Top Tips for Hidden Windows 10 features
(Including “GodMode”!)
Folks, here’s an article you “Power Users” who’ve got the new Windows 10 will want to read…
* GodMode and More: Top Hidden Win 10 Tricks
“Here’s what you need to know to amp up your Windows 10 install and get the most from the latest Windows version.” Read more..
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Today’s quote: “I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade… And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.” ~ Ron White
Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
GWX.EXE (Or, How To Remove the Windows 10 Upgrade Nag)
Savvy Users may have noticed a new process in their Task Manager, namely GWX.EXE. Which stands for “Get Windows X” (“X” meaning 10), and is responsible for that new “Windows Logo” icon in your Notification Tray (the right part of your Taskbar, with the clock). Which was pushed onto us by Microsoft’s Update process via the KB3035583 update
Now I know that some of you are eagerly awaiting June 29th to get the latest Windows version, but for those of you who, like me, never install version 1.0 of anything, or like me, rely on Windows Media Center (not included in Windows 10), and would prefer that the Microsoft nag and downloader package NOT be on their systems, simply Uninstall Windows Update KB3035583.
For those who don’t know how to do that, I have been busily preparing the How To tutorial.
But Scott Thurow beat me to it. So instead of me reinventing the wheel, I’ll just point you here: How to stop the Windows 10 Upgrade from downloading on your system
NOTE: You can always go back and get KB3035583 at a later date. (And I expect, since Microsoft is hellbent on getting the entire world using Windows 10, that they’ll push this same thing in future updates (and any other trick they can think of)).
Today’s quote: “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ~ Yogi Berra
Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
Customize Your Shortcuts “Sidebar”
Whenever you Open, or Save, a file in Windows, a standard ‘dialog box’ appears, which shows ‘shortcut’ locations on the left “sidebar”. You can easily customize these locations to add or remove folders to best suit your personal usage habits.
For example, I never use the “Public” folder, nor do I do music on my PC (other than listen to Spotify), and I cannot recall ever, in decades of using a computer, wanting to Save As something to my recent searches list — why have those in my sidebar?
I do however, have certain ‘go to’ locations I would like see listed..
Here is the how-to tutorial for customizing the shortcuts:
1. Open a dialog box (either a Save As or Open dialog will work).
2. Right click on some white space in the locations on the left pane and select Open Favorite Links Folder. (or navigate to: “C:\Users\your User name\Links”.)
You will now see the “default” shortcuts listed (these are ‘shortcuts to’ and not the actual locations, and so it is safe to delete them).
3. Add or remove shortcuts as desired. (A quick way to access your folders, so you can ‘drag and drop’ them, is to ‘expand’ the folders list.)
To continue my example, I will delete (or, drag to the Recycle bin) the shortcuts in the main pane: Music, Public, and Searches (as I don’t use ’em ever).
For some reason.. (a “Windows Quirk”) the ‘Public’ folder tried to re-appear, so I ‘deleted’ it a second time.. to make it ‘stick’..
I then located the two folders I most use (Desktop and Downloads)
4. Right-click on the folder you wish to add, and drag it into the main ‘pane’, let go (release the click) and choose Add shortcut here.
Your changes should take effect immediately, as you can see by the new icons in my sidebar.
(Yes, Desktop is there twice now.. but my change is the icon on top, which means it will always show, even if my dialog box is scrunched down to tiny size)
If you make mistakes, or just want to go back to the standard (aka ‘default’) list, repeat Step 1, but choose Restore Default Favorite Links.
Today’s quote: “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” ~ G.B. Shaw
Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
17 Tips For Windows 7 (and some fun)
Windows 7 has many features that can speed up your work. Some are obvious, but others are more like ‘hidden jewels’. Tony Bradley’s article over on ComputerWorld is a great place for you to find out about 7 of these new efficiency-boosters and learn good advice for best using them.
Here is the direct link: Windows 7 efficiency tips “Master these features to boost your productivity in Windows 7.”
And, 10 ways to speed up Windows 7
“With Windows 7, Microsoft did a really good job making the system perform well. However, over time, Windows 7 systems can slow down and need some care and feeding to regain their former glory. Further, some Windows 7 features can be leveraged to improve overall system performance. In this article, I will outline 10 steps you can take to boost the performance of your Windows 7 systems.” Read more..
