PC Help Guide

You will all have seen the windows key on your keyboard, well here are some shortcuts you can use with it;

• Windows + F: Search for files
• Windows + L: Locks down the desktop
• Windows + M: Minimize your windows
• Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
• Windows + Q: You have to hold down your windows key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your pc
• Windows: Displays the start menu
• Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
• Windows + E: Display windows explorer
• Windows + Pause/ Break: System Properties dialog box
• Windows + Shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
• Windows + R: Run dialog box
• Windows + U: Utility Manager
• Windows + Ctrl + F: Search for computer
• Windows + F1: Help and Support Center

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Here is a cool tweak that allows you to get all your Windows version information through your registry;

• Open regedit
• Navigate here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

In this section it will give you this information;

• CSDVersion: Service Pack
• CurrentBuildNumber: Build Number
• CurrentVersion: Version Number
• ProductName: Windows Version Name

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Google are using billboards around the metro areas of New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago to promote their Google apps. Here is a clip showing some of the billboards;

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You may have heard by now about the planned partnership between the two search engine minor players Microsoft and Yahoo. Here is a Bloomberg video discussing the partnership and what that might mean to their search engine future on the web;

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If you are a regular user on Twitter you probably haven’t been to the homepage since the day you signed up, so you probably haven’t noticed that there is a new homepage.

The new homepage is more about searching for different topics and niches on twitter, rather than just a sign up form.

And there is a new headline on the homepage, “Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world”.

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Notification balloons are those annoying things popping up in a balloon that tells you basic stuff about the OS, so unless you are one of the few that actually enjoys the balloons you may want to get rid of them.

• Open regedit
• Navigate to this location
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
• In the right pane right click and select new DWORD
• Set the name as EnableBalloonTips
• Keep the value data set at 0
• Done
• You will need to restart your PC to see it take effect

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The paging files in Windows XP are there to basically store your temporary files and data, and in XP these files are cleared everytime you shut down. So whenever you shutdown XP it takes time first to clear the paging files, and this can take time.

If you have information that is secure or you don’t want anyone else to see then I recommend you keep XP clearing the paging files, but if you don’t really care then you can get faster shutdown speeds by stopping XP from clearing the paging files.

To stop XP from clearing the paging files you need to do this registry edit;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

• Now you need to find this – ClearPageFileAtShutdown
• Double click on it
• Set the value data to 0
• Restart your PC

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Most people might already know how to set up a default start page in Internet Explorer (tools > options > main tab), but what I thought I’d teach you today is just how to set your default page using a registry edit.

• Open your registry editor
• Navigate to the following location – HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
• Find the following key – Start Page
• Double click it
• Change the value data to whatever new home page you want
• Here is a suggestion!

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In Windows XP whenever your PC reads a file it marks that file with times and dates when you accessed it last. Now if you often check back at these data for any reason than you should keep Last Access Timestamp enabled, but if you don’t then you can disable it.

By disabling it you will stop XP from marking everyfile with a timestamp and cluttering things up, I have given two options here to which disable your Last Access Timestamp.

Command Prompt

• Open your cmd
• Enter the following command
  • FSUTIL behavior set disablelastaccess 1
• Reboot your computer
• To turn Last Access Timestamp back on just put this command back into your cmd
  • FSUTIL behavior set disablelastaccess 0

Registry Edit

• Open your registry editor
• Navigate to this location
  • SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
• Add a new DWORD
  • NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate
• Set the value to 1
• Set the value to 0 if you want to enable it again

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