How to Speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP?

The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay

By default, the value is 400 (actually the number is timeout in milliseconds). Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up. You may not have this registry parameter at all. In this case, you need to add it. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value: "MenuShowDelay"=0.

You may notice that setting the registry value to “0″ might be too quick for your mouse to respond. If that is the case, put the number higher, say 100, and check the effect on startup.

If this doesn't work for some reason, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.

Caution: Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data on your computer.

Useful Windows 7 Tips and Tricks

Windows 7 has received an overwhelmingly positive response and many people are already started using it as their primary operating system. I am still careful to switch completely to this Operating System, but I have already installed it on one of my home computer. While I still personally consider it in “test mode”, I am trying to enhance my experience with its features and capabilities. I found the presented review quite useful, and I am sure it will help other Windows 7 examiners as well.

1. How to Open “Computer” with Windows Explorer

By default, Windows Explorer’s launch page is the Libraries directory. Clicking on the Explorer button on the taskbar also launches your Libraries directory. However, most of us would rather have My Computer as the launch directory. In order to do this type “explorer” into the Start Menu search field, locate the Windows Explorer shortcut and select properties from its right click context menu.
Change the target from “%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe” to “%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}”.
Save the changes and you are done!

If you want to change the properties of the taskbar entry only, right click on the explorer button on the taskbar, right click on Windows Explorer (near the bottom of the jumplist) and select properties. Then change the target to “%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}”

2. Learn the Hot-Keys

Knowing some of the essential keyboard shortcuts can seriously improve your productivity and enhance your operating experience with the new Operating System. There are some of the useful shortcuts:

• Alt+P: Toggles the Explorer preview pane.
• Win+G: Displays gadgets in front of other windows.
• Win + +(plus key): Launches the magnifier and zooms in.
• Win +- (minus key): Zooms out
• Win +Up: Maximizes the active window.
• Win +Down: Minimizes the active window.
• Win +Home: Minimizes/ restores all background windows.
• Win +Left: Hotkey for Aero-Snap. Docks the window to the left edge of the screen and resizes it to half the screen size.
• Win +Right: Same as above, but snaps the window to the right edge of the screen.
• Win + T: Changes the focus to the taskbar. Once focused, you can use your arrow keys to select any taskbar item.
  

3. Create another Instance

If you have an application open, then you can launch another instance of it by simply pressing and holding Shift key while clicking on its taskbar icon. There is no need to go hunting for it again in the start menu.

4. Tweak the Taskbar

The first thing you notice in Windows 7 is the new taskbar. Button labels have been done away with and the buttons themselves have been made larger. If you are not comfortable with the new taskbar here are a few suggested modifications:

• Intelligent Grouping: By default Windows 7 always groups similar windows together. This is counterproductive as you need to hover over an entry to first select that group and then click on the desired instance. A better approach is to group windows only if you are running out of space. To achieve this right click on the taskbar, select properties and set taskbar buttons to Combine when full, instead of Always combine, Hide labels.
• Small Buttons: Many people also dislike the bigger buttons in Windows 7. To slim down your taskbar just enable Small Buttons from Taskbar Properties (Right click on taskbar and select properties).
• Quick Launch: The new taskbar makes the quick launch redundant, but if you preferred the old style you can still get it back. Right Click on the taskbar and select New Toolbar from the Toolbars section. Enter “%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” as the selected folder. Once again bring up the right-click context menu by clicking on the taskbar and make sure that Lock Taskbar isn’t enabled. Now right click on the divider and disable Show Text and Show Title. Move the Quick Launch section to the desired position and Lock the taskbar.

5. Windows Gestures

• Windows 7 doesn’t support mouse gestures per say. However, it does include support for touch-screen devices and the touch-screen gestures works even with the mouse. There are two of them which are particularly useful.
• Click on any taskbar entry and drag your mouse upwards. This would bring up the trigger the Jumplist.
• Click and drag your mouse downwards in Internet Explorer address bar to unveil your browsing history and bookmarks.
• There is also Aero Shake, which was designed to work with the mouse. If you shake a window (click-hold title bar of any window and move up and down rapidly) all background windows would be minimized.

6. Tweak User Account Control

User Account Control (UAC) in Vista was one of the weak points and target for critics. Thankfully, Windows 7 allows you to tone it down. To change UAC settings navigate to Control Panel –> Action Center –> User Account Control Settings. The slider allows you to set the notification level (or even disable user account control). If you want more control fire up the Group Policy Editor by typing gpedit.msc in the start menu search box. Browse to Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options. At the bottom of the list you would find the following UAC settings :

§         User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account.

