ManToAdmire's Blog » Windows

Create a desktop shortcut for Hibernation

mantoadmire — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:10:49 +0000

The Shutdown.exe command can shut down or restart your computer, optionally forcing it to shut down even if some programs attempt to prevent it. But it does not include an option to hibernate. If you hibernate quite often, then you can have a desktop shortcut for quickly putting your PC into hibernation.

To create a shortcut, right-click on an empty space on the Desktop and select ‘New->Shortcut‘. In the ‘Type the location of the item’ box, add this text:

rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll SetSuspendState

Click on the Next button. In the ‘Type a name for this shortcut’ box type ‘Hibernate’ and then click on the Finish button.

If the shortcut does not work, then the hibernate option might not be enabled. To enable it, click on the Start button and select ‘Settings’. Click on ‘Control Panel’ and then double-click on the ‘Power Options’ icon. Click on the ‘Hibernate’ tab and make sure the ‘Enable Hibnernate‘ is checked.

Make risky file extensions obvious

mantoadmire — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:27:32 +0000

Having file extensions visible can make certain malicious programs in your e-mail in-box more obvious. For example, showing a file attachment such as image.jpg.exe, which would otherwise have the harmless-looking name image.jpg. On the other hand, displaying all file extensions all the time looks ugly, makes file names more difficult to read, and increases your likelihood of changing a file’s extension accidentally when renaming it. With a Registry editing, you can make Windows display only the file extensions of executable files, which you’re less likely to rename or interact with directly. Follow these steps:

1. Click on the Start button and select Run
2. Type in ‘regedit’ and press OK 3. Double-click on the ‘HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT’ key
4. Scroll down the list to the ‘exefile‘ key
5. Right-click in the right pane and select ‘New->String Value’
6. Type in ‘AlwaysShowExt‘ and press OK

You may need to restart Windows to see the effect, but from now on, all application files will have their .exe extensions visible in folder windows and other programs that display file names, even when ‘Hide extensions for known file types’ is selected.

Control Regedit’s Key Memory

mantoadmire — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:01:16 +0000

The Registry in Windows XP has a feature that it remembers the last-used key. It also has the ability to save often-used keys as Favorites. The only way to disable this feature is to restrict the Registry from saving the last-used key information. To do this, open regedit and look for this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit

Right-click on the ‘LastKey‘ value in the right pane and select ‘Modify‘. Erase everything in the ‘Value Data’ box and leave it blank then click OK. Now, with the ‘RegEdit’ key in the left pane highlighted, go to ‘Edit->Permissions‘ at the top of the Registry window. Select a User Name then select the ‘Deny’ checkbox next to ‘Full Control’ and click OK.

The Registry will now no longer save the last used key, but remember that you will no longer be able to use the Favorites menu. If you prefer not to disable this feature, a fast way to colapse the menu tree is to hold down the left arrow key on the keyboard until only the My Computer entry is visible then tap on the left arrow key once to bring back the five root keys.

Free Up Disk Space

mantoadmire — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:56:48 +0000

Freeing disk space helps you to improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool integrated in Windows helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose which files you want to delete.

Use Disk Cleanup to:
• Remove Windows and Internet temporary files.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
• Remove optional Windows components that you don’t use.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Tip: Usually, temporary Internet files occupy the most disk space. It’s because your Web browser caches each Web page you visit for quicker access later.

To use Disk Cleanup, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, go to All Programs > Accessories > System Tools, and then click on Disk Cleanup. If many drives are available, you might be asked to specify the drive to be cleaned.

2. In the Disk Cleanup box, you’ll see a list of files to be deleted.

3. Clear the check boxes for files that you don’t want to delete, and then click OK.

4. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

After a few minutes, the process will complete and the Disk Cleanup dialog box will close, making your Windows cleaner and performing better.