Difficulty: 1 Star
If you have a folder that you want to keep
confidential files in but share a PC with other users, you can keep prying eyes
- even other admin accounts - from accessing it by changing the security
options. Right-click on the folder and select 'Share With' > 'Nobody'.
This will prevent anyone from seeing what's inside unless they're logged in
using your user account.
- Add the Group
Policy Editor to Windows
Difficulty: 2 Stars
The Group Policy Editor can help you change
a huge range of behaviors in Windows, whether that's disabling something
entirely or restricting it to certain users. Normally, the Group Policy Editor
is only available in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise, but you
can add this feature to Windows 7 Starter, Home and Home Premium editions by
using this unofficial installer: bit.ly/xj3WTL (however, we must stress that
you do so at your own risk!).
- Quickly lock
your PC
Difficulty: 1 Star
If you're planning to leave your PC for any
length of time, it's a good idea to lock it up, just in case anyone else feels
like wandering over. Rather than going through the Start menu or using
Ctrl-Alt-Del, you can just tap Windows key and 'L' to immediately lock the
system until the correct login password is entered.
Hidden Features And Shortcuts
They're hidden on purpose, but admit it:
even if you've been using Windows 7 for years, you didn't know about all of
these...
- Quickly
browse running tasks without using the mouse
Difficulty: 1 Star
The application thumbnails Windows 7 can
show you are fantastically useful, but having to use the mouse can make the
process slow and laborious. Luckily, you can use the keyboard! Hold down the
Windows key and then tap T to browse through the items on your taskbar. After
pressing T once, you can also use the arrow keys to browse, and you can then
switch straight to an application by hitting Enter.
- Turn your PC
into a Wi-Fi hotspot
Difficulty: 3 Stars
The so-called 'Virtual Wi-fi' feature in
Windows will turn your computer into a Wi-Fi hotspot that any other Wi-Fi enabled
device can connect to and share your internet connection. It's especially
useful if your wireless router breaks, or if you want to bolster a weak signal
somewhere in the house.
It depends on hardware support, but to find
out whether your software supports it, simply try to enable the feature. Type
'cmd' into the search box, then right-click cmd. exe and select 'Run as
Administrator'. Then type the following, replacing 'yourname' and 'yourpass'
with the appropriate words:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow
ssid=yourname key=yourpass
If that works fine, then still in the
command line type the following and press Enter:
netsh wlan start hostednetwork
If you get an error, either your hardware
or drive is too out of date. Otherwise, the service will begin running. Now all
you need to do is go into 'Control Panel' > 'Network and Sharing Centre'
> 'Change Adapter Settings', then right-click your internet connection and
select 'Properties' > 'Sharing'. Check the 'Allow other network users to connect'
box and choose your virtual Wi-Fi adaptor from the drop-down. Your PC will now
be its own Wi-Fi hotspot!
- Run multiple
copies of an application
Difficulty: 1 Star
The Windows 7 taskbar can be a little
confusing. Where in earlier versions of Windows, clicking a program icon on the
taskbar would launch a new instance, it now only does so if the program isn't
already open, so starting extra instances of IE or Notepad becomes a chore. You
can get around this two ways: either hold down Shift when you left-click, or alternatively,
if you have a three-button mouse/mousewheel button you can middle-click on the
taskbar item (no shift required).
As an added bonus, you can also
middle-click an application thumbnail to quickly close that instance of the
program. Neat!
- Search the
contents of a file
Difficulty: 1 Star
The apparent lack of a specific 'find
inside files' function in Windows 7 has been a significant annoyance since the
OS was launched, but it turns out it is there if you know how to get to it. To
search the contents of files, begin your search with the 'content:' filter.
This will search for any document, indexed or otherwise, containing any
subsequent terms.
- Restore
missing context menu items
Difficulty: 2 Stars
In order to protect yourself from your own
stupidity, Microsoft has added a rule that prevents you from selecting options
like 'open' or 'edit' when you've selected more than 15 files or folder items.
If, however, you're the sort of reckless individual who might want to open more
than 15 files at one, this feels a little insulting.
To restore the option, run Regedit and
browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer. Look in the right-hand pane for a
DWORD called 'Multiplelnvoke PromptMinimum'. If it doesn't exist, you can
create it yourself. Its default value is 15, and this is the number that causes
the options to disappear when you've selected multiple files. Change it to
something higher (or, if you prefer, lower) and then once you've rebooted, your
menu items will persist as long as you've selected fewer files than the value
you entered.
