Tips & Tricks voor Windows 7

Hierbij een overzichts topic voor Tips & Tricks voor Windows 7. Zeker nu vlak na de release zijn er een hoop vragen maar ook in de toekomst zal dit hopelijk makkelijk zijn als naslag werk.
Het is vooral mijn bedoeling om dit een schoon en overzichtelijk topic te houden zodat iedereen snel kan vinden wat ze zoeken.

Waar is dit topic voor
* Het delen van tips, tricks en tweaks voor Windows 7 (en eventueel Vista maar vermeld dat dan even apart in de titel)

Waar is dit topic niet voor
* Discussie over het nut van een tip of tweak
* Algemene vragen over Windows 7 want daar is een topic over (zie onderaan de OP)
* Bashen op users, op windows, op de tricks, etc (ook daar zijn andere topics voor.
* Het zal als het goed is een langzaamlopend topic zijn dus liever een bookmark inplaats van de beruchte tvp.
* Vragen en opmerkingen kunnen het beste in het Digital Corner feedback topic (zie link onderaan)

Als je zelf een tip/trick of tweak hebt dan is deze uiteraard van harte welkom. We kunnen de modjes dan verzoeken om deze toe te voegen in de OP.
Probeer ze het liefste wel duidelijk op te bouwen met een stap voor stap overzicht en het liefste ondersteund met screenshots. Op die manier hebben mensen met minder computer ervaring er ook iets aan.
Bijna elke tip/trick is nuttig en ze hoeven niet heel hoogstaand te zijn. Als ze in het engels staan ergens hoef je ook echt geen moeite doen om ze te vertalen. Mensen die Engels niet begrijpen kunnen wel een gratis online translator gebruiken.

Ik heb niet alle tips en tricks getest en ik geef dus geen garantie dat ze werken.


De tips/tricks die er nu staan heb ik uiteraard niet zelf verzonnen maar zijn schaamteloos over genomen van andere websites.

Overzicht van de tricks:
* How to get the old XP/Vista taskbar back in Windows 7
* Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
* Customize your icons with Windows 7 high-resolution device icons
* How to check software or hardware for Windows 7 compatibility online
* How to customize the logon screen for Windows 7
* How to enable the Quick Launch bar in Windows 7 (methode 2)
* How to really pin the Show Desktop to Taskbar in Windows 7
* How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 (almost)
* Tweak Hundreds of Windows 7 Settings With Ultimate Windows Tweaker
* Speed up taskbar thumbnails by changing hover time in Windows 7
* Fix Aero Glass in Windows 7
* Fine Tune Windows 7 on Netbooks
* How to enable Dreamscene or Video Wallpaper in Windows 7
* How to minimize MSN Messenger to the system tray in Windows 7
* Slow torrents with Windows 7
How to easily download and install Windows 7 Language Packs (MUI packs)

Overige links
Windows 7 #13
Het grote Digital Corner FB topic

[ Bericht 5% gewijzigd door Jo0Lz op 07-11-2009 10:42:04 ]

How to get the old XP/Vista taskbar back in Windows 7

How to change the Windows 7 Taskbar back to the XP/Vista style taskbar:

1) Right click on an open-area in the taskbar and select properties


2) From the taskbar buttons drop-down menu, choose Never Combine. You may also want to check the Use small icons box under Taskbar Appearance.


3) Press OK and now you have the old XP/Vista style taskbar.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
With Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor you can detect automatically Information about your computer is your computer seven ready or not.

Before you run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor beta, be sure to plug in any USB devices or other devices such as printers, external hard drives, or scanners that are regularly used with the PC you’re evaluating.
The utility will work in Windows Vista and Windows XP and is available free for Download.



Link naar upgrade advisor:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=nl&FamilyID=1b544e90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15

Customize your icons with Windows 7 high-resolution device icons

One of the cool new features of Windows 7 is its ability to automatically find a high-resolution device icon that corresponds to your device. You can find these icons in action under Devices and Printers, which can be accessed via the Start menu. Most of the time, Windows downloads those icons directly from Microsoft when you install a new device. Icons are not available for every device, but most new devices will have a corresponding icon.



To access the icons, open an Explorer window and paste the following into the address bar:

quote:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Device Metadata\dmrccache\

Click on the folder named after your region (mine says en-US) and you should see a list of folders for each device. Unfortunately, you would have to check each folder individually, then click on Device Information to access the icon for the device.



Additionally, you may access the default set of icons included with Windows 7 out-of-the-box using the following resource file

quote:

%SystemRoot%\system32\DDOres.dll

How to check software or hardware for Windows 7 compatibility online

Microsoft has put up an extremely useful site that will allow you to check your software and hardware for Windows 7 compatibility. The Windows 7 Compatibility Center tells you whether your software or hardware is compatible, and provides instructions for driver or utility download if necessary. Useful links such to different parts of the manufacturer’s website are also provided at your convenience.


Link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/en-us/default.aspx

How to customize the logon screen for Windows 7



Windows 7 now supports the ability to change the logon background screen without the use of any third-party software or hacks. The feature seems to have been intended for OEMs to customize.
This tweak only works for builds 7057 and up.

Toggling the ability to change the logon background screen can easily be done by changing the value of a specific registry key.

1) Download this file to Enable/Disable custom login backgrounds
http://windows7center.com(...)d_Registry_Tweak.rar

quote:

If you want to edit the registry key manually, simply open the Start Menu and type regedit in the search bar.

Head to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background

Check to see if a DWord value named OEMBackground exists and has a value of 1. If not, right click the white-space and create a DWORD Value for this.

2) The images for these custom backgrounds are to be placed in the following directory. Keep in mind that the file size must remain under 256kb.

quote:

%windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds

3) This directory may not exist by default, in which case, you would have to navigate to the directory below and create the info and backgrounds folders yourself.

quote:

%windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds

4) These are the possible file names you can use for your images. backgroundDefault.jpg is loaded and set to stretch-to-fit when a resolution specific background (for example background1280×1024.jpg for my monitor) cannot be found.

* backgroundDefault.jpg
* background768×1280.jpg (0.6)
* background900×1440.jpg (0.625)
* background960×1280.jpg (0.75)
* background1024×1280.jpg (0.8)
* background1280×1024.jpg (1.25)
* background1024×768.jpg (1.33-)
* background1280×960.jpg (1.33-)
* background1600×1200.jpg (1.33-)
* background1440×900.jpg (1.6)
* background1920×1200.jpg (1.6)
* background1280×768.jpg (1.66-)
* background1360×768.jpg (1.770833-)

5) To see if changes have taken into effect, you can simply log off then log back in, instead or rebooting your computer each time.

How to enable the Quick Launch bar in Windows 7


By default, Windows 7 doesn’t have the Quick Launch bar enabled. But some users may find that they really need the Quick Launch bar back like it was in Vista and XP. Windows 7 doesn’t give you any instant way to bring it back, but it is still possible.

1) Right click any empty area in your taskbar, and uncheck Lock the Taskbar.


2) Right click any empty area of your taskbar again, select Toolbars, then New Toolbar.


3) Copy the following address, and paste it into the address bar of Windows Explorer.

quote:

%userprofile%AppDataRoamingMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick Launch

4) Select the Quick Launch folder, and click on Select Folder below. Do not double-click Quick Launch.


5) Now you’ll see Quick Launch in your taskbar. Since we previously unlocked the taskbar, you can place the Quick Launch bar anywhere you want by dragging it to the leftmost or rightmost corner of the taskbar.

6) You’ll want to hide the Quick Launch text and program titles as well. Right click the Quick Launch bar and deselect Show Text and Show Title.


And now you’ve got the Quick Launch bar that was in Vista and XP. Some of you might be happy to know that there is also a Show Desktop and Flip 3D icon.



[ Bericht 1% gewijzigd door Godtje op 03-11-2009 10:14:46 ]

How to really pin the Show Desktop to Taskbar in Windows 7

you’ve just picked up Windows 7, you’re probably wondering where the Show Desktop button has gone. It’s actually now moved to the bottom right hand corner of the screen for quick access. Hovering your mouse over it will activate Aero Peek and allow you to preview the Desktop without actually going to it. This feature is good for taking a quick peek at any Gadgets you may have lying on your desktop.

But if you still want a “Show Desktop” icon in your taskbar, it’s possible. This guide will teach you how to pin Show Desktop properly into the taskbar, not the method that gives you a strange unaligned placement in the taskbar.


vs


he guide is actually not as long as it looks. I added a lot of pictures to guide you along the process.
How-to:

1) First, you need to pin an item you don’t actually want in the taskbar. I chose TweetDeck because it stays in the System Tray anyway.



2) Then you need to create your own Show Desktop icon. You can download the Icon here, or do it yourself.
http://windows7center.com/wp-content/desktop.rar

To do it yourself, open Notepad and paste the following code:

quote:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

When you save the file, select All Files from the drop down menu, and name the icon Desktop.scf

How to really pin the Show Desktop to Taskbar in Windows 7

Whether you download or create the desktop file yourself, make sure to save it into this directory:

quote:

C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar

3) Right click the item you pinned earlier (in my case, TweetDeck) and click on Properties.

