Tutorials

Create Live Peppermint CD/DVD/USB to Backup Data when Windows 7 Will Not Boot In some instances, Windows 7 installations can become non-bootable if serious corruption of the system files have taken place, for example through the action of malware. If these corruptions are extremely severe, the installation cannot be repaired and the only course of action left is often to wipe (format) the hard disk and reinstall Windows 7 from scratch. Before you do that, however, you may wish to copy any user data (photo's, music etc.) files from the faulty installation to a backup drive. This tutorial will show you how to do this in just a few easy steps by creating a free Live PepperMint5 Linux distribution on a bootable USB flash drive or CD...

How to Allow or Block Specific Programs in Windows 7 Parental Controls Using Parental Controls, you can allow or block specific programs from being used on your computer by standard user accounts. Here's How: 1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click on Parental Controls. 2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes. 3. Select and click on the listed standard user account that you want to use Parental Controls to allow or block specific programs for. (see screenshot below) 4. Turn on Parental Controls for this standard user account if it is not already turned on for it. 5. Under Windows Settings, click on the Allow and block specific programs link. (see screenshot below) 6. To Allow All Programs to Be Used by the...

How to Add Windows Media Player Taskbar Toolbar in Windows 7 and Windows 8 This tutorial will show you how to add back the old taskbar toolbar from Windows Media Player 11 (WMP 11) to use with Windows Media Player 12 (WMP 12) in Windows 7 and Windows 8. :warn: This will not work in Windows 8.1. You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial. The N and KN editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 have all the features that normally come with each individual Windows edition, except for Windows Media Player 12 and related programs, such as Windows Media Center or Windows DVD Maker. The N editions of Windows allow you to choose your own media player and software required to manage and play CDs...

How to Enable or Disable the Built-in Elevated Administrator Account in Windows 7 This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the built-in elevated Administrator account in Windows 7. You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the options in this tutorial. Standard user (Users) - The standard account is an unelevated restricted users account. It can help protect your computer by preventing users from making changes that affect everyone who uses the computer, such as deleting files that are required for the computer to work. It is recommend to create a standard account for each user instead of an administrator account for the user. When you are logged on to Windows with a standard account, you can do almost...

Gadgets – Creating a Custom clock gadget. For this you will need: An orb of any kind (Circle) to use as the gadget clock (Browse DeviantArt) Photo Editing Software Pre made clock (Attached) In this tutorial we will be working from a clock called GTA4 (Not the name of the folder, but the original name of the gadget). First install the gadget. This is done by unzipping the ZIP file and placing the folder in the zip file in shell:gadgets (Seach from start menu) Now go the gadget folder (Shell:gadgets folder), and go to the folder of the gadget (Which in this case is: GreenClock.gadget) Now there should be 3 images in that folder. Drag.png, icon.png and logo.png (logo.png is the logo for the details, So it doesn’t need to be...

How to Set the Network Location Type in Windows 7 This will show you how to change the Windows 7 network location to be either a Home network, Work network (private), or Public network type. During the installation of Windows 7, or the first time that you connect to a network, you must choose a network location. Based on the network location you choose, Windows automatically assigns a network discovery state to the network and sets the appropriate Windows Firewall and security settings for that type of network location. If you connect to networks in different locations (for example, a network at your home, at a local coffee shop, or at work), choosing a network location can help ensure that your computer is always set to an...

How to Set the Reset Account Lockout Counter After Setting The reset account lockout after security setting determines the number of minutes that must elapse after a invalid logon attempt before the invalid logon attempt counter is reset back to 0 invalid logon attempts. If the account lockout threshold of invalid logon attempts is reached before the counter resets, then the user account will be locked out until either the account lockout duration has expired or the administrator manually unlocks the locked out user account. When you first setup an account lockout threshold, the default reset account lockout after setting is set to 30 minutes. This will show you how to set how many minutes you want this instead in Windows 7 and...

How to Remove the Password for Your or Another User Account in Windows 7 While it is strongly recommended to create a password for all user accounts on the computer to help prevent unauthorized access, sometimes you may just need to remove the password for a user account for whatever reason. This will show you how to remove the password for either your user account, or for another user account through the Control Panel in Windows 7 and Vista.If you remove the password of a user account that is set to be automatically logged on to at Windows 7 startup, then you will also need to change the password and leave it blank there for that user account.If you remove the password for another user account (OPTION TWO below), the other user...

How to Add "Copy To Folder" and "Move To Folder" to Context Menu in Windows 7 and Windows 8 This tutorial will show you how to add or remove Copy To Folder and Move to Folder to the context menu for all users in Windows 7 and Windows 8. You must me logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial. Copy To Folder allows you to right click selected file(s) and folder(s) and copy them to another location immediately. Move to Folder allows you to right click on selected file(s) and folder(s) and move them to another location, then remove them from their current location immediately. In Windows 7, the default location for Copy To Folder and Move To Folder is in the Edit menu bar menu in Windows Explorer...

Microsoft Virtual PC is my choice to run Windows virtual machines. However, installing Linux on Virtual PC is not something I would recommend. Main reason is the lack of integration elements; Virtual PC integration components are designed to run well on XP, Vista and 7 virtual machines. For Linux, Virtual PC does not (at least at this moment) offer any integration components. VirtualBox integration components are called Guest Additions. They install and run well also in any Linux distro. That's why I recommended creating Linux virtual machines in VirtualBox. I am using Ubuntu 10.10 to make this tutorial. At the moment it is the most Windows like Linux distro available, a safe bet for a beginner to start experimenting Linux. For...

How to Open an Elevated Command Prompt in Windows 7 This will show you how to open an elevated command prompt with administrator rights (Run as administrator) instead of the default command prompt without administrator rights in Windows 7. If you opened the elevated command prompt from a shortcut (ex: in Start Menu) and it opens to another location other than C:\Windows\System32, then right click on the shortcut and click on Properties. In the Shortcut tab, check to make sure that you have %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% in the Start in field like below. EXAMPLE: Elevated Command Prompt NOTE: Notice how the elevated command prompt opens to C:\Windows\System32 and not C:\Users\(user name) as the default command prompt without administrator...

How to Add or Remove the Libraries Desktop Icon in Windows 7 This will show you how to add or remove the default Libraries desktop icon in Windows 7. This is not like a standard shortcut. EXAMPLE: Libraries desktop icon Here's How: 1. To Add the Libraries Desktop Icon A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below. Add_Libraries_Desktop_Icon.reg http://www.sevenforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224625&stc=1&d=1344011601 B) Go to step 3. 2. To Remove the Libraries Desktop Icon A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below. Remove_Libraries_Desktop_Icon.reg http://www.sevenforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224626&stc=1&d=1344011601 3. Save the .reg file to the desktop. 4. Right...

How to Reset the Password of a User Account in Windows 7