create a Desktop shortcut to any folder

Posted on April 18, 2013

microsoft-windows Do you open the “Computer” utility and navigate to the same folder on a regular basis? If so, why not create a shortcut to that folder and place it on the Desktop?

One the shortcut to your favorite folder is on your desktop, you can double-click on it Windows will open that folder immediately instead of you having to navigate to it every time.

This might seem like a trivial matter, but if you open the same folder several times a day, having a shortcut to it can be a real time saver.

Here’s how to create a Desktop shortcut to a specific folder: [Read more…]

Microsoft seems to be considering big changes for Windows 8

Posted on April 17, 2013

Has Microsoft finally learned the value of listening to their customers? It appears that they just might have. Losing sales and market share by the boatloads will usually spur some soul-searching.

Reports leaking out of Redmond indicate that Windows 8.1 (aka Windows Blue) just might have a Start Button/Start Menu as well as an option for booting directly to the Desktop instead of the highly unpopular Start Screen. I for one hope the leaked information is true.

Many great companies have made major blunders (Is anyone reading this old enough to remember the “New Coke”?), but the smart ones eat a bit of crow and reverse course. It appears that the powers that be at Microsoft just might have a clue after all.

What do you think? Will they add these much-in-demand features back to Windows 8.1? Should they? I’d love to hear your opinions.

How to speed up your Start Menu

Posted on April 17, 2013

microsoft-windows Does it seem like it takes forever for your Start Menu to display after you click the Start Button? There are several things that affect the speed of your menus that are beyond your control, but there is one that you can control with a simple Registry hack.

Important: Editing the Windows Registry can render your system unstable or even unable to boot up properly if something happens to go wrong. That’s why if you choose to follow the instructions below you do so at your own risk.

You also agree that it won’t be my fault if you begin having three birthdays a year, your car gets damaged by an out-of-control shopping cart in the WalMart parking lot, or your PC becomes unstable or refuses to boot up properly.

If you agree with everything I just said in the preceding paragraphs, follow the steps below to speed up your Windows Start Menu: [Read more…]

Q&A: My Task Manager is disabled. How can I get it back?

Posted on April 14, 2013

Question from Eric: My computer slowed to a crawl and I found out that it was eaten up with Spyware and viruses. I spent the better part of a day cleaning it all up but now I can’t load the Task Manager. It’s grayed out on the menus and I can’t click it. How can I get it back?

Rick‘s answer: Hi Eric. The miscreants who create spyware and viruses use all kinds of tricks to prevent us from discovering and disabling their insidious creations, and a couple of their favorite tricks are disabling the System Restore and Task Manager utilities. [Read more…]

Super Control Panel – Access all Control Panel tools and settings from one screen!

Posted on April 12, 2013

super-control-panel The Windows Control Panel contains dozens of tools and settings for tweaking the way Windows performs many of its numerous tasks.

Most of these tools and settings are nested underneath a plethora of menus, making it difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for without doing a bunch of clicking and searching.

Lucky for us, there’s a very simple way to create a handy Super Control Panel app that lists every single Control Panel tool and setting on a single page, neatly filed under one of several easy-to-understand categories. Here’s the simple two-step process for creating your very own Super Control Panel: [Read more…]