4) Edit the Target Field to the following. Change the field yourusername to your Computer name. You can find this by opening the Start Menu and looking at the first item in the darkened area.

quote:

Paste this code into the Target Field. Make sure to change yourusername.

C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\Desktop.scf

5) Now we need to change the icon. Click on Change Icon and paste the following code into the Browse field and press Enter:

quote:

%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll

The Show Desktop icon is located somewhere near the middle. This was where mine was located:


6) You can also rename your icon to Show Desktop so you don’t get confused when editing the taskbar later on.

7) Your icon in the Taskbar will not change unless you log off and log back in or end the explorer.exe process in Task Manager. Regardless, the icon should function like the old “Show Desktop” icon.

If you’re a fan of keyboard shortcuts, Win+D shows the desktop too.

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 (almost)

Windows 7 now has the ability to “uninstall” Internet Explorer 8. This decision was most likely made due to the antitrust issues Microsoft has been facing with the European Union, who has been pressuring Microsoft to either provide alternative browsers or not offer IE at all. Interestingly, European copies of Windows do not come with any built-in Media Players.

Anyway, “uninstall” means you can now remove the Internet Explorer executable completely from Windows 7. The IE files themselves will not be removed (for now) because IE has been integrated into a couple Windows components. If you really want to get rid of the IE executable, this is how.

1) Open the Start Menu and type in Windows Features


2) Uncheck the Internet Explorer box


Once you click OK, you will be prompted to restart. After the restart, Windows will make a few configurations and reboot again. After that, you’re all set.

Tweak Hundreds of Windows 7 Settings With Ultimate Windows Tweaker
WinVistaClub updated their Ultimate Windows Tweaker. It can edit over a hundred settings, which can customize your desktop fully to your liking.
http://www.winvistaclub.com/



As you can see from the picture, there are quite a few options for you to choose from.� Ultimate Windows Tweaker detects what your operating system is and what browser you are using and offers you only the relevant tweaks, so it is very safe to use. It also lets you create sytem restore points before you make tweaks so you can restore your system if anything does happen.

This is a very small application, only 380 KB and does not require any installation process. It was originally designed for Windows Vista, but has been made to tweak some of Windows 7 settings too. You can download Windows Ultimate Tweaker 1.1 here.
http://www.winvistaclub.com/Ultimate_Windows_Tweaker.html

Many other tweaking programs will probably surface and there are a few already (if you search around enough, you might find some); when they do, we’ll let you know.

Speed up taskbar thumbnails by changing hover time in Windows 7

One new feature of the taskbar in Windows 7 is thumbnail previews of multiple windows of a specific application. By default, there is a 400ms delay before the thumbnails appear. This can be easily changed. First, download the registry key I have provided below.
Download Change Hover time Registry Key here
http://windows7center.com(...)hange_hover_time.reg

By default, the registry key file is set to decrease the delay to 30ms. If you want to change this, you can right click the registry key, and click on Edit. In Notepad, you can change the number 30 to anything between 0 and 4000. I don’t recommend choosing 0 for the delay. Once you’re done, save the file and double-click it to add the key to the registry. Changes don’t take effect until you restart your computer.


Manual Method:

You can also edit the registry key manually yourself.

1) Open the Start menu and type regedit in the search bar

2) Proceed to the following directory: HKEY_Current_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

3) Right click the MouseHoverTime key and choose Modify

4) Change it to a value between 0 and 4000. The number you input will be the millisecond delay before thumbnail previews activate when you hover your mouse over an application.I don’t recommend selecting a value of 0 for this option.

Changes don’t take place until you restart your computer.

Fix Aero Glass in Windows 7

If you want the full Windows 7 experience the Aero glass interface is a must. Without the slick glass interface a number of key features will be disabled such as taskbar thumbnails and Aero Peek. According to Microsoft the bare minimum requirements for Aero is a graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0 or newer and a native WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) driver. In most cases when you install Windows 7 Aero will be enabled but on some configurations various issues prevent the feature from starting.

The most common issue I have seen is a lack of compatible WDDM drivers. When Windows 7 was installed compatible drivers were not found on the installation media. In this scenario Windows will search on Windows Update for compatible drivers once an internet connection is established. To make Windows search for new drivers manually just click on the Start Button and type in Windows Update. Then, click Check for updates.

If no WDDM compatible drivers are found for your video adapter on Windows update try looking on the manufacturers Web site.

After you have, or your system has automatically updated your video adpater drivers to compatible WDDM drivers it is best to refresh the Windows Experience Index. This will run the Windows Experience performance tool to benchmark your computer and identify what features should be turned on and off. Click on the Start Button and type in check the windows experience index and hit Enter. Next, click Refresh Now.

If you still have problems try running the Aero Troubleshooting utility by clicking on the Start Button and typing in Find an fix problems with transparency and then hit Enter.

As a last resort you can try the old Windows Vista registry hack to enable Aero glass on low end systems.
http://tweaks.com/article(...)compatible-hardware/

Fine Tune Windows 7 on Netbooks

Fine Tune Visual Settings

The Windows 7 eye candy is the main cause of GUI slowness. While my netbook has a decent graphics card that can display Aero Glass it can be choppy at times. Follow these steps to improve the performance of the interface:

Click on the Start Button and type in adjust the appearance and hit Enter. This will load the Visual Effects performance options.



On this screen I suggest disabling the following settings by removing the check:

* Animate controls and elements inside windows
* Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
* Enable transparent glass
* Fade or slide menus into view
* Fade or slide ToolTips into view
* Fade out menu items after clicking
* Show shadows under windows (this may be worth the performance hit for some)
* show thumbnails instead of icons
* show translucent selection rectangle
* Show window contents while dragging
* Slide open combo boxes

Click OK when you are finished.

Remove Startup Programs

Nothing wastes resources more is startup programs that you don’t need. Click on the Start Button and type in msconfig and hit Enter.

When the System Configuration utility is loaded click on the Startup tab.



Remove the check next to any applications you don’t need and click OK.

Disable Services

Now it’s time to trim the Windows services running in the background of your computer.

Click on the Start Button and type in services.msc and hit Enter.



When the Services management console is shown you can stop and disable services by selecting the service, right clicking and selecting Properties. Then change the Startup type to Disabled and hit the Stop button. Finally click OK to return to the Services management console.

I recommend disabling the following services on a netbook:

* Block Level Backup Engine Service
* Bonjour Service (from iTunes)
* Certificate Propagation
* Group Policy Client (if not on domain)
* HomeGroup Listener
* HomeGroup Provider
* Offline Files
* Portable Device Enumerator Service
* Security Center*
* Software Protection (make sure you activate Windows first)
* SSDP Discovery
* Windows Defender*
* Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
* Windows Search

Keep in mind that if you use any of these services or applications that depend on them they will no longer function. E.g. if you are a homegroup user don’t disable the Homegroup Provider.

* Make sure you use other security software if you disable these services.

Install More RAM

There is really no good substitute to having plenty of ram in a computer. You can use ReadyBoost but with memory prices so cheap why not just buy more. I purchased a 2GB chip for my netbook for $16 (hopefully the mail-in rebate will come through).

The popular Intel Atom processor netbooks use the Mobile Intel 945GSE Express Chipset that has a max of 2GB of ram supported. The amount of expansion slots or if your netbook even has one depends on the vendor and model of your netbook.

I suggest picking up a 2GB stick of PC2-5300 DDR2 at 667 Mhz on a 200 pin SO-DIMM. That is the type of memory required for the Mobile Intel 945GSE Express Chipset.

quote:

Op dinsdag 3 november 2009 09:44 schreef mime_negert het volgende:
Mooi topic!

Ik zit er over te denken om via surfspot de ultimate versie te kopen.

quote:

Op dinsdag 3 november 2009 10:10 schreef L3IPO het volgende:
Ik heb met meerdere beta versies problemen gehad op mijn pc (traagheid, vastlopers) terwijl er met mijn hardware niets mis is denk ik, aangezien er onder XP 0,0 problemen zijn. Dat maakt mij een beetje huiverig om W7 echt aan te schaffen...

Daar is dit topic voor
Windows 7 #13

quote:

Op dinsdag 3 november 2009 09:43 schreef jeoff het volgende:
Die show desktop knop is wel compleet overbodig.. die Aero Peek button laat inderdaad alleen de desktop zien als je er op gaat staan, maar als je OP die Aero Peek button KLIKT ga je wel helemaal naar je desktop.. en nog mooier, als je nog eens op die Aero Peek button klikt krijg je weer alle windows te zien als voorheen,

die tip is dus meer taskbar vervuiling

Voor de rest wel nuttige tips

Veel mensen willen hem links hebben en niet rechts en zo smal. Vervuiling? Ik dacht het niet. Het is gewoon aan te passen aan je wensen zo heb je voor beide iets.