PCTechNotes :: PC Tips, Tricks and Tweaks

How to Easily Change Your Windows 7 Start Menu Orb

slavezero — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:40:03 +0000

Here is a cool app that will let you change and personalized your Windows Start Menu Orb. This is a great way if you want to get a away from the usual Windows 7 Orb.

Before you do any customization, it is very important that you first create a system restore point. You can do this by typing “System Restore” in your Start menu search, and select “Create a restore point”.

First, download the Windows 7 Start Button Changer and extract it’s contents.

Run the Windows 7 Start Button Changer as administrator. You will see a warning if you don’t run it as administrator.

After running the app it will look like this.

This program will backup your original explorer.exe, change the start button and restart explorer.exe. To go back or restore your original Start Orb just click Restore Original Explorer Backup.

Download Windows 7 Start Button Changer

How to Add Disk Cleanup to the Right-Click Menu of your Drive

slavezero — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:44:23 +0000

Today I will share to you a simple registry hack that will help you to easily access disk cleanup by a simple right click.

Open Regedit by typing “regedit” at the start menu search box then browse down to the following key.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell

Create a new key and name it “diskcleanup” set it’s default value to “Disk Cleanup”.

Create another key under diskcleanup name it “command” and set the value to the following:

cleanmgr.exe /d %1

The result is instant, just right click and you will immediately see the Disk Cleanup option on your drives.

How to Protect Your Computer from Kids Hands

slavezero — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:13:48 +0000

Are you looking for a way to finally make your computer safe from the hands of your little kids that loves to play around with your keyboard that often makes your desktop scrambled or worst some of your files being deleted, well here is a free app called KidSafe that can do the job. KidSafe was designed to be a computer-locking program that will keep young children from messing anything up.

When you run KidSafe it will launch a full-screen window that hides the entire desktop. The windows will be blank so your kid that enjoys clicking everywhere will do any damage to your computer.

There are options on KidSafe that you can configure. You can change any settings that you feel necessary for your system.

Download KidSafe

How To Show Recycle Bin On Windows 7 Windows Explorer

slavezero — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:53:31 +0000

I’ve been using Windows 7 for months now when I realized that the Recycle Bin that is usually present on Windows Explorer on previous of Windows is missing. I just found out about this when a friend ask about on how he can reveal the recycle bin on windows explorer, when he asked that I started experimenting, I found out that Windows 7 has introduced some new folder options in an attempt to simplify Windows Explorer.

In Windows 7 some folders including the Recycle bin and Control Panel are hidden by default in Windows 7 Explorer. Follow the steps below to easily revel them.

Open Windows Explorer, click ALT to show Menu

Click on Tools then Folder Options.

Another way to easily open Folder Option is to type “folder options” in the Start menu search box.

Put a check on “Show all folders” and click OK, other settings will be optional.

I think why Microsoft have added this option to Windows 7 is make the explorer much cleaner but I think some users still prefers to use the old explorer format.

How to Protect the Privacy of your Explorer searches

slavezero — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:10:21 +0000

Most computer users prefer to keep their privacy when they are using their computer, they don’t want other people that they share their computer to see what they are searching. If you share a PC and don’t want others to see what you’ve searched for, you can turn off the recent searches feature:

1. Click on your Start menu Search box then type GPEDIT.MSC and press Enter to launch the Group Policy Editor.

2. Go to User Configuration

3. Select Administrative Templates

4. Click on Windows Components

5. Go to Windows Explorer

6. At the right side pane Double-click on “Turn off display of recent search entries in the Windows Explorer search box” and select Enabled from the window that appears.

7. Click OK and your done.

Important Note: This tip will not work if you have the Home Premium, Starter, or Home Basic editions of Windows 7.

How to Show Labels on Taskbar Buttons

slavezero — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:28:44 +0000

Some users find it difficult to use the new taskbar of Windows 7 that only show icons. I encounter some users that are afraid to upgrade to Windows 7 or even downgrade to Windows XP because they are having a hard time with the interface. If you are one of those people that are hesitant or having a difficulty adjusting to the new environment of Windows 7.

1. Right Click on an empty are portion of your taskbar

2. Go to the Taskbar buttons section, from the dropdown change Always combine, hide labels to Never combine.

3. Click OK

How to Restrict Other Users Access To Your Applications

slavezero — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:25:43 +0000

If you are sharing your computer with other people inside your home, then you might want to limit their access to your applications and files. Enabling restrictions can also increase your security and most importantly will save you from a lot of headaches. Windows 7 has a built-in tool called AppLocker that will enable you block or limit other users access to executable, Windows Installers, Scripts, a specific publisher or path.

Follow this instruction to create restrictions:

Type in Gpedit.msc in the windows search box.

Go to Computer Configuration

Click Windows Settings

Click on Security Settings

Click on Application Control Policies

Select AppLocker

Select one of the options Executables, Installers, or Script then create a new rule.

Starcraft II Released!…Finally!

slavezero — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:37:43 +0000

Wow! finally after years or should I say a decade of waiting the StarCraft is finally available! it is scheduled to be released on July 27, 2010 simultaneously in different countries around the world, including the Philippines.

I am a die hard fan of Blizzard games, I hardly believe that they are the best in creating games especially with Action-RPG, Real-Time strategy and MMORPG. The new StarCraft promises new strategy and innovative gameplay mechanics and of course a superb Graphics. The original race are still there, the Zerg, Terran, and Protoss.

The retail copy will be sold for $60 (about P2,760) and $100 (about P4,600) For hardcore gamers and game collectors.

PC Minimum System Requirements:

Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

PC Recommended Specifications:

Windows Vista®/Windows® 7
Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor
2 GB RAM
512 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon® HD 3870 or better

How to Search the Internet from the Start Menu

slavezero — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:53:17 +0000

In Windows 7 the Start Menu’s search box are mainly use to search for any files and applications on your PC but did you know that you can also make your Start Menu search box search the internet? Windows 7 has this, follow the steps below to enable this feature.

Important note: This tip will not work on Home Premium, Starter, or Home Basic editions of Windows 7.

On your Start Menu search box, type GPEDIT.MSC and press Enter to run the Group Policy Editor.

On the Group Policy Editor go to User Configuration

Click on Administrative Templates

Select Start Menu and Taskbar

Double-click “Add Search Internet link to Start Menu,” and from the screen that appears, select Enabled. Then click OK and close the Group Policy Editor.

When you now type a search term in your Search box on the Start Menu, a “Search the Internet” link will appear. When you click the link it will launch the search in your default browser with your default search engine.

How to Show all Drives in Windows Explorer

slavezero — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:05:39 +0000

I’ve just got a call from a friend yesterday and he is seeking help about not seeing his memory card. At first he thought that his card was broken but when he inserted it on a different machine it showed. I’ve just told him that there is nothing wrong with his memory or his computer, It’s just that his system, is set to not show empty drives. To solve this I gave him the easy instruction below.

Open Windows Explorer, Press ALT key to show the top menu.

Click on Tools then Folder Options

Click on the View tab

Uncheck “Hide empty drives in Computer folder”

Click on OK and your done.