Configure the Start Menu
To configure Windows Start Menu for optimal performance, select Start | Settings | Taskbar & Start Menu settings. In the Taskbar & Start Menu settings dialog box, on the General tab, check and uncheck boxes as recommended here. More ...
Increase Windows 7 Notifiction Display Time
By default a Windows 7 notification message appears for 5 seconds and then slowly fades away. It requires more than 5 seconds for me to fetch a cup of coffee and return to my PC. I may well have missed a notification message while I was gone. Fortunately it's very easy to increase the notification display time. More ...
Access Useful Laptop Settings in the Windows Mobility Center
Some useful laptop settings are collected together in a group called the Windows Mobility Center. Near the top of the secret menu, select Mobility Center. Here you'll find controls for setting the screen brightness, sound volume, screen orientation, and such. More ...
Display Control Panel Utilities in Windows 7 Start Menu
A quicker way to access Control Panel utilities is to configure the Start menu so that the individual Control Panel utilities appear in a sub-menu to the Start menu Control Panel menu item. More ...
Swap Mouse Buttons
It's important to let left-handed people be as productive as possible because, on average, left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. Fortunately, Windows lets you swap the functions of the mouse buttons. More ...
Use ReadyBoost to Improve PC performance
ReadyBoost is a feature of Windows 7 that allows you to use a USB flash drive or a secure digital (SD) memory card as cache memory. When a removable memory device is inserted, Windows checks to see if it's fast enough to work with ReadyBoost. If so, you're asked if you want to use the device to speed up system performance. More ...
Cover Your Tracks in Internet Explorer
Whenever you use Internet Explorer it leaves a track of your activities which someone else using your computer can easily follow. This information is stored in the history list, cookies folder, and browser cache. When you delete a file, it's not really gone, someone else using your computer can easily restore it. Use the information in this article to cover your tracks in Internet Explorer. More ...
Disable Windows 7 Start Menu Display of Most Recently Opened Files
Windows 7 displays in the Start Menu lists of all recently opened files and applications. This allows you to quickly re-access those files and applications. But if you don't want others to know your PC use history, you may want to disable this feature. More ...
Change the Windows 7 Desktop Background
One of the most popular things for people to do when they get a new PC is to get rid of the PC manufacture's, or Microsoft's desktop background. Windows provides dozens of beautiful images that you can select as replacement for your current image. Or you can choose an image that you found on the Internet or shot with your own digital camera. More ...
Stop Desktop Icons from Randomly Refreshing
Do your desktop icons keep redrawing every 30 to 60 seconds? This can be very distracting. Random refreshing of the desktop icons is usually caused by a full or corrupted icon cache, and is easily solved by deleting the icon cache. More ...
Change a Drive Letter
Sometimes when you install a storage device on your PC, Windows seems to assign it an arbitrary drive letter. Windows assigns different a drive letter for each PC that I plug the flash drive into. This plays havoc with applications that run directly from the flash drive. Fortunately it's very easy to change a drive letter. More ...
Introducing Screensavers
screensavers were originally designed to protect the computer monitor from phosphor burn-in. Now screensavers are used for entertainment, advertisement, and security purposes. More ...
Vista - Display Multiple Clocks on Your Desktop
You're working away at your computer and you decide to send a message to a friend or family member in another city. What time is it where they are? When will they actually find the message? Windows Vista has a feature called Gadgets, and one of those gadgets is a clock. More ...
