With Windows 7 about to be replaced, we
ask how you can squeeze that little bit more out of it
The imminent release of Windows 8 will have
many of us looking at our current operating system and wondering whether it's time
to upgrade, but there's still life left in Windows 7 yet. Indeed, if you're put
off by the radical redesign of Windows 8, you might be wondering whether
there's any way you can make Windows 7 feel new again.
That's why we've assembled this collection of
tips, tricks and hidden features to help you get a little bit more out of
Windows 7.
Interface tweaks and mods
Windows is full of shortcuts and options
that don't seem to be documented anywhere, but which you might find useful in
changing the behavior of your interface. Here are some of them!
1. Put the 'Run' command back on the Start menu
Difficulty: 1 stars (out of three)
Easy access to the Windows command line via
the 'Run' dialogue was a feature many of us miss, and although it's still
there, it's now four whole clicks away (Start > All Programs >
Accessories > Run) where, frankly, even the most experienced user could miss
it. To put the Run option back on the start menu where it belongs, right-click
the Start menu, select 'Properties', then 'Customize', and scroll down and
check the box marked 'Run Command'.
2. Create a quick access control panel
Difficulty: 2 stars
Finding Control Panel options can still be
quite difficult, so if you want to see everything in one place you can use a
registry shortcut to display all of the options available to you in one place.
Simply create a new folder on your desktop and call it something like 'Quick
Access', then add '.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}' immediately after
it. If you do it correctly, the extra code will disappear, leaving the initial
name, and the icon will change. Inside you'll find almost 300 control panel
options in an easy-to-browse list!
3. Customize your login screen
Difficulty: 2 Stars
If you're sick of seeing the same, tired
old wavy blue background, fire up the registry editor and browse to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUl\Background. If it exists, double-click
the key called 'OEMBackground' and set the value to 1. If it doesn't exist, you
can create it (it's a DWORD).
Now, find a background image. It has to be
less than 256KB, and it'll be automatically stretched, so make sure the aspect
ratio is correct for your current resolution. Copy the image into
%windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds (again, you can create this path
manually if it doesn't exist) and rename the image to 'backgroundDefault.jpg'.
Next time you reboot, the login screen will use your custom image.
5. Use old-style taskbar menus
Difficulty: 1
Star
If you don't like the Windows 7-style jump
lists and long for the old minimise/maximise/ move options, there's an easy way
to get them back - just hold down Ctrl + Shift when you right-click, and the
old menu will appear.
4. Shrink the taskbar
Difficulty: 1 Star
Window 7's giant taskbar is a visual
departure from earlier Windows versions, and it takes up a lot more screen
space too. If you want something more discreet, simply right-click on the
taskbar, select 'Properties' and then in the Taskbar tab, click 'Use small
icons'. It'll shrink to something roughly equivalent to previous versions of
Windows.
- Enable
old-style taskbar buttons
Difficulty: 1 star
If you don't like Windows 7's habit of
grouping instances of the same program beneath one icon, or that it doesn't
display a window's label at a glance, you can quite easily go back to an
old-style 'one button per application' style of taskbar. Again, right-click on
the taskbar, select 'properties' and then in the Taskbar tab change the option
marked 'Taskbar buttons' to 'never combine' or 'Combine when taskbar is full'
depending on your preference. Combine with the previous tip to make things look
even more retro!
- Bring back
the quick launch bar
Difficulty: 1 star
The final tip in our tetralogy of
taskbar-restoration instructions helps you put the quick launch area back where
it belongs. Right-click the taskbar and select 'Toolbars', then 'New Toolbar'.
When prompted, type ' % UserProf i le %\AppData\Roa m i ng\M icrosoft\ Internet
Explorer\Quick Launch' into the
Folder box, then click 'Select Folder'. The
toolbar will appear. Right-click on it and unlock it so that you can move it
around, and right-click the divider to toggle text and title display. Finally,
right-click it and select 'View', followed by 'Small Icons' to get something
even closer to the old quick launch appearance.
- Turn off
'smart' windows (Aero Snap)
Difficulty: 2 Stars
If you don't like the new interface
features which expand and snap your application windows to screen edges and
expand them when you double-click, you can turn them off by opening Regedit,
browsing to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Desktop, finding the
'WindowArrangementActive' value and changing the value to 0. Next time you
reboot, these smart interface features will be disabled and windows will only
do what you tell them.
- Extend jump
lists
Difficulty: 1 Star
By default, a Windows 7 jump list will
display ten previous items, but by right-clicking on the Start menu and
choosing 'Properties', then 'Customize', you can manually choose how many items
a jump list shows by increasing (or indeed, decreasing) the number at the
bottom of the dialogue box.
