Microsoft Windows Archives - Page 27 of 32

Q&A: How do I run the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) on Windows 7?

Posted on March 18, 2013

Question from Alex G.: Hi Rick. Love this site and all your tips!! I hope you can help me with a problem I’m having.

I just bought an ebook filled with Windows 7 tweaks and several of the ones I really want to try require running a program called Group Policy Editor. The instructions say to type gpedit.msc into the Search box, but when I do I get this error message:

“Windows cannot find ‘gpedit.msc’. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.”

What am I doing wrong? My computer is a Dell laptop running the upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium. It originally came with Windows Vista.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to disable the annoying ‘Snap’ in Windows 7

Posted on March 14, 2013

windows-7 Windows 7 includes a feature that allows you to expand open windows and rearrange them on the screen by dragging them hither and yon with the mouse. Some people like it, others despise it.

I happen to be among those who find it irritating when a window suddenly expands to fill the entire screen when all I’m trying to do is move it over just a bit. If you find it irritating as well, here’s how to disable it (refer to the screenshot below): [Read more…]

Microsoft tries discounting Windows 8 in order to boost sluggish sales

Posted on March 13, 2013

Microsoft released Windows 8 in October with high hopes of enticing users to either upgrade their older versions of Windows to Windows 8 or simply buy a new Windows 8 based PC outright, but that has turned out to be a pipe dream.

Most consumers and businesses seem intent on skipping the upgrade this time around thanks to several major blunders Microsoft made while planning and designing Windows 8.

First of all, people are pretty happy with their current Windows version. Both Windows XP and Windows 7 are quite stable as Windows goes and the computer hardware they run on are more than capable of running the current generation of software. In short, there is simply no pressing need for most of us to upgrade right now. [Read more…]

2 super-fast ways to open the Windows Task Manager

Posted on March 8, 2013

If you’ve been using Microsoft Windows-based PCs for a while you’re probably quite familiar with the Windows Task Manager. It is in fact one of the most-used Windows utilities.

After all, who among us has never had to open the Task Manager in order to kill a stuck program that simply refused to go away when you clicked the little X in the top-right corner? [Read more…]

Create a desktop shortcut to the System Restore utility

Posted on March 6, 2013

I download, test and review a lot of software and I always create a new System Restore Point before I install every new program just in case something goes wrong. System Restore has saved my bacon on several occasions, and chances are it has also saved yours at least once in the past.

If you use the System Restore utility as much as I do, I recommend creating a shortcut to it and keeping it on your Desktop. Here are instructions for creating a shortcut to System Restore in Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 (just skip to the section that’s applicable to you): [Read more…]