Windows can remember which folders were left open when you logged off your computer and reopen those folders when you log on again. This helps you keep track of the tasks you were performing before you logged off and allows you to quickly start working where you left off the last time.
Although you perform the steps below using one folder on your computer, the changes will affect all folders that are open when you log off your computer.
You should be aware that turning on this feature may increase the time your computer takes to log on. If you no longer want Windows to automatically reopen your folders when you log on, you can repeat the steps below to turn off the option.
How to Enable/Disable Reopening of folders from last session on next log on
Open My computer
Select Tools > Folder Options to change your folder settings
Select View tab
Scroll down and Select > Restore previous folder windows at logon
Click Apply, OK to confirm your changes
Windows will now remember which folders are open when you log off your computer and reopen those folders when you log on.
Showing posts with label windows tips. Show all posts
Windows Xp Tips - Place scraps of information on your desktop
If you frequently add the same information to your files, you can place the information on your desktop by creating a file called a scrap. Document scraps saves you from having to constantly retype information.
For example, you can create a scrap containing your name, address and telephone number, which you can then drag into a document when needed. You can also create a scrap for images, such as your company’s logo or whatever.
When creating a scrap, make sure the window that contains the information does not fill the entire screen. Part of the desktop should be visible so you can drag the information to the desktop.
Scraps are available only for programs that allow you to drag and drop information to other programs. For example, you cannot create scraps using a Notepad document. You can work with a scrap the same way you would work with any file.
Making Scarp with Windows Wordpad
Create a file with wordpad that contains the information you want to place on your desktop
Select/Highlight the information/text in the file
Take the mouse pointer over the selected information/text
Drag the information/text to a blank area on your desktop
Windows creates a file called a scrap
The scrap stores a copy of the information you selected
The information remains in the original file
To place the information from a scrap into a file, drag the scrap to the location in the file where you want to place the information. You can place the information from a scrap in as many files as you want. Make More Scraps for easy documentation!
For example, you can create a scrap containing your name, address and telephone number, which you can then drag into a document when needed. You can also create a scrap for images, such as your company’s logo or whatever.
When creating a scrap, make sure the window that contains the information does not fill the entire screen. Part of the desktop should be visible so you can drag the information to the desktop.
Scraps are available only for programs that allow you to drag and drop information to other programs. For example, you cannot create scraps using a Notepad document. You can work with a scrap the same way you would work with any file.
Making Scarp with Windows Wordpad
Create a file with wordpad that contains the information you want to place on your desktop
Select/Highlight the information/text in the file
Take the mouse pointer over the selected information/text
Drag the information/text to a blank area on your desktop
Windows creates a file called a scrap
The scrap stores a copy of the information you selected
The information remains in the original file
To place the information from a scrap into a file, drag the scrap to the location in the file where you want to place the information. You can place the information from a scrap in as many files as you want. Make More Scraps for easy documentation!
Windows Tips - Prevent other people from accessing your computer
You can increase the security of your computer by creating a password, called a startup key, to start your computer. You use the Syskey (Sam Lock Tool) program to create the password that you will need to enter to start the computer.
You must be logged on to Windows as a computer administrator to use the Syskey program. Creating a password to start your computer makes it virtually impossible for an unauthorized user to log onto your computer.
In addition, since the Welcome screen that prompts you to enter your Windows account password cannot be displayed without first entering the startup password, a hacker will not have the opportunity to try to determine your user account password.
You must be logged on to Windows as a computer administrator to use the Syskey program. Creating a password to start your computer makes it virtually impossible for an unauthorized user to log onto your computer.
In addition, since the Welcome screen that prompts you to enter your Windows account password cannot be displayed without first entering the startup password, a hacker will not have the opportunity to try to determine your user account password.
After you create a startup password, a dialog box will appear when you start your computer, asking you to enter the password. Passwords are case sensitive. When you enter your password, you will need to enter the characters in the password precisely.
For example, if your password is abcdef123456, you cannot enter ABCDEF123456 to start your computer.
For example, if your password is abcdef123456, you cannot enter ABCDEF123456 to start your computer.
HOW TO INSTALL SYSKEY:
- Click Start, Select Run
- Type syskey to start the Syskey program, press Enter or Ok button
- Click Update to add additional security to your computer
- The Startup Key dialog box appears
- Click Password Startup (Radio button Selection) to create a password you will enter to start your computer
- Enter Password and Confirm Password
Note: For the best security, you should choose a password that is at least twelve characters long and contains a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
The Success dialog box appears, stating that the Account Database Startup Key was changed.
When you start your computer, a Windows Startup Password dialog box will appear, asking you to enter your password. To start your computer, type the password you created and then press the Enter key.
Note: Make sure you do not forget the password required to start your computer. You may want to write the password on a piece of paper and store the paper in a secure location. If you forget the password, you will not be able to start your computer.