Related: And for those of you who aren’t interested in these – because you are still using Windows XP – see, It is time to face facts and finally dump Windows XP
“I have been saying this for a while now; but, sometimes people want to know what other professionals are saying..“
Unrelated: (But hopefully fun):
* I have been meaning to mention this for some time now, but I have been hearing from many, many places that it has been hot and humid and insufferable. Quite different from here, where we have had days that did not break 70° and I thought I was going to get jobbed out of summer…
* Tech skills: The problem’s not the staff, it’s the bozos in charge
“Evidence is mounting that technologically illiterate managers are causing more damage to corporate productivity than a shortage of IT skills among staff.” Read more..
(“Evidence is mounting“??? I call that “stating the obvious”.. [I guess the author never heard of Dilbert?])
* The 12 O’clock Flasher (aka “Funny tech support”) (To me, this isn’t funny.. it’s far too accurate.)
Today’s free download: IObit Toolbox is a free, portable software that system administrators and computer geeks will take along to solve PC problems anytime and anywhere. With more than 20 dedicated tools, IObit Toolbox allows you to display/diagnose PC information, enhance PC security, optimize PC performance and repairing PC problems. In a word, it offers an easy way for PC admins to monitor and manage computers.
Today’s quote: “The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck!” ~ Unknown
Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
Windows 7 Control Panel – Regain the “Classic View” | Tips for better Searching
One of the first “personalizations” I make to a new PC is switch the Control Panel from categorized tasks to the more detailed (and familiar to XP users) “Classic View”.
In Windows Vista, Microsoft provided an easy method for doing that – a click-able option there in the upper left.
Windows 7 there is no click-able option to use. In Windows 7, you have to use a different approach to revert, and switch back to Classic View.
1) Open the Control Panel (Start button > Control Panel)
2) Look to the upper right, and click on the drop-down arrow by View by: and change it to “Small icons”.
That’s it! You’re done. Your Control Panel will now be much more familiar looking if you’ve been using Windows for a while (more “XP like”) as well as providing a more comprehensive list of the Control Panel’s options.
Orig posting: 3/31/10
(Kinda hard to fathom that Win 7 has been with us 2 years already, eh?)
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Bonus: Tips for Searching the Web learn the secrets of “power” searchers.
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Enjoy your weekend everybody! It sure feels like Spring here.
Today’s quote: “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.” ~ Ralph Marston
Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
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Reader Asks How To Make Icons Bigger
A reader wrote in with a good question..
Q: Paul I hope you can provide a solution I have been unable to find elsewhere. I purchased a new Windows 7 computer from Dell. I find the notification area and the date/time display too small. I already have “Use Small Icons” unchecked, and I do not want to reduce my screen resolution, but would like the icons to be larger. Any suggestions? Thanks!
A: I am going to read between the lines a bit here, and assume from what you have written that you have already explored changing the various Display settings, and further, that you are referring specifically to the icons.
(But, if you haven’t, you can try scaling the DPI.
Right-click on your Desktop, choose Personalize (or, go to Start button > Control Panel > Display, and in left column select Custom DPI setting.) In the left column, click Adjust Font size – (DPI). Click on Large scale (120 DPI), and click Apply. Or, Click ‘Set custom text size (DPI)’ in the left pane to customize the text size with the slider.)
Other than that, to make the Date/Time text bigger, you might try a 3rd-party ‘tweak’ tool (I’m fairly sure there’s some out there..) but to make the icons themselves bigger, well, I am afraid my answer is you are (most likely going to be) out of luck.
(Most of) The Notification Area icons are created and installed during the installation of your various programs (usually “3rd-party”), and it has been long a standard that these “activity” icons be quite small. To the best of my current knowledge, that isn’t a Windows “setting”. And I know of no way to change them.
If this is really a problem for you, you might try placing a “stick on” (plastic sheet/”film”) magnifying “lens” down in that corner.. sorry I don’t have a better answer. Perhaps someone out there can provide a different (happier) answer?
Here is what Microsoft has on this subject: Change how icons appear in the notification area.
Today’s quote: “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” ~ Ronald Reagan
Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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