Windows XP / Vista / 7
Set up the start menu in such
a way that you have everything at hand
The shareware tool Start Menu
7 offers a good alternative to the standard start menu; this can be downloaded
from startmenu7.com.
According to the
developers, Start Menu 7 runs on both XP and Vista in addition to Windows 7 as
its name suggests. For installation, double-click on the downloaded file in
Windows Explorer and follow the instructions given by the setup wizard. You
have to have a user account with administrator rights during the process as the
setup routine involves accessing important system files. Once the installation
is complete start the Program using the command 'Start | All programs | Start
Menu 7 | Start Menu T.
Replace the standard Start
Menu with a more flexible and useful version
Now, when you
click on 'Start' you will not see the usual start menu provided by Windows, but
instead, a menu that has an extensive collection of links: It has a different
visual effect and enables direct access to all the programs and files on your
system in an alphabetically sorted sub-menu format, for instance 'Programs',
'My Documents' or 'Computer'. In addition to this, the various entries use
additional sorting and display tools. Thus, for instance 'Program' offers the
structure known as 'All programs' as seen in the usual Windows Start menu and
on the other hand, the 'Program' links can be found under headings such as
'Quick start' and 'Autorun'. You can add your own menus and commands using the option
'Add entries to the menu'.
Click on 'Options'
and 'Configuration' so as to complete the experience as per your own taste. Use
the option 'System integration' and remove the tick in front of 'Start the
Start Menu 7 with Windows' if you do not wish to activate the tool
automatically at every system start. You can add more power management buttons
in Start Menu 7 using the option 'Buttons'; this is done to turn off the
computer, to restart it, or to enable the use of power management commands in a
time-controlled fashion. For this, click on the corresponding button in the
Start menu, select the desired function in a menu, for instance 'Turn off the
computer', and define the period for action in a simple and an intuitive
dialog. Finally, click the 'Start' button to save the settings.
WINDOWS 7
Open the control panel option you
want directly
With the number of possible
options increasing exponentially, it is becoming difficult to find exactly what
you need in the Control Panel.
This view gives you quick access
to a huge variety of options buried within the Control Panel
Instead of
clicking several icons and buttons to find the option you need, simply go to
'Start' and then type in a small C ('c') in the 'Search program and files'
field. Windows will immediately present the results of your search query in the
start menu, subdivided into various categories. Now click on the category name,
ie Control panel'. With this, Windows will open a window which offers you more
than 250 options in the Control Canel—you can have direct access to any one of
these from here. The operating system further categorizes this list in
different groups for instance 'Windows Firewall' and 'Maintenance Center'.
WINDOWS 7
Give your PC a new look with a
secret windows theme
Microsoft includes a number of
local touches which are also interesting for people in other parts of the
world.
Type in the name manually
to navigate to this hidden folder
Surprisingly,
Windows 7 does not show all the themes in the 'Customize' dialog (which can be
reached by right-clicking on any point on the desktop) that Microsoft offers
with its operating system. There are various themes for specific geographic
regions hidden in the file system. You just need to play a small trick to be
able to use these anywhere else. For this, start the Windows Explorer and go to
the 'Globalization' folder available under the Windows installation directory.
At first glance you might think that this directory contains only two folders
called 'ELS' and 'Sorting'. But when you click in the address field and
manually type in the '\MCT' path—the whole path for instance would be 'C:\
Windows\Globalization\MCT'—you will see a hidden directory that will remain
visible in the customary Explorer only if you activate the option for displaying
hidden files and folders. The folder 'MCT' contains folders for Australia
('MCT-AU'), Canada ('MCT-CA'), Great Britain ('MCT-GB'), USA ('MCT-US') and
South Africa ('MCT-ZA'). You will find all the additional themes, which can be
activated by doubleclicking on them, in the subfolder of each region, called
'Theme'.
NOTE: As soon as
you have activated a theme once, it will be available for future use in the
'Customize' dialog described earlier.
