Difficulty: 1 Star
In previous versions of Windows, if you
wanted to cut out just part of the screen, you had to screenshot everything,
then crop it using an image editor. Frankly, it wasn't the easiest thing in the
world to do.
Windows 7, however, contains the 'Snipping
Tool'. Just type 'snipping' into the search box and press Enter to launch it,
and you'll find yourself able to cut out a portion of the screen and
automatically save it anywhere you like. It's ideal for sharing small bits of
websites or applications without spending ages slicing images up in a photo
editing tool.
- Create a self-extracting archive.
Difficulty: 2 Stars
Some of Windows' features are so deeply
buried that you can be forgiven for wondering whether anyone at Microsoft even
knows about them. One such feature is Express. Sound familiar? No, we didn't
think so.
This little application allows you to
create your own self-extracting archives. It's potentially very useful,
especially if you're planning to send a file to someone who isn't that good
with computers, so we can only speculate as to why it's so hard to find. To run
it, simply type 'iexpress' in the search bar and watch in amazement as this
highly useful tool comes out of hiding for the first time in years. Not only
can you choose the destination of the files when they're extracted, you can
even package a text file to display to tell people what they actually have.
- Add 'Open with Notepad' to the context
menu
Difficulty: 3 Stars
No matter what file you're dealing with, a
quick look in notepad can often help you find out all you need to know about
it. To save yourself a couple of clicks, you can add an 'Open in Notepad'
option to the top level of the context menu with the following tweak. Type the
text below into Notepad and save it as 'notepad.reg':
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\ Open with
Notepad]
[HKEY_CLAS SES_ROOT\*\shell\ Open with
NotepadXcommand]
@='notepad.exe %1'
Once you've done this, double-click the
file in Windows Explorer and add the information to the registry when prompted.
You can now quickly view any file in Notepad from the context menu.
Performance And Behaviour Improvements
We all want a faster, smarter PC. Is there
a way to make Windows perform a little better without buying new hardware or
software?
- Select a better power plan
Difficulty: 1 Star
In Windows 7, the default performance plan
is 'Balanced', meaning that the hardware will give equal time to ensuring that
your PC runs well without draining your batteries or sucking the national grid
dry. If, however, you don't care about shaving pennies off your bill (or your
laptop is constantly plugged into the mains) you can visit the 'Power Options'
in Control Panel and select 'Maximum Performance' to keep your hardware running
at its unrestrained best, regardless of the available power.
- Stop Windows trying to reboot your PC
after an update
Difficulty: 3 Stars
Few things are more irritating than the
moment when Windows tells you it's time to restart your PC and giving you a
limited choice over when it happens but not whether it happens at all. If you
want to make sure Windows never forgets who's boss, open up Regedit and browse
to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\ AU.
Create a 32-bit DWORD called 'NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers' with the value
'1'. From this point forward, Windows will never ask you to reboot while you're
still logged in.
- Increase your Virtual Memory
Difficulty: 1 Star
Windows uses its pagefile (virtual memory)
to supplement your physical RAM for increased performance when your system's
resources start to get taxed. If you only have a small amount of RAM and can't
put more in due to warranty or cost considerations, then you can use your hard
drive as spare memory space. This is especially worth doing if you have an SSD,
because of the fast access times involved.
First, click 'Start', right-click
'Computer' then select 'Properties' > 'Advanced System Settings'. Under
'Performance' click 'Settings' > 'Advanced' > 'Change', and move the
slider to increase the amount of virtual memory. Ideally, you should set it at
1.5 times the amount of physical memory you have installed, so if your system
has 4GB of RAM, assign 6GB of virtual memory. If possible, set the page file to
operate on a different physical hard drive to the one you store your data and
programs on - this will ensure that your file access times are not slowed down
by page file activity.
- Unlock a frozen application
Difficulty: 2 Stars
If a program locks up, don't just kill it
and give your data up as lost - use the Resource Monitor to zero in on the real
problem.
Type 'sermon' in the search box and in the
CPU tab, look in the 'processes' list. The frozen process will be shown in red.
Right-click and select 'Analyze Wait Chain'. This will show you which processes
are locking up the application. Right-click the one at the bottom and select
'End Process'. This, hopefully, will unlock the program and allow you to save
your data.
- Disable Windows Defender
Difficulty: 1 Star
Assuming you already have a good virus
scanner installed, there's absolutely no reason to leave Windows Defender
around. It'll routinely download updates, slowing down your connection, and it
will take up processor and memory resources that could be better spent on an
actually useful anti-virus program.
To disable Windows Defender, open Windows
Defender from the Start menu (under 'All Programs'), click 'Tools' >
'Options' > 'Administrator Options' then uncheck the 'Use Windows Defender'
checkbox.