§         User Account Control: Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure desktop.

§         User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode.

§         User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompts for standard users.

§         User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation.

§         User Account Control: Only elevate executables that are signed and validated.

§         User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations.

§         User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode (i.e. as standard users).

§         User Account Control: Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations.

To edit any setting select properties from the right click context menu.

7. Calibrate Your Display

Windows 7 includes a display calibrator that adjusts basic colors settings, gamma, brightness, contrast, color balance etc according to your display device. You can type dccw in the Start Menu search box to launch the Display Color Calibrator.

Source: http://www.pallab.net/2009/04/08/top-7-windows-7-tips-and-tricks/

How to downgrade from Windows Vista to Windows XP?

Throughout multiple posts on this blog, I never failed to express my complete dissatisfaction from the currently distributed with new computers Windows Vista. I am not alone showing the negative attitude towards this Windows Operating System. Our business customers refused to accept our equipment managed by Windows Vista. And, from other side, testing our high tech system performance with this OS produced less stable outcomes with original Windows XP. The problem is in ending support by Microsoft (in 2014), and by computer manufacturers (Dell in 2010) for Windows XP. Hopefully, Windows 7 will give the reliable platform not just for hope, but also industrial computer needs as well.

While the Windows Vista drawbacks are maybe less visible for home computers use, many users are still prefer to downgrade the supplied Operating System to more reliable XP. One of the readers of this blog asked for instructions on the OS downgrade. In response to this inquiry, I am offering you the article, published by Scott Dunn at Windows Secrets Web Site.

Windows 7's arrival is just a few months away, but many people aren't waiting and just want to replace Vista's newness — some say weirdness — for the familiarity of XP.

If you long for the good old days of XP and still have your install CD, this step-by-step guide will help you revert to Vista's predecessor.

These days, you have to work to find a new computer that comes with XP installed. Many PC users who upgraded their XP systems to Vista are disappointed with the newer OS's performance and other problems. In either case, as long as you have an XP installation CD, you can kiss Vista good-bye.

"Downgrading" from Vista to XP is not as difficult as you may think, but it does entail some time-consuming operations. Many online sources claim to offer techniques for reinstalling XP without having to reformat your hard disk. Based on my research, however, deleting the Vista partition and installing XP in its place is arguably the easiest approach. Moreover, this method ensures a clean install that is uncontaminated by Vista leftovers.

(Note: In certain cases, you may be able to undo an XP-to-Vista upgrade, even without an XP installation CD, by following the instructions in Microsoft article 933168. The article takes a command-line approach to the XP restoration, and also requires that you have a windows.old folder on your root drive.)

Make a pot of coffee and a new, clean XP machine

With your XP installation CD and your application discs in hand (and maybe a cup o' Joe), you're ready to begin:

Step 1. Back up your data. Unfortunately, you can't restore in XP a backup that you created using Vista's Backup and Restore Center. That means you have to either back up your data files manually or use a third-party backup tool that works in both XP and Vista. One such program is 2BrightSparks' SyncBack, which is available in free and paid versions.

Don't bother backing up your applications; you'll need to reinstall them from their installation CDs after XP is back in place.

Do back up the folders that your portable apps use to store their data. The portable apps themselves won't need to be reinstalled, but you'll have to restore their data files from the backup.

Step 2. If necessary, configure your BIOS to boot your computer from a CD, if one is present. Insert your XP installation disk and reboot.

Step 3. When XP setup loads, follow the on-screen prompts to accept the license agreement and continue installing XP. When you get to the screen prompting you for the partition on which to install XP, select the one containing Vista and press D to delete the partition. You'll need to press Enter and then L to confirm that you want to delete all data and software on the partition.

Step 4. Once you've returned to the partitioning screen, select the unpartitioned space that used to be Vista. You may see that this space has been selected for you automatically. Next, press C to create a partition. Specify the desired partition size, or press Enter to accept the default allotment, which is the maximum possible partition. (Simply pressing Enter instead of C also creates a new partition of the default size.)

Step 5. If you're still seeing the partition screen, make sure the desired partition is selected and press Enter. Choose the option that formats the disk as NTFS and press Enter again.

Step 6. Follow the prompts on-screen to continue the XP installation.

Step 7. Reinstall your applications and restore your data from your backup.

That's all there is to it. If you ever change your mind, you can always insert your Vista DVD and upgrade from XP to Vista all over again.