How to Add Recycle Bin, Run, Search and Many Other Useful Shortcuts in My Computer?

Recently someone asked us how to add "Recycle Bin" shortcut in My Computer? Actually its very easy and can be done using a very simple registry trick which we are going to reveal in this tutorial.

Today we'll learn how to add various useful shortcuts in My Computer window for quick and easier use as shown in following screenshot:

So without wasting any time, here we start the tutorial:

1. Type regedit in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

3. Now we'll need to create a new key under "NameSpace" key. Right-click on "NameSpace" key and select "New -> Key". Now you'll need to set its name to any of the following value mentioned in BOLD:

Recycle Bin - {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Control Panel - {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Run - {2559A1F3-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Search - {2559A1F0-21D7-11D4-BDAF-00C04F60B9F0}
Flip 3D - {3080F90E-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257}
Internet Explorer - {871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Administrative Tools - {D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153}
Network Connections - {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Printers - {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}

As shown in following screenshot:

4. That's it. As soon as you set the value in registry, it'll immediately start showing the item in My Computer.

NOTE: To delete the item from My Computer window, simply delete the associated key from registry.

PS: If you want ready-made registry scripts to add these shortcuts automatically, then download following ZIP file, extract it and run the desired .REG file. It'll automatically add the item in My Computer window. An uninstall script is also included in the pack to remove these items.
Download Registry Scripts

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Windows XP Tips 'n' Tricks------Make Windows XP work the way you want it to!

These tips work with the final release of Windows XP. Unless otherwise noted, all tips should work with both Home and Professional Editions. Please note that some of these tips may require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe), which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way: Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged on with Administrative rights.

NEW! Microsoft recently sent along a set of Windows Tips and Office XP Tips that might also be of interest.
Delete files when the Recycle Bin is hidden
I actually discovered this tip accidentally recently and thought it was appropriate for the Tips page, even though it's probably been a feature of Windows for years. (UPDATE: Sure enough, it's been around for a while. It's still a cool tip and proof that one learns something every day).

By default, the Windows XP Recycle Bin sits at the bottom right of the desktop, just above the tray notification area and system clock. If you've got a bunch of floating windows open, however, it's possible to obscure the Recycle Bin and make it impossible to drag files and folders there for deletion. However, Microsoft must have thought of this event, because you can automatically hide all of those open windows during a drag operation. The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke. But it's not. Instead, it's a cool hidden feature of XP.

Here's how it works: Make sure a bunch of windows are open on the screen, with at least one of them hiding the Recycle Bin. Then, find a file or group of files you'd like to drag to the Recycle Bin. Pick up the files with the mouse and move them to the lower right of the screen. As you reach the bottom area of the screen, pass the mouse cursor over a blank area of the task bar, hover there for an instant, and--voila!--the open windows all minimize, leaving the Recycle Bin available to accept the dragged files. Good stuff. This tip also works when windows are maximized, assuming the file(s) you want to delete are visible in one of the available windows.

Add album art to any music folder
Contributed by Richard Davidson and Brian Donovan
This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!

UPDATE: In addition to the folder.jpg file mentioned above, you can also optionally create a smaller version of the image called albumartsmall.jpg, if desired. This is the image used to display album art in MPXP when its sized so that the display area is smaller than 200 x 200 pixels, and in the folder thumbnails for folders that contain album folders. If you don't create albumartsmall.jpg, however, Windows XP will automatically scale folder.jpg in these cases.

Automatically defrag drives with a new context menu item!
Contributed by Doug Knox
Create a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf in Notepad (be sure to save with it with the Save as type set to All Files and not Text Documents) and place the following text inside:

; context_defrag.INF

; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows XP

[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"

[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe

[AddMe]

HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"

Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context menu to XP that allows you to automatically defrag drives, using the command line version of the built-in defragmentation utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer, right-click, and choose Defrag. A command line window will appear, and that drive will be defragged. When it's complete, the window just disappears.

UPDATE: To remove this functionality, Open regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\

Then delete the Defrag folder and close Regedit.

Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP
Contributed by Ong Choon Keong and Hans Breemer
I first mentioned this technique in an old Technology Showcase for Windows 2000, but it still works in Windows XP, and can be quite useful: For some reason, Microsoft has removed the ability to specify which Windows components you want to install during interactive Setup, and when you go into Add/Remove Windows Components in the Control Panel, you still don't have the full list of applications and applets you can add and remove. Thankfully, this is easy to fix.

To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition, this file will resemble the following by default:

[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$"
DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"

The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content.
Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer
Contributed by Bryan Somerville
One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the shell: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.

Until now, that is.

Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer") will be gone.

You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.
Display the Sharing Tab in Folder Properties
Contributed by Paul Knight
In Windows 2000, getting to the Sharing options for a folder was simple: Just right-click, choose Properties, and you'd see a Sharing tab. In Windows XP, this feature is missing by default, but you can make the system display the Sharing tab if desired. Simply open up Folder Options (My Computer, then Tools, Folder Options) and navigate to the View tab. In the Advanced Settings section, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), a Mickey Mouse feature if there ever was one. Now share your folders on the LAN as you would in Windows 2000.

Use the ultimate configuration tool (Professional Edition only)
Contributed by several readers
One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:

gpedit.msc

After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!
Use the Windows Sound Scheme
Contributed by Keith Furman
Windows XP ships with a really nice new sound scheme, but it's not loaded by default for some reason. So once you've installed Windows XP, one of the first things you should do is get that new sound scheme loaded.

To do so, open up Control Panel and navigate to Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices. Then, choose the task titled Change the sound scheme. In the dialog that appears, choose Windows Default for the sound scheme. Windows will ask you whether you want to save the previous scheme, which is usually a brain-dead questions, since no scheme was previously loaded. So choose No, and then click OK to exit the dialog.

Rip high-quality MP3s in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP)
Contributed by Mark Elder, updated by Paul Thurrott
The relationship between Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, MPXP is able to playback MP3 files out of the box, but encoding (or "ripping") CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft supplied a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it was limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless, leading some to report that Microsoft was purposefully hobbling MP3 to make its Windows Media Audio (WMA) format look better. This is not the case.