Note: Make sure you do not forget the password required to start your computer. You may want to write the password on a piece of paper and store the paper in a secure location. If you forget the password, you will not be able to start your computer.
How To Remove Installed Password:
If you no longer want to enter a password to start your computer, you can stop Windows from requesting a password.
Again Open syskey and click update, When Password Dialog appears Click the “System Generated Password” option and then choose the “Store Startup Key Locally” option.
Click OK to confirm your changes.
In the dialog box that appears, type the password you enter to start your computer and then press the Enter key twice.
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Again Open syskey and click update, When Password Dialog appears Click the “System Generated Password” option and then choose the “Store Startup Key Locally” option.
Click OK to confirm your changes.
In the dialog box that appears, type the password you enter to start your computer and then press the Enter key twice.
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Vista Tips - Enabling the outbound firewall
In Windows Vista, Microsoft decided it was best to disable the outbound connection filtering because it can cause headaches for many inexperienced computer users. This may have been the right choice but not filtering your outbound traffic can increase the possibility that an application can steal important personal information and send it to a remote computer. If this application is malicious, it can be used to steal personal information such as passwords and bank account numbers.
Turning on the outbound firewall filtering and enabling only the rules that grant your normal applications access to the Internet will greatly increase the security of your computer.
Turning on the outbound firewall filtering and enabling only the rules that grant your normal applications access to the Internet will greatly increase the security of your computer.
Enabling the outbound firewall rules on your computer is easy to do once you know where Microsoft hid the setting.
Follow these steps to turn the outbound firewall back on:
- If the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security window is not already open, click the Start button, type wf.msc in the Search box, and then press Enter.
- When the firewall configuration tool is loaded, click Windows Firewall Properties right in the middle of the opening screen.
- When the settings window loads, you will see a tab for each of the different firewall profiles. Select the tab for the profile on which you would like to enable outbound filtering.
- Under the State section, locate the Outbound connections drop-down box and change it to Block.
- Click OK when you are finished to activate the outbound firewall on the profile you specified.
Vista Tips - Using Windows Search without an Index
The indexing service plays a key role in accelerating searches within Window Vista. Although this service provides a lot of value by allowing you to quickly search thousands of files, it is not a requirement of Windows Search. It is possible to completely disable the indexing service. However, searches with Windows Search will require much more time to complete and can cause your hard drive to do a lot of work while Windows Search iterates through folders and files instead of just accessing a search index.
Disabling the indexing service will save your computer extra memory and CPU time required to run the application in the background. Depending on how often you use the Windows Search feature, you can decide if it is worth sacrificing fast searches for a little extra performance from Windows Explorer.
Follow these steps if you decide to disable the indexing service:
Follow these steps if you decide to disable the indexing service:
-
Click the Start button, type services.msc in the Search box, and then press Enter (or in Run Command). This loads the Services utility. -
After Services has loaded, scroll through the list and locate the Windows Search service. This is the indexing service. Right-click this service and select Stop. -
When the service is stopped, make sure that it does not start again. Right-click the service again and select Properties. -
Locate the Startup type drop-down box. Change the Startup type from Automatic to Disabled. -
Press OK to close the window.
You have now successfully disabled the indexing service that is used by Windows Search. Although your searches are now slower, you have freed up processing power that can be used instead by other processes such as Windows Explorer.
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Vista Tips - Using BitLocker Drive Encryption
Using BitLocker Drive Encryption is easy when you have your hard drive configured properly and have reinstalled Windows Vista.
Just follow these steps to get BitLocker up and running for you:
Just follow these steps to get BitLocker up and running for you:
- Click the Start menu and select Control Panel.
- When Control Panel loads, click the Security heading.
- Click BitLocker Drive Encryption.
- If your computer is configured properly, you should see a Turn it on link, next to your operating system drive.
- Click that link now.
- Select the type of device you will be using to protect your computer and follow the onscreen steps for your method of protection.
After you complete all the steps the wizard guides you through, your computer will begin encrypting the hard drive automatically.
Congratulations, your computer is now even more secure. Keep in mind that you will need to insert your USB drive every time you want to boot your computer if you choose the non-TPM option.
Failure to insert it will result in your computer not booting. Make sure that you keep your emergency recovery passcode stored in a safe place, as well as your USB drive, in the event you choose to use that option.
Congratulations, your computer is now even more secure. Keep in mind that you will need to insert your USB drive every time you want to boot your computer if you choose the non-TPM option.
Failure to insert it will result in your computer not booting. Make sure that you keep your emergency recovery passcode stored in a safe place, as well as your USB drive, in the event you choose to use that option.
Vista Tips - Enabling Aero Glass on Slower Hardware
Aero Glass can be resource intensive depending on your CPU, amount of RAM, and screen resolution. On top of the speed of your hardware, the DWM (Desktop Window Manager) has strict hardware requirements, such as a video card that supports DirectX 9 hardware acceleration and Pixel Shader 2.0 support. It also requires new Windows Vista WDDM (Windows display driver model) video drivers to function.
