4. WINDOWS XP/VISTA/7
Maximizing windows only to a certain extent
Many users use a sidebar on their widescreen
monitor and find it irritating if this area gets covered when maximizing
windows.
For example, no one needs the Word window
to be so wide. The free tool MaxMax allows you limit any window as you like,
keeping it visible next to the maximized window. You can find the tool at
www.kmtools.win-os.pl.
Before the installation, close all open programs.
The setup routine has to be authorized in the security settings because the
software works at a very low level. The subsequent steps are easy to follow,
and the tool will run itself when installation is successful. You can identify
it in the notification area of the taskbar.
To set up, right click the new icon and
select 'Configure' in the context menu. With only a few settings you can
reserve an area at every border of the screen, which can be freely defined by
entering pixel values. For continuous use, leave the option 'Start up on logon'
activated. Finally, confirm the changed settings in this dialog box with 'OK'.
You can enable or disable the program through the context menu anytime by
clicking on 'Enable' or 'Disable'. A cross shows whether this setting is
activated or not.
TIP Even
with the tool active, a window can be fully maximized if you hold the left
[Shift] key when clicking any window control icon. The corresponding key can be
changed with the option 'suppress key' in the options dialog box.
Define
the areas beyond which windows should not be allowed to maximize.
5. WINDOWS VISTA/7
Prevent photos from getting automatically
hidden when going through them
Sometimes, individual photos tend to
'disappear' after they have been viewed in Windows Photo Viewer.
Check the properties of the files concerned and make
sure they have not been hidden.
However, they do not actually disappear but
in fact are marked as 'hidden'. To be able to see these pictures again, click
'Organize | Folder and Search options' in Windows Explorer. Next, go to the
'View' tab under 'Advanced settings' in 'Hidden files and folders' and then go
to 'Show hidden files folders and files'.
McAfee Antivirus can cause this problem,
and if this is the case, a registry entry can solve it for good. To start, go
to 'General Settings and Alerts' in the McAfee program. Then click on 'Access
protection' and deactivate the option 'Access control' and close the program
window.
Now type 'regedit' in the search box of the
Start menu, and press the [Enter] key and say 'Yes' or 'Next' to the question
for user account control. Navigate to the key 'HKEY_
LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\McAfee\SystemCore\VSCore\OnAccessScanner\McShield\Configuration\Default'.
Click on the right to edit and double the value's 'Excludedltem_16'. In
addition to that, change the content of '3|3|*. TMP' to '3|3|*.LOG' and confirm
this setting with 'OK'. Close the registry and restart the computer. This
procedure ensures that the problem does not arise again. Now again activate the
previously deactivated access protection in the security program. Finally, you
have to only unhide all the hidden photos again. To do this, mark all the
concerned files, right-click them and select the 'Properties' context command.
Under 'Attributes' deactivate the option 'Hidden' and confirm the changes one
after the other with 'OK'.
6. WINDOWS VISTA/7
Displaying more folders in the tree view of
Explorer
The latest Windows Explorer is neat and
clean but shows irrelevant items in the tree view on the left hand side.
Use this quick
and simple option to make Explorer look more like its cousin from Windows XP.
It becomes disturbing when unused library
items appear as a category, but on the other hand the DVD drive fails to appear
even when a disc is inserted. To switch over to a more comprehensive display,
right-click on any blank space and activate the option 'Show all folders'. With
this, you will see all the drives in the PC along with the Control Panel and
Recycle Bin. However, the neat breakup of items is lost. You can switch of
course switch between both the variations whenever you like.
7. WINDOWS XP/VISTA/7
Lock your computer with an easy shortcut
You can lock your PC using the [Win] + [L]
keys together, so that anyone who tries to use it will need to sign in with the
user account password.
Use this shortcut to create an icon which can be
double-clicked to lock your PC
If you are using a keyboard without a
Windows key or would like a clickable command, you have another option to lock
your computer.
This can be done by using the command
'rundll'. Right-click in an empty space on the Desktop and select 'New |
Shortcut'. It will ask you to type the location of the item. Type 'Rundll32.exe
user32.dll, Lock Workstation' in the dialog box. After that click 'Next' and
insert a name, for example, 'Lock computer'. Lastly click on 'Finish'. You can
assign any icon to the shortcut. Now simply double-click it to lock the
computer.