To enable MP3 encoding in Windows XP, you'll need to to purchase one of three MP3 Creation Add-on packs for Windows XP. For more information, please visit the Microsoft Web site.

Speed up the Start Menu
Contributed by Paris Paraskevas and Jarrett Miller
The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay

By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.

If this doesn't work for some reason, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.

Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!
Contributed by Erdim Tanyeri
As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon.

But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:

(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)

Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.

Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
Contributed by Kevin Mazzone
If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger, you can use the tip "Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP" above to remove it, or simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS

Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
Contributed by Graham Vosloo
For some reason, Hibernate isn't available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!
Mo' tips!
I'm looking for more good tips! So if you've got something interesting, please add to comment...

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Office XP Tips---Courtesy of Microsoft Corporation

As the dust from the holiday season settles, many people find themselves exploring the possibilities of their new Office XP systems. While we certainly expect folks to be taking full advantage of this product already, some tips and tricks directly from the software designers should be very useful. Whether allowing people to do things they didn't know were possible or making everyday tasks that much more simple and quick, we believe some useful tips and tricks will be appreciated.



For more tips, check out my own set of Windows Tips 'n' Tricks and Microsoft's set of Windows XP Tips!

Navigating and searching for information in long documents New!
Almost everybody has worked with a document that is more than 10 pages long. When working with these long documents it can be extremely difficult to find the information you want. You can solve this problem by using Bookmarks in Microsoft Word, a feature that makes it easy to navigate through documents in a structured approach, so you can find exactly the information you need. A bookmark acts as a "stop sign" within your document making it easy to revisit it at your convenience. Once you have your bookmarks in place you can either add a hyperlink directly to your bookmark or navigate to it using the Find and Replace Tool.

To add a bookmark:
1. In your document, click where you want to place a bookmark.
2. On the Insert menu, click Bookmark.
3. When the Bookmark dialog box opens, name your bookmark.
4. Then click Add.

To find your bookmark:
1. Press F5 to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
2. Click the Go To tab, and type the bookmark name in the Enter page number field.
3. Click the Go To button to get to the information you bookmarked.

To add a hyperlink that links to your bookmark:
1. From the Insert menu select Hyperlink.
2. Type in the Text To Display box what you want the hyperlink to say.
3. Click on Bookmark button and browse to the bookmark you want.
4. Click OK twice.

Finding your place inside a long document New!
The tip above highlights how to more easily navigate to important information when working with long documents. What if you just need to find where you made your last edits? Without this tip you'll spend a lot of time scrolling through your document. This tip shows you how Word can automatically take you to the last three locations in your document where you typed or edited text.

Here's how: Inside your document, press SHIFT + F5 together. The cursor will appear at the point you made your last change. To see the previous change press SHIFT + F5 again.

Quickly find related e-mail messages from a certain sender or on a specific topic New!
You can easily find important e-mail messages from a specific sender or related to a specific topic with just a couple clicks of the mouse. This is especially useful when you need to find a certain e-mail message, but do not have time to dig through multiple e-mail folders.

Here's how: Right click on an e-mail message and select Find All. Then, choose between related messages or messages from sender.

Easily search who is visiting your FrontPage Web site New!
In the movie Field of Dreams they said "If you build it they will come," but who are "they?" With FrontPage 2002 you can easily find who they are using new Web components. Specifically, you can find out a variety of information about who is visiting your site, including their operating systems, browser versions, and connection speeds they're using. This helps you identify how you should design your site and who you should optimize it for.

Here's how:

1. On the Insert menu, click Web Component.
2. In the Component type list, click Top 10 List.
3. In the Choose a Usage List section on the right, click the type of user information you want to track.
4. Then, click Finish.
5. In the List settings box, enter a title for your list.
6. Choose a style.
7. Click OK.

Translate a Word or Entire Document in a Matter of Minutes
Have you ever needed to make sense of a word or document that was written in a foreign language, but because you didn't know the language or have a personal translator you were out of luck? With Word 2002, you have your own personal translator at your fingertips. That's because you can easily translate a single word right from within Microsoft Word, or use a Web-based service to have the entire document translated for you. Here's how.

To translate a single word within Microsoft Word 2002
1. From the Tools menu select Language and then Translate. The Translate Task Pane will open up.
2. Either enter text you want translated into the box provided, or highlight a word in your document and select Current Selection.
3. Select the language you want the word translated in and then click Go.
4. If you want to insert the translated word into your document, highlight it and then select Replace. Note: By default the English version of Office enables word translation between English, French, and Spanish. (For additional languages users can purchase Office XP Proofing Tools.)

To translate an entire document within Microsoft Word 2002
1. Open up the document you want to translate.
2. From the Tools menu select Language and then Translate. The Translate Task Pane will open up.
3. Select Entire Document from the choices of what to translate.
4. At the bottom of the Task Pane, select the language you want the document translated into.

If this is the first time you have used translation, then perform the following tasks:
- Click Go under Translate via the Web.
- Choose either translation service (Mendez and/or WorldLingo).
- Download the add-in.
- The next time you access the Task Pane the languages will automatically be populated.

Note: The Web-based translation is designed to enable users to understand the context of a document that was written in a foreign language, not as a direct word for word translation. There is also a fee-based human translation service available from our Tools on the Web site that offers more accurate translation of documents.

Type in Another Language with Language-Specific Spelling and Thesaurus
Microsoft Word 2000 and Word 2002 make it easy for users to create e-mails, letters, reports, etc. in virtually any language they want. More importantly, Word is intelligent enough to recognize that you're typing in a foreign language, making it easy to fix spelling mistakes or find an alternative word from the thesaurus. By default, the English version of Office enables word translation between English, French, and Spanish. For 41 additional languages, users can purchase the Office XP Proofing Tools pack at Microsoft's online store.

Add a World Map to Your Document Using MapPoint
You can quickly insert a map of any address or world location directly into a Word document or an Outlook e-mail message. With MapPoint 2002, Word 2002 and Outlook 20002 users can access a map of a specific address or worldwide location and then insert, and manipulate that map directly into their document. Here's how.

- Install Microsoft MapPoint 2002 if not already installed.
- Open up a blank Word document or an existing document that contains an address.
- If needed, type in an address.
- Hover the mouse cursor over the address.
- When the smart tag appears, click on it and select Insert MapPoint Map.

