Tweaks
Make Disk Cleanup work faster
Windows XP comes with a useful utility called Disk Cleanup that helps to keep unnecessary temporary files from accumulating. (I discuss the details of using this utility at this link.) However, systems with NTFS disks often run into a problem with the utility being very slow or hanging for a long time. This is caused [...]
Adding functions to the “Send to” menu in Vista
The very useful “Send to” feature in the right-click context menu goes back a long way. I have written about it at my beginner’s site and posted here about how to add things to the list of folders and programs accessible from it. “Send to” lives on in Vista but the method for adding to [...]
Shortcuts and Tweaks for Internet Explorer
I know that many of you use Firefox or even Internet Explorer 6 but for those who use IE7 here is a site from Microsoft that has some tweaks for the newest version of IE. There are user interface tweaks and others. One that I like speeds up browsing by allowing for more Internet connections. [...]
Do you have the correct time?
Windows has a time synchronization function that is supposed to periodically check your system time with accurate Internet time servers. However, the default time servers don’t work very well, if at all. The default servers listed for Windows XP are time.windows.com and time.nist.gov. It is better to change the servers to something else. NIST (National [...]
How to keep a CD/DVD from playing automatically when you insert it
When you insert removable media, Windows has a function called “AutoPlay” that will automatically try to start some action, depending on the type of file that Windows detects on the disk. There is also an automatic action that is referred to as “AutoRun,” which is governed by a special file named “autorun.inf” that is [...]
Make icon names and Windows Explorer easier to read
Do you have trouble reading the names of the icons on your desktop or the entries in Windows Explorer? The typeface of both is controlled by the same setting. The default is an 8-point Tahoma font but can be easily configured to suit your own preference. Here are the steps to change the font and/or [...]
Change your mouse pointers (cursors)
Many PC owners just accept whatever default settings come with their PC and make little or no personalization. However, Windows is very configurable with a myriad of possible tweaks. That may be the problem- so many tweaks that the average person doesn’t know where to start. Here’s one that you may like; change your mouse [...]
Tame the annoying Caps Lock key
My typing skills are pretty low level and I keep hitting the Caps Lock key when what I want is the Shift key or some other nearby key. Then before I know it I have spewed out a bunch of upper case. I have absolutely no use for the Caps Lock and I consider it [...]
How to remove the text below an icon
Here’s an unusual trick that I’ll pass along for what it’s worth. I can’t remember where I learned it and I don’t use it but some PC users like to remove the text that appears beneath an icon and just have an unlabeled icon. There’s a way to do that that uses the Numeric Keypad [...]
Quick and easy way to configure ActiveX settings for IE 7
I previously posted about a Web page I put up giving some recommended changes in the security settings for Internet Explorer 7. I know from my experiences in teaching that many people are daunted by a procedure of that sort. To provide some help for those who find the general approach to be too much [...]