Failure to meet the hardware and driver requirements will result in no Glass for you. Back in the beta days, you could trick the DWM into running Glass in a software Direct3D emulation mode and bypassing the hardware checks. This made it possible to run Glass, but so poorly that the operating system was pretty much useless because the frame rate was less than one frame per second. In the final version of Windows Vista, that support was yanked, so you are left with the task of meeting the hardware and driver requirements to run Glass.
Failure to meet the hardware and driver requirements will result in no Glass for you. Back in the beta days, you could trick the DWM into running Glass in a software Direct3D emulation mode and bypassing the hardware checks. This made it possible to run Glass, but so poorly that the operating system was pretty much useless because the frame rate was less than one frame per second. In the final version of Windows Vista, that support was yanked, so you are left with the task of meeting the hardware and driver requirements to run Glass.
Say you have a computer that has a DirectX 9 accelerated graphics card with Pixel Shader 2.0 support and are running WDDM drivers for your card. Aero Glass is going to run, right? Not exactly. The first time that you boot your computer after Windows Vista is installed, Windows will benchmark your computer and all its hardware components during its initial hardware assessment.
Based on the results of this benchmark, it automatically fine-tunes Vista settings so that it performs the best on your hardware; atleast that's its goal. If hardware assessment finds any thresholds not met, such as not enough RAM, it disables Aero Glass from running on your computer even if your hardware can technically support it.
What are you to do?
With the help of a useful tweak I show you in this section, you can override the decision and re-enable Aero Glass. If you fall into this situation, I have good news for you. Many users have found that after they override the setting and re-enable Aero Glass, their system performance is just fine. It seems that the Windows hardware assessment might be a little too strict when it comes to deciding whether Aero Glass should be disabled.
Based on the results of this benchmark, it automatically fine-tunes Vista settings so that it performs the best on your hardware; atleast that's its goal. If hardware assessment finds any thresholds not met, such as not enough RAM, it disables Aero Glass from running on your computer even if your hardware can technically support it.
What are you to do?
With the help of a useful tweak I show you in this section, you can override the decision and re-enable Aero Glass. If you fall into this situation, I have good news for you. Many users have found that after they override the setting and re-enable Aero Glass, their system performance is just fine. It seems that the Windows hardware assessment might be a little too strict when it comes to deciding whether Aero Glass should be disabled.
Overriding the Windows decision to disable Aero Glass is easy via Registry Editor. Follow these steps to re-enable Aero Glass on your computer:
- Click the Start button, type regedit, and press Enter.
- When Registry Editor has opened, navigate to
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\DWM
Working with the Registry to enable Aero Glass
- Right-click on Composition and select Modify.
- Set the value to 1 and press OK.
- Right-click CompositionPolicy and select Modify.
- Set the value to 2 and press OK.
- Close Registry Editor and restart your computer.
You can restart the service by typing net stop uxsms followed by net start uxsms at an administrative-level command prompt.
After you set the two Registry values and restart the service or your computer, you will immediately see Aero Glass running if your hardware truly supports it and you have WDDM drivers for your video card.
How to change the Default launch Application
The information that Explorer looks up to find which program should be used to launch specific file types is stored in the System Registry under the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section.
Using the Registry Editor, it is possible to browse to that key and then find the file type that you want to change and edit some keys,but there is a much easier way in Windows XP to accomplish the same task.
Hidden away in Folder Options within any Explorer window resides a useful utility to change the default application easily without having to worry about application IDs and file association structure.
Using the Registry Editor, it is possible to browse to that key and then find the file type that you want to change and edit some keys,but there is a much easier way in Windows XP to accomplish the same task.
Hidden away in Folder Options within any Explorer window resides a useful utility to change the default application easily without having to worry about application IDs and file association structure.
Just follow these steps to change any File Types default launch app:
- Open up My Computer by clicking the desktop icon or on the icon in the Start panel.
- When you have My Computer displayed on your screen,click the Tools menu bar item and select Folder Options.
- Once the Folder Options window appears,click the File Types tab.
- Navigate through the list of file extensions until you find the extension of the file for which you want to change the default app.Because I want to change my MP3 player default launch app,I am going to select the MP3 file extension.When you find the file extension that you want to change,select it by clicking it.
- Click the Change button once you have your extension selected.
The Open With properties window will load,asking you what program to load it with.It will show a list of common programs that you can choose from,but you are not limited to just those programs.Click the Browse button to navigate to any executable file on your computer to specify exactly what program you want to use if it is not on the list.
- Once you have the application selected that you want to use,just click the OK button to save your changes.You are now finished with changing the launch application
Your changes to file launch applications are activated immediately after you click OK to save your changes. Now you will no longer have to worry about applications taking control of your files.