If you don't have a copy of MapPoint, but you are connected to the Web, click Display Map to display a map of the address on the Expedia.com Web site.

Input Asian text into your Office documents using your English keyboard
With the Microsoft Global Input Method Editor (IME), users can easily input Asian Text into their Office XP documents, worksheets, presentations, mail messages, publications, and Web pages. After you have installed the Global IME, you just start your Office XP program, select Simplified Chinese from the Language bar, and you can type Simplified Chinese, regardless of the language version of Office XP or the operating system you are using.

For more information and to download the specific language IME try one of the following Web pages:
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Japanese
Korean

Create rich-media PowerPoint presentations with Microsoft Producer
Microsoft Producer, a free add-on for Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, helps you capture, synchronize, and publish audio, video, slides, and images-resulting in engaging rich-media presentations viewable on demand in a Web browser. More specifically, Microsoft Producer allows you to import audio and video and synchronize them with your PowerPoint slides, change layouts of your presentation to maximize the video and audio output, publish your presentation to the Web for quick and easy sharing, and much much more. Please visit the Microsoft Web site for for more information and to download Microsoft Producer.

Add pictures to charts in Excel
Make your Excel charts more visually compelling by using pictures. You can add pictures to the chart area, data markers, and more. For example, you can use a picture of a house and stack one on top of the other to represent home sales. Here's how.

Click the area of the chart that you want to add the picture to (e.g. bar, column, chart background, etc.).
Then, right-click on the area you selected and choose Format Chart Area (or Format whatever section of the chart you selected). Then, select the Fill Effects button and click the Picture tab. To choose a picture, click Select Picture, and browse to the picture you want. On the Picture Tab select the options you want.

Add a Map to Your Word Document Using MapPoint
Quickly insert a map of any address directly into a Word document or an Outlook e-mail message. Word 2002 and Outlook 20002 currently offer an Address smart tag that helps you map an address on Expedia.com, but Microsoft MapPoint 2002 extends these capabilities by enabling you to insert a map into your document and then manipulate it right from within the document. Here's how.

1. Install Microsoft MapPoint 2002, if not already installed.
2. Open up a blank Word document or an existing document that contains an address.
3. Type in an address.
4. Hover the mouse cursor over the address.
5. When the smart tag appears, click on it and select Insert MapPoint Map.

If you don't have a copy of MapPoint--but you are connected to the Web--click Display Map to display a map of the address on Expedia.com.

Create a Digital Photo Album Using PowerPoint 2002
Do you have pictures that are sitting around in shoeboxes or are cluttering up your hard drive? Now you can organize your pictures into a digital photo album using PowerPoint 2002, and then share them with friends and family. Here's how.

In PowerPoint 2002, select Insert then Picture, and then New Photo Album. In the Photo Album dialog box, you can choose to add pictures from your hard disk or a peripheral device, such as a scanner or digital camera. To add pictures from a file or from a disk, select File/Disk under Insert picture. Then, browse to the folder or disk that has the pictures you want to include in your photo album and select the picture you want, then click Insert. Repeat for as many pictures as you want to add (you can also hold down the CTRL key and select multiple pictures at once). Click Create.

Cut PowerPoint and Word Graphics Down to Size
We all know what happens when we add clip art, photos, or other images to a PowerPoint presentation or Word document: It can get pretty large. But PowerPoint 2002 and Word 2002 make it easy to compress these images in just a few simple steps.

1. Select the picture you want to compress.
2. On the Picture toolbar (which should appear if the picture is selected; if not, go to the View menu and select Toolbars and then Picture), click the Compress Pictures button.
3. To compress all pictures in the presentation, click All pictures in the document.
4.. Under the change resolution section, choose how you plan on using your presentation (Web/Screen or Print).
5. To further reduce file size, select the Delete cropped areas of pictures check box.
6. Click OK. (Note that if you compress pictures or delete the cropped areas, you won't be able to restore your pictures to their original resolution or size).

Create a Menu of Most-Used Commands
No matter how you work with Office XP, you can make it work even better for you. Word 2002, Excel 2002, PowerPoint 2002 , and Outlook 2002 all give you the option to create a custom menu of the commands you use most. Here's how:

1. On the Tools menu of one of these Office XP applications, click Customize, and then select the Commands tab.
2. In the Categories box, click New Menu, and then drag New Menu from the Commands box to the location on the menu bar or toolbar where you want it displayed.
3. Right-click the new menu, and then give it whatever name you want by typing in the Name box on the shortcut menu. Then, press ENTER.
4. To add a command to your new menu, select a category from Categories box, and then drag a command from the Commands box to your custom menu.

Create Your Own Custom Word 2002 Templates
If you don't like the default font used in Word, you can change it and create a template of your favorite font styles and sizes instead: It's nearly as easy as creating a new document. For example, you can create a document template in which Comic Sans, not Arial, is the default font. Here's how.

1. In Word 2002, select Task Pane from the View menu to display the Task Pane, if it's hidden.
2. If the New Document task pane is not visible, select it from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the task pane.
3. In the New Document task pane, click General Templates. This will display the Templates dialog box.
4. In the General tab, click the Blank Document icon once to select it, if it isn't already selected.
5. Under the Create New section, select Template, and then click OK. A Word template document opens.
6. In the new template, add any text and graphics you want to appear in all new documents that you base on the template, and delete any items you don't want to appear. Make the changes you want to the margin settings, page size and orientation, styles, and other formats. For example, change the font to Comic Sans.
7. On the File menu, click Save, give your template a name, and then click Close on the File menu.

Now, your new, customized template will then be available as a choice under General Templates in the New Document task pane.

Customize Grammar and Writing Style in Word 2002
If you have specific grammar and style rules that you want to apply to every Word 2002 document--for example, using only one space between sentences, or a comma before the last item in a list--you can customize Word so it automatically checks these rules for you. Here's how.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
2. Click Settings.
3. In the Writing style drop-down list box, select whether you want to customize settings for Grammar & Style, or Grammar Only.
4. In the Grammar and style options box, do one or both of following:
- Under Require, select the options you want for serial commas, punctuation within quotation marks, and number of spaces between sentences.
Under Grammar and Style, select or clear the check boxes next to the rules you want the grammar checker to check or ignore.

