Jelly Bean
FPCH Distinguished Member
Shake Windows off your Desktop:
To clear the desktop:
Left click and hold on the Title Bar of the window you only want to show on the desktop.
Shake the window a bit by quickly dragging it left and right.
When the desktop clears, drop.
To restore the desktop:
Left click and hold on the Title Bar of the same window.
Shake the window a bit by quickly dragging it left and right.
When the minimized windows return to the desktop, drop (release the left click) the window.
Try this Secret:
When you right click on a file/icon you see the usal items in the list,Open/Send to and so on.
Hold down the Shift key while right-clicking on the icon, and then try the Send To menu.
Wow loads of things in the list of send to.
If you want any of those to show up normally without holding down the Shift key, you can create shortcuts in the Send To folder. Just type the following into the location bar:
shell:sendto
And then drag shortcuts to your preferred folders into this folder.
To open command prompt:
Just hold down the Shift Key and right click on the desktop.
And then you can choose Open Command Window Here from the menu.
But then again just right click on a folder and choose Open command prompt window here.
Stretch out on extra displays:
It’s now far easier to extend the Windows desktop on to secondary displays. Simply press Windows +P and you’ll be presented with options to extend, duplicate or show your desktop only on the secondary display.
Sort out the System Tray:
The System Tray now has an overspill area, allowing you to relegate attention-hungry applications to a hidden sin bin. Click on the little up arrow on the left-hand side of the System Tray and click Customize to pick and choose which System Tray icons you want to see, and how much you want them to bother you with alerts.
Boost the text size:
The huge screens and high resolutions of today’s flat panel monitors can make it difficult to read on-screen text, particularly if you use your PC as a Media Center on the main living room television. Windows 7 allows you to boost the size of text on screen to up to 150% of its normal size to make it more readable. Right click on the desktop, choose Screen Resolution and select the Make Text And Other Items Larger or Smaller.
Unpin the default apps:
Microsoft has cheekily pinned Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer to the Taskbar, ensuring they remain a constant presence on your desktop. If you want to get shot of them, right click on the app’s Taskbar icon and select Unpin This Program From Taskbar. If you want to replace them with your favourite software, open the application of your choice, right click on its Taskbar icon and select Pin This Program To Taskbar.
Reverting back to Vista:
If you used the upgrade to Windows 7 then you decide ewwwww I do not like that?
If you find issues trying to uninstall the upgrade or revert back to Vista and find it impossible.
Or you find it impossible to reinstall Vista.
Pop in the Vista disk and run a repair.
This will get you back up and running with Vista.
However you may find Vista a little buggy,if you do then I am afraid it is reinstall Vista.
ISO burner:
Double-click on any DVD or CD .ISO image and a little box popsup.You can now burn an ISO.
Windows 7 install from USB pen drive:
Take a 4GB USB 2.0 thumbdrive, reformat it as FAT32, and simply copy the contents of the Windows 7 Beta ISO image to the memory stick using xcopy e:\ f:\ /e /f (where e: was the DVD drive and f: was the removable drive location).
Vista looking Task Bar:
Right-click on the taskbar and choose the properties dialog. Select the small icons checkbox and under the taskbar buttons setting, choose combine when taskbar is full.
Add-ons:
Add-ons can cause slow loading pages.
Open IE8/Tools/Manage Add-ons/scroll right in the list view o see which add-on is taking the most time to load.
Quick Launch is missing:
Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars / New Toolbar.
In the folder selection dialog, enter the following string and hit OK:
%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Turn off the lock the taskbar setting, and right-click on the divider. Make sure that Show text and Show title are disabled and the view is set to small icons.
Use the dividers to rearrange the toolbar ordering to choice, and then lock the taskbar again.
Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts:
Win+Up Maximise
Win+Down Restore/Maximise
Win+Left Snap to Left
Win+Right Snap to Right
Win+Shift+Left Jump to Left Monitor
Win+Shift+Right Jump to Right Monitor
Win+Home Minimise/Restore all other Windows
Win+T Focus the first taskbar entry/Pressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around.Win+Shift+T cycles backwards.
Win+Space Peek at the desktop
Win+G Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order
Win+P External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)
Win+X Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!)
Win+#
(# = a number key) Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar.
Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Win + +
Win + -
(plus or minus key) Zoom in or out.
Windows Explorer:
Alt+P Show/hide Preview Pane
Taskbar modifiers:
Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance
Middle click on icon Open a new instance
Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance with Admin privileges
Shift + Right-click on icon Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu
Shift + Right-click on grouped icon Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
Ctrl + Click on grouped icon Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group
Please feel free to add your own ideas to the list.