To restore the original rules of the selected grammar and writing style, click Reset All in the Grammar Settings dialog.

Customize Comment Text in Word 2002
Changing the size and font for comments in Microsoft Word 2002 documents is easy, and you can use standard formatting commands to modify the text in comment balloons as you type. Here's how:

1. On the Format menu, click Styles and Formatting, which will open the Styles and Formatting task pane in the right margin.
2. In the task pane, under Pick formatting to apply, make sure the Comment Text entry is visible. If it is, go to step 4.
3. If the Comment Text entry is not visible, select Custom from the Show drop-down menu. Then, in the Format Settings dialog box, under Styles to be visible, click Comment Text, and then click OK.
4. Under Pick formatting to apply, right-click the Comment Text entry, and then click Modify.
5. Select any options you want.
6. To see more options, click Format, and then click the attribute that you want to change.
7. Click OK after you've changed each attribute.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for any additional attributes you want to change.

Modify Your Custom Dictionary in Word 2002
You are probably already aware of the fact that you can add your own commonly used terms to the Word 2002 custom dictionary (such as names and acronyms). But once you add a word to the dictionary, do you know how to remove or edit it? Here's how.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
2. Click Custom Dictionaries.
3. Select the check box next to the dictionary you want to edit.
4. Click Modify.
5. Then, do one of the following:
- To add a word, type it in the Word box, and then click Add.
- To delete a word, select it in the Dictionary box, and then click Delete.
- To edit a word, select it in the Dictionary box, modify it, and then click Add. Delete the misspelled version.

Insert the Time or Date in Excel or Access
Here are a few keyboard shortcuts you can use to insert the current time and date in a Microsoft Access table or Excel spreadsheet.

Current date: CTRL+SEMICOLON
Current time: CTRL+SHIFT+ SEMICOLON
Current date and time: CTRL+ SEMICOLON then SPACE then CTRL+SHIFT+ SEMICOLON

Note: When you insert the date and time using this tip, the information remains static. To update this information automatically, you must use the TODAY and NOW functions. To learn how to do this, search for Insert the current date and time in a cell in Excel Help and then click Insert a date or time whose value is updated.

Open the Smart Tag Menu with a Keyboard Shortcut
You can save even more time with smart tags by using them along with this keyboard shortcut. When you type text that is recognized and labeled with a smart tag, a faint dotted line (the smart tag indicator) appears under the text. Using the arrow keys, move the cursor to the tagged text, and then press ALT+SHIFT+F10. Select an action from the menu of actions that appears.

Get Easy Access to Documents You Use Often
The Work menu is a great Word feature that few people know about. You can use the Work menu to keep an easily accessible list of your favorite Word files.

To add the Work menu to the menu bar or a toolbar:
1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Commands tab.
2. In the Categories box, click Built-in Menus.
3. Click Work in the Commands box and drag it to the menu bar or displayed toolbar.

With the Work menu in place, you can add any open Word document to your list. Here are the options:

- To add the current document to the Work menu, on the Work menu, click Add to Work Menu.
- To open a document on the Work menu, on the Work menu, click the document you want to open.
- To remove a document from the Work menu, press CTRL+ALT+- (dash key). Your cursor will look like a large, bold underscore. On the Work menu, click the document you want to remove.

Read More......

Windows XP Tips--Courtesy of Microsoft Corporation

As the dust from the holiday season settles, many people find themselves exploring the possibilities of their new Windows XP systems. While we certainly expect folks to be taking full advantage of this product already, some tips and tricks directly from the software designers should be very useful. Whether allowing people to do things they didn't know were possible or making everyday tasks that much more simple and quick, we believe some useful tips and tricks will be appreciated.

Please note that some of these tips may require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe) or, under the Windows XP Professional only, the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way: Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged on with Administrative rights.

For more tips, check out my own set of Windows Tips 'n' Tricks and Microsoft's set of Office XP Tips!

Speed Up Those Searches New!
Windows can create an index of the files on your computer to speed up searching. To create this index, open Search, then choose Change preferences and then With Indexing Service (for faster local searches).

"Go" Places Quicker on the Internet New!
Many common Internet searches can be performed quickly using the "go" shortcut. For example, if you open Search in Internet Explorer and type go yellow pages, the page will jump to a form where you can lookup a business phone number. Likewise, typing go email automatically brings up a form for searching for a person's email. You can even type go yellow pages Acme Corp to automatically search for the phone number of a company called Acme Corp. And you can type go amzn to look up the value of a stock quote (in this case Amazon's).

Quick Search Tips New!
Here are a couple of quick search tips:

- Using capitalization can result in better performance when using Search Companion. For instance, Mary Smith may produce better results than mary smith.

- If you didn't find what you wanted on the first search engine, choose Automatically send your search to other search engines to submit your search to other engines that are appropriate for your query.

- If you like having an animated character, but want to use a different one, choose Change Preferences, then With a different character to choose the helper you like.

Use the On-Screen Keyboard
An on-screen keyboard is built into Windows XP. It can be useful if you have mobility impairments, if you are using a tablet PC, or if your keyboard breaks down unexpectedly. To access the on-screen keyboard, go to Start, then click Run, and then type osk. Now the keyboard opens on your computer screen, featuring three typing modes you can use to type data:

- Clicking mode, where you click the on-screen keys.
- Scanning mode, where you press a hot key or use a switch-input device to type highlighted characters.
- Hovering mode, where you use a mouse or joystick to point to a key, which is then typed.

To make a shortcut icon on your desktop to the on-screen keyboard:
1. Right-click the desktop and choose New, then Shortcut.
2. Type osk, click Next.
3. Type a name for the shortcut, and then click Finish.

Use CTRL+ALT+DEL Without Pushing All the Buttons
For some people, pushing CTRL, ALT and Delete (CTRL+ALT+DEL) at the same time can be an inconvenience, if not a complete impossibility. With Windows XP, there are two ways to get around this.

First option: Configure the system so that you do not need to press CTRL+ALT+DEL at all during logon (assuming you're not using the Welcome screen, in which case this key combo is not required). Here's how:

- Open Control Panel then User Accounts.
- Navigate to the Advanced tab.
- Uncheck the Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete checkbox under Secure Logon.

Second option: Configure XP's accessibility options so that "sticky keys" will be activated at the secure desktop: That way, you may "press" ALT, CTRL, and DEL sequentially rather than simultaneously. You can turn that on via the Accessibility control panel. (Control Panel then Accessibility Options):

- Bring up the Accessibility Control panel and navigate to the Keyboard tab.
- Check Use Sticky keys
- Navigate to the General Tab.
- Check Apply all settings to logon desktop.

Turn on ClearType Font-Rendering Technology
Get that extra text clarity you've always wanted. The incredible Microsoft ClearType technology can be enabled in Windows XP to smooth all fonts at all sizes, making the whole system so much easier to read. To turn on ClearType:

1. Click Start, then Control Panel, and then click Appearance and Themes.
2. Click the Display icon, then the Appearance tab, and then Effects.
3. Click the Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts check box and select ClearType from the list.
4. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Remove Interference in Movie Files
If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, they might have interference when opened in Windows XP. Fortunately, thereis an easy fix to get rid of the interference:

1. Open Windows Movie Maker.
2. Click View and then Options.
3. Uncheck Automatically create clips.

Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto the timeline. Then save the movie. During the re-rendering, the interference will be removed.

Working with Album Art in Windows Media Player
Set your own Album Art for your media folders and Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP). If you don't like the album art or have a folder of downloaded music that you want to add art to, you can simply select any graphic from your browser, save it inside the folder you want, and call it Folder.jpg. Now when you play any music that resides in that folder, the Media Player will automatically pick it up and display that as album art.

Managing Multiple Photos or Other Files
If you have numerous files to rename, select a group of photos, then rename the FIRST one and the rest will follow.

Turn Off File Names in Thumbnail View
Find that you need more space for thumbnails and would like to turn the file names off? Hold down shift when you open a folder or when you switch into thumbnail view. This will turn of the file names, giving more space for the thumbnails. Doing it again turns them back on.

Try Grouping Files for Effortless Manageability
In any My Computer window, select View, then Arrange Icons by, then Type. Then, select View, Arrange Icons by, and then Show in Groups. If you prefer Details view, you can right-click on the column header in and choose the columns you want displayed. And you can drag and drop the column headers to reorder them.

Add a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar
Do you want to quickly map a network drive, but can't find the toolbar button? If you map drives often, use one of these options to add a Map Drive button to the folder toolbar in My Computer.

Option One (Long Term Fix)
1. Open My Computer, right-click the toolbar, then unlock the toolbars, if necessary.
2. Right-click the toolbar again and click Customize.
3. Under Available toolbar buttons, locate Map Drive, and drag it
into the position you want on the right under Current toolbar buttons.
4. Click Close, click OK, and then click OK again.
You now have a drive mapping buttons on your My Computer toolbar, so you can map drives from any folder window. To unmap drives, follow the above procedure, selecting Disconnect under Available toolbar buttons.

Option Two (Quick Fix)
Right-click My Computer and choose Map Network Drive. If you place your My Computer icon directly on the desktop, you can make this move in only two clicks! Otherwise, you can right-click the My Computer icon in the Start Menu.

Fax Tips
Here are some useful tips for working with Fax and Image Viewer:

- Typing CTRL-I in the picture viewer will bring up the property sheet for the image (doesn't work in slide show).
- Typing DEL in the picture viewer will delete.
- Holding down the CTRL key in the picture viewer enables "panning" (hand cursor)

Changing Thumbnail Options
You can change the size of the Thumbnails view in My Computer by opening up the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigating to the following location:

Current user only:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

All users:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

Add a new DWORD value called ThumbnailSize and give it a hexidecimal value that is between 32 and 256, inclusive (that is, the lowest possible value is 32 and the highest is 256): A value of 32 will give you the smallest possible thumbnails, and 256 will give you the biggest. Experiment a bit to find your sweet spot.

Use the Windows Classic Look
Are you more comfortable performing a task with the familiar Windows Classic user interface than you are with Windows XP's new interface? You can quickly switch the user interface to the familiar Windows Classic appearance on your computer if it helps you remember a task in your operating system or program. Then, you can go back to the original Windows look with a couple of clicks. Here's how.

1. Right-click on a blank area of the desktop, then click Properties.
2. Click the Appearance tab.
3. On the Windows and Buttons menu, select Windows Classic, then Click OK.

Change the Start Menu Style
Does the new Windows XP Start menu take up too much space on your desktop? You can easily change the look back to the Windows Classic Start menu by following these steps:

1. Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Classic Start menu choice.
3. Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
Also: By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons to your desktop. If you don't want this, right-click a blank area of the Desktop, choose Properties, and then navigate to the Desktop page. Click Customize Desktop to determine which icons are shown on the desktop.

Add Fields to the Details View of Folders
You can add other columns to the Details view of the files contained in Windows XP folders, such as Comments, Description, Category, and many others. To add new columns:

1. Right-click the column header of the files list, and then click one of the fields listed, or click More.
2. In the Choose Details dialog box, you can reorganize the order of column headers, specify column widths, and add columns to display details for the files in that folder.

When you click the new column header, the width of the selected column is displayed in pixels in the Choose Details dialog box.

Using a Folder Type as a Template
Every Windows XP folder provides a list of hyperlinked tasks appropriate to that type of folder next to the folder contents. For example, the Pictures folder type contains task links for ordering prints online and for printing pictures. If you want to use a folder type as a template for a selected folder, follow these steps:

1. Right-click a newly created folder, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Customize tab.
3. In the Use this folder type as a template list, click the template type you want to apply, and then click OK.

Now, when you open the new folder, it will contain a hyperlinked task list common to the type of folder you selected as the template.

Create a Personal Screen Saver
For a great way to put your digital photos to work, try creating a slide show presentation for use as a screen saver. Here's how:

1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and then click Properties.
2. Click the Screen Saver tab.
3. In the Screen saver list, click My Pictures Slideshow.
4. Click Settings to make any adjustments, such as how often the pictures should change, what size they should be, and whether you'll use transition effects between pictures, and then click OK.

Now your screen saver is a random display of the pictures taken from your My Pictures folder.

Keep Your Favorite Programs Near the Top of the Start Menu
Do you have a favorite application that you frequently use? If so, you can elevate its priority on the Start menu by putting it at the top of the list. This ensures that the program will remain on the Start menu and cannot be bumped by other programs, even if you use the others more frequently.

Right-click the link to your favorite program on the Start menu and select Pin to Start Menu.
Your program will be moved permanently to the top part of the list, just below your browser and e-mail programs.

Advanced Customizations
To get rid of the Search Companion and go back to the old way of searching, open up the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CabinetState

Then, add a new String Value called Use Search Asst and set the Data Value to No.

To turn off the low disk space notification, which cannot be done through the XP GUI, open up the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

Add a Dword Value called NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and set the Data Value to 1 to turn it off.

Note that this change requires a log off or reboot to work.

To configure your Places bar (Professional Edition only) in XP's common dialogs, and make it easier to open files from common locations, you need to edit a local policy. Here's how.

1. Run the Local Group Policy Editor (Start, then Run, then gpedit.msc)
2. Open the following policy:

User Configuration \ Administrative Templates\ Windows Components \ Windows Explorer \ Common Open File Dialog \ Items Displayed in Places Bar

To make your Taskbar do forced-window-clustering: Any application that has "n" windows open will automatically cluster, regardless of how full your taskbar is. To set this, open up the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and create a REG_DWORD with the name TaskbarGroupSize in the following location of the Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

Now, set this new key to 2 or the number of windows for each application you want to have on the screen before they are clustered together on the taskbar. You must either kill explorer and re-launch it, or logoff and log back in before this will take affect.

Get Rid of Unwanted Balloon Tips
Open up the Registry Editor and expand the tree to display the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

Then, created a new DWORD value named EnableBalloonTips and set it to 0x00000000.

Use the Address Bar to Launch Programs or Web Page
Windows XP enhanced the functionality of the Address bar to make it easier to launch your favorite programs. You can add the Address bar to the taskbar on the bottom of your desktop. Then you can launch programs simply by entering their names in the Address bar. For example, to launch Calculator, simply enter calc in the Address bar. Anything you would normally enter in the Run box on the Start menu can be entered in the Address bar. The Address bar also lets you quickly go to any Web page you specify.

To add the Address bar to the taskbar:

1. Right-click an empty area on the taskbar.
2. Point to Toolbars, and then click Address.

Open the Address bar by double-clicking it.

Manually Put Your Computer into Hibernation
Hibernation is a cool feature in Windows XP that is 'hidden' in the Shut Down dialog box. If you have enabled hibernation on your computer, you can manually place it into hibernation. But first, it must be enabled. To enable hibernation support on your computer, you must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators or Power Users group. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may prevent this procedure. Here's how you do it:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Power Options.
2. Click the Hibernate tab, and then select the Enable hibernate support check box. If the Hibernate tab is not available, your hardware does not support this feature.
3. Click OK to close the Power Options dialog box.

Note: When you put your computer into hibernation, everything in computer memory is saved on your hard disk. When you turn the computer back on, all programs and documents that were open when you turned the computer off are restored on the desktop.

Here's a shortcut to hibernate:

- hold down shift key in the shutdown dialog, then hit ENTER
- or just hit H
- or make your power button do hibernate through the Power Options dialog

Display the Quick Launch Toolbar
Is your Quick Launch toolbar missing from the taskbar? To display the familiar Quick Launch toolbar, right-click an empty area on the taskbar, click Toolbars, and then click Quick Launch. Easy as that your Quick Launch bar appears. To add items to your Quick Launch toolbar, click the icon for the program you want to add, and drag it to the Quick Launch portion of the taskbar.

Don't Ignore the Windows Logo Key
The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don't ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands:

Windows: Display the Start menu
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows + tab: move through taskbar buttons
Windows + L: Lock the workstation (or switch to the Logon screen w/Fast User Switching enabled)
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager

Fast User Switching
If you have multiple users logged on to your machine, you can bypass the Welcome screen to switch users by going to the User tab in Task Manager, right click on a user and choose Connect.

Place a "Run" icon on your desktop
Simply open the Start Menu and drag the Run option on to your desktop. You may want to rename it to get rid of the ampersand. Now you will be able to double-click the "Run" icon on your desktop to go directly to the Run dialog.

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Nokia N95 Tips and Tricks

This Nokia N95 Tips and Tricks section will be split into two halves;
1. Improving battery life, as anyone who owns a Nokia N95 will know the battery drains pretty quickly.
2. Other tips and tricks that might be useful.

Maximising the Nokia N95 Battery Life.

Now when you first get a Nokia N95 out the box, charge it up, then begin to play with it you notice that after about an hour of play the battery indicator begins to disappear fairly quickly. This seemed strange to me as my previous phone was a Nokia N73 and the battery lasted for absolutely ages, granted there are some features on the N95 that aren’t present on the N73 such as the Wi-Fi and GPS functionality but not enough to warrant such a big battery drain. After much playing around with the phones settings etc I have managed to get my N95’s battery life close to or if not on par with my old N73, nevertheless much improved over the battery life when using the N95 straight out of the box.

Cycle the Battery

The first thing to do to improve the battery life, and the one which I found gave the best battery gain, is to give the battery one complete charge/discharge cycle. When first taking the phone out of the box allow the battery to charge completely before unplugging it from the power adapter. Then do everything you can to drain the battery, turn on the Bluetooth, turn on the Wi-Fi, play music, whatever it takes to drain the battery. Your goal is to drain the battery to the point where it shuts itself off, even when it shuts itself off try and turn it on again and keep draining the battery. Keep doing this till the phone will no longer boot. When this happens take the battery out and wait a few seconds. Replace the battery and attempt to turn it on again, if it turns on then use it till the phone shuts off again. Now place the N95 back on charge and leave until the charging cycle is complete. When using the Nokia N95 now it will seem to last a lot longer on battery before you get warning messages of low battery. I have a theory about how this process seems to increase battery life which may be entirely inaccurate, if so and you know why this has this effect then please share your views via the forum. I believe that this process does not change the battery in any way, rather it serves as a method in which to calibrate the N95 as to how long it can operate with the voltage that remains. Without putting the phone through a complete charge/discharge cycle the N95 has no choice but to refer to its default threshold which may have been set slightly higher when manufactured.

Turn off your Bluetooth.

The next thing to do to increase battery life is to switch the Bluetooth function to off when not in use. This may sound silly but a lot of people forget that their Bluetooth is on throughout the day, this wastes battery power and could also leave you open to an attack on your phone via Bluetooth if left switched on.

Switch off Wi-Fi Scanning.

Wi-Fi much like Bluetooth wastes battery power when in idle use. Make sure you turn this function off when not using it. This then also protects your phone from an attack via Wi-Fi.

Turn off 3G scanning if you don’t use 3G.

Your Nokia N95 by default is set to periodically search for a 3G signal which also contributes to the depletion of the battery, if you don’t use 3G then you can turn 3G scanning off by going to; menu, tools, settings, phone, network - change the network mode setting to ‘GSM’.

The three factors above will greatly increase your battery life, if you wanted to increase the battery life still further than you can perform these tasks as follows;

Adjust the Screen Brightness.

The fact that the screen on your N95 lights up means that it’s wasting energy, You can minimise the waste by turning down the brightness. Go to; menu, tools, settings, general, personalisation, display - change the light sensor from the default position to ‘minimum’.

Adjust the Light Time-Out.

The less time that your screen is lit up for, the more energy you’re going to save.

You can adjust the light time-out by going to; menu, tools, settings, general, personalisation, display - change the light time-out accordingly.

Power Saver Time-Out.

You can also adjust the length of time that the phone waits before going into power save mode. Obviously the sooner the Nokia N95 goes into power save mode, the more battery power you’re going to save.

Go to; menu, tools, settings, general, personalisation, display - reduce the power saver time-out option from 60 seconds to say 30 seconds.

Other Tips and Tricks

Switching Between Silent and General.

Did you know that there was a quick way to switch between the ‘General’ profile and the ‘Silent’ profile on the Nokia N95? With the keypad open just press and hold the ‘#’ key.

Reducing the Time Between Image Captures.

Does it frustrate you that when you want to take photos in fairly quick succession you have to wait for the N95 to display the previously captured image before it will let you progress? Did you know that you can turn this feature off. When in the camera mode press options, settings - change the show captured image option to ‘off’. The time between image captures is greatly reduced.

Go straight to Your Music.

If you press and then keep hold of the multimedia key it will cause you to go straight to your music player.

I hope these Nokia N95 Tips and Tricks help you get the most out of your Nokia N95. If you have any additional tips then please add them to comment....

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FileMenu Tools 5.7

FileMenu Tools lets customize the context menu of the Windows Explorer. It lets you configure the following aspects:

* Add some built-in utilities in order to do operations over files and folders.
* Add customized commands which let run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder or delete specific file types.
* Configure the "Send to..." submenu.
* Enable/disable the commands which are added by other applications to the context menu.

FileMenu Tools has the following built-in utilities:

* Synchronize Folders
* Extended Delete
* Find And Replace
* Advanced Renamer
* Delete Locked File
* Delete and no move to Recycle Bin
* Change Icon
* Run with Arguments
* Command Line From Here
* Attributes
* Change Time
* Register, Unregister DLL
* Much more

What's New in version 5.7:

* Fixed bug: sometimes the FileMenu Tools commands were displayed in the context menu twice when selecting shortcuts.
* Fixed bug: a control was not moved correctly when resizing the Copy/Move window.
* Fixed bug: files were not correctly renamed in Advanzed Renamer when the files were in different folders.
* Duplicate Files: now a progress window is displayed.
* New variables have been added with prefix TARGET. If a variable have the prefix TARGET and shortcuts are selected in the Windows Explorer, then the variable will use the target file of the shortcuts. For example, %TARGETFILEPATH1% will be replaced with the target file path of the first file if it is a shortcut (if it is not a shortcut the variable will be replaced with the file path itself).
* Advanzed Renamer: optimized the preview.

Download Here

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A Bootable USB: Utility to Create Bootable USB Drive to Install Windows Vista, Server 2008 and 7

Imagine a situation where you need to install Windows Vista or 7 in a system but you don't have access to DVD drive. We all know Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 comes in DVDs and you'll need a DVD drive to install them. Then how will you install them? The solution is, you can create a bootable USB drive which can be used to install Windows without using DVD drive.

We have posted a detailed tutorial to create such bootable USB drive long time back, you can read about it here.

The above method is very easy to follow but wouldn't it be great if we can use a utility to do the whole task automatically? Our reader "Aris" has created a small utility exclusively for AskVG readers which creates a bootable USB drive to install Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7.

Prerequisites:

* A USB Drive (4 GB or more)
* Windows Vista, Server 2008 or 7 ISO image or DVD
* Host OS: Windows Vista (SP1 or SP2), Server 2008 or 7

How to Use:

Once you meet the requirements, run the utility. Its a portable utility so doesn't need installation. Simply run it and check the option "I have read and accepted the following License Agreement". Now click on OK button and it'll launch the main application.

It also shows a Help window so that you can use the utility easily. The utility requires only 4 easy steps to follow:

* Check USB drive (To check whether your USB drive is attached or not)
* Format USB drive
* Choose DVD or ISO image (To copy the required files to USB drive)
* Start the process to create bootable USB drive

Its very easy and useful utility. You can download it using following links:
Download Link (Rapidshare)

Download Link (Mediafire)

Download Link (Skydrive)

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Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer

Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screensaver.

To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:
Right-click the desktop.
Point to New, and then click Shortcut.
The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following:
rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Click Next.
Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like.
Click Finish.

You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll).
To change the icon:
Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button.
In the Look for icons in this file text box, type:
Shell32.dll.
Click OK.
Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK

You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

Create a Shortcut to Start Remote Desktop
=========================
Tip: You can add a shortcut to the desktop of your home computer to quickly start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer.

To create a shortcut icon to start Remote Desktop

Click Start, point to More Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click on Remote Desktop Connection.
Click Options.
Configure settings for the connection to your office computer.
Click Save As, and enter a name, such as Office Computer. Click Save.
Open the Remote Desktops folder.
Right-click on the file named Office Computer, and then click Create Shortcut.
Drag the shortcut onto the desktop of your home computer.
To start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer, double-click on the shortcut

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Rip high-quality MP3s in Windows Media Player 8

The relationship between Windows Media Player 8 and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, WMP8 will be able to playback MP3 files, but encoding (or "ripping" CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. So during the Windows XP beta, Microsoft is supplying a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it's limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless. However, if you have an externally installed MP3 codec, you can use WMP8 to rip at higher bit rates. But you'll have to edit the Registry to make this work.
Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Settings \ MP3Encoding

Here, you'll see sub-keys for LowRate and LowRateSample, which of course equates to the single 56 Kbps sample rate you see in WMP8. To get better sampling rates, try adding the following keys (Using New then DWORD value):

"LowRate" = DWORD value of 0000dac0
"MediumRate" = DWORD value of 0000fa00
"MediumHighRate" = DWORD value of 0001f400
"HighRate" = DWORD value of 0002ee00

Now, when you launch WMP8 and go into Tools, then Options, then Copy Music, you will have four encoding choices for MP3: 56 Kbps, 64 Kbps, 128 Kbps, and 192 Kbps. Note that you will not get higher bit rate encoding unless you have installed an MP3 codec separately; the version in Windows Media Player 8 is limited to 56 Kbps only.


Find the appropriate location in the Registry... ...add a few DWORD values... ...And then you'll be ripping CDs in higher-quality MP3 format!

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Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys. Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM
So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:
Pid=51882335
And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:
Pid=51882OEM

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enable sidebar with uac disable on windows 7

How to Enable Sidebar & Desktop Gadget with Disable/Turned Off UAC in windows 7

1. Click on start and type regedit on search bar

2. Now navigate to follow registry key in left pan of registry editor

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings

3. Right Click in right pan of registry editor to Create A New DWORD(32 Bit Value) with name “AllowElevatedProcess” and set value as “1”.

4. Now close registry editor

5. Right click on desktop and add desktop gadgets to confirm Desktop gadget and sidebar working properly

You can download AllowElevatedProcess.reg and double click on AllowElevatedProcess.reg file to add registry entry.

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USA 2 : 3 BRAZIL

Finally Brazill Won The Conf Cup 2009 after lose 2 goal on the 1st half.
congrats.............

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Vista Slow Network tweak

Windows Vista has been known to cause slow network transfer speeds for some users, most noticeable when copying files across a network that take much longer than before.

Some suggestions that may help users experiencing slow network performance are as follows:

1) Download the latest drivers for your network adapter from the manufacturers site (do not rely on the Windows Update drivers). Then, check they are configured properly by viewing the device manager settings.

2) Install the latest Windows Update patches, including Vista SP1.

3) If you use a 3rd Party firewall, be sure that it is configured correctly. For example, in Kaspersky Internet Security there is a "high speed" setting that should be ticked.

4) Try disabling Remote Differential Compression by clicking Start > Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features. Then click Turn Windows features on and off, untick Remote Differential Compression and click OK:

5) The final thing to try would be to disable network Auto-Tuning. First, load the run box by pressing WINDOWS KEY + R and then run:

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

You will need to restart your PC after this and retry the network transfer. If speeds are still low, you can return the auto-tuning to default mode by re-running the following command:

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

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Top 10 Tweaks, Tips, and Tricks for Windows Vista

1. If you’re annoyed by Internet Explorer’s incessant barking that you’ve lowered your security settings (like, if you’re a non-paranoid expert), launch “gpedit.msc” from either the Run command or Start Search field, navigate through Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Internet Explorer. In the rightmost pane, double-click “Turn off the Security Settings Check feature” and set it to Enabled.
2. If Internet Explorer’s Information Bar also annoys you, you can turn it off (again) in the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc) through Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Internet Explorer / Security Features. In the rightmost pane, double-click “Internet Explorer Processes” and set it to Disabled. Hallelujah!
3. I’ve just mentioned two tweaks that are buried inside the Group Policy Editor. Jim Allchin pointed out that there’s a Group Policy Settings Reference spreadsheet available. Makes for great weekend reading.
4. Read the Background on Backgrounds if you’re a performance junkie. Don’t set your wallpaper through Internet Explorer ever again! Now that Windows supports JPG wallpapers, there’s absolutely no need (or excuse) for using BMPs anymore.
5. If you insist on keeping UAC (User Account Control) turned on for yourself, you might care to make the elevation prompts a bit less visually jarring. Brandon told me about this one, even though I have UAC turned off. Launch the Local Security Policy manager (secpol.msc), and navigate through Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options. In the rightmost pane, scroll to the bottom and double-click “User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation.” Disable it, and you can keep UAC turned on without getting turned off by the embarrassingly craptacular Aero Basic theme.
6. Vista can send you emails! The Computer Management tool can still be accessed by right-clicking “Computer” and selecting “Manage” from the menu. However, now you can attach a task to any event. Try navigating through System Tools / Event Viewer / Windows Logs / Application. Now, go ahead and select an event - then look to the rightmost pane and click “Attach Task to This Event.” Name it whatever, describe it however, click through the next step, then in the Action step, you’ll see the “Send an e-mail” option.
7. The Windows Task Manager gives you a lot more troubleshooting information in Vista. Flip to the Processes tab, and in the View menu, click “Select Columns” and add Description, Command Line, and Image Path Name. Moreover, when you right-click a process, you can select either “Go to Service(s)” or “Open File Location.” These are all long overdue options.
8. This one’s interesting. Open up the Date and Time Control Panel applet. Flip to the “Additional Clocks” tab. There, you can configure two more clocks from different time zones. They’ll appear in the tooltip when you hover over the Taskbar clock. No additional software (or silly sidebar widgets) necessary.
9. Applicable in other versions of Windows, I’m going to throw it in here for good measure. Create a shortcut to RegSvr32.exe in your SendTo folder. To get there quickly, enter “shell:sendto” in the Run command dialog or Start Search field. Now, when you wanna register a DLL or OCX file with the system, you can select it/them and “Send To” the RegSvr32 shortcut.
10. I figured I’d round out my first set of Windows Vista tips and tricks with a tiny bit of eye candy. It doesn’t beat Picasa, but the Windows Photo Gallery is better than nothing. Once it’s indexed all your photos, click the icon next to the Search field and turn on the “Table of Contents.” That’s kinda nifty.

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