To clear the desktop:
Left click and hold on the Title Bar of the window you only want to show on the desktop.
Shake the window a bit by quickly dragging it left and right.
When the desktop clears, drop.
To restore the desktop:
Left click and hold on the Title Bar of the same window.
Shake the window a bit by quickly dragging it left and right.
When the minimized windows return to the desktop, drop (release the left click) the window.
Try this Secret:
When you right click on a file/icon you see the usal items in the list,Open/Send to and so on.
Hold down the Shift key while right-clicking on the icon, and then try the Send To menu.
Wow loads of things in the list of send to.
If you want any of those to show up normally without holding down the Shift key, you can create shortcuts in the Send To folder. Just type the following into the location bar:
shell:sendto
And then drag shortcuts to your preferred folders into this folder.
To open command prompt:
Just hold down the Shift Key and right click on the desktop.
And then you can choose Open Command Window Here from the menu.
But then again just right click on a folder and choose Open command prompt window here.
Stretch out on extra displays:
It’s now far easier to extend the Windows desktop on to secondary displays. Simply press Windows +P and you’ll be presented with options to extend, duplicate or show your desktop only on the secondary display.
Sort out the System Tray:
The System Tray now has an overspill area, allowing you to relegate attention-hungry applications to a hidden sin bin. Click on the little up arrow on the left-hand side of the System Tray and click Customize to pick and choose which System Tray icons you want to see, and how much you want them to bother you with alerts.
Boost the text size:
The huge screens and high resolutions of today’s flat panel monitors can make it difficult to read on-screen text, particularly if you use your PC as a Media Center on the main living room television. Windows 7 allows you to boost the size of text on screen to up to 150% of its normal size to make it more readable. Right click on the desktop, choose Screen Resolution and select the Make Text And Other Items Larger or Smaller.
Unpin the default apps:
Microsoft has cheekily pinned Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer to the Taskbar, ensuring they remain a constant presence on your desktop. If you want to get shot of them, right click on the app’s Taskbar icon and select Unpin This Program From Taskbar. If you want to replace them with your favourite software, open the application of your choice, right click on its Taskbar icon and select Pin This Program To Taskbar.
Reverting back to Vista:
If you used the upgrade to Windows 7 then you decide ewwwww I do not like that?
If you find issues trying to uninstall the upgrade or revert back to Vista and find it impossible.
Or you find it impossible to reinstall Vista.
Pop in the Vista disk and run a repair.
This will get you back up and running with Vista.
However you may find Vista a little buggy,if you do then I am afraid it is reinstall Vista.
ISO burner:
Double-click on any DVD or CD .ISO image and a little box popsup.You can now burn an ISO.
Windows 7 install from USB pen drive:
Take a 4GB USB 2.0 thumbdrive, reformat it as FAT32, and simply copy the contents of the Windows 7 Beta ISO image to the memory stick using xcopy e:\ f:\ /e /f (where e: was the DVD drive and f: was the removable drive location).
Vista looking Task Bar:
Right-click on the taskbar and choose the properties dialog. Select the small icons checkbox and under the taskbar buttons setting, choose combine when taskbar is full.
Add-ons:
Add-ons can cause slow loading pages.
Open IE8/Tools/Manage Add-ons/scroll right in the list view o see which add-on is taking the most time to load.
Quick Launch is missing:
Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars / New Toolbar.
In the folder selection dialog, enter the following string and hit OK:
%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
Turn off the lock the taskbar setting, and right-click on the divider. Make sure that Show text and Show title are disabled and the view is set to small icons.
Use the dividers to rearrange the toolbar ordering to choice, and then lock the taskbar again.
Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts:
Win+Up Maximise
Win+Down Restore/Maximise
Win+Left Snap to Left
Win+Right Snap to Right
Win+Shift+Left Jump to Left Monitor
Win+Shift+Right Jump to Right Monitor
Win+Home Minimise/Restore all other Windows
Win+T Focus the first taskbar entry/Pressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around.Win+Shift+T cycles backwards.
Win+Space Peek at the desktop
Win+G Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order
Win+P External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)
Win+X Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!)
Win+#
(# = a number key) Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar.
Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Win + +
Win + -
(plus or minus key) Zoom in or out.
Windows Explorer:
Alt+P Show/hide Preview Pane
Taskbar modifiers:
Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance
Middle click on icon Open a new instance
Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon Open a new instance with Admin privileges
Shift + Right-click on icon Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu
Shift + Right-click on grouped icon Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
Ctrl + Click on grouped icon Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group
Please feel free to add your own ideas to the list.
Last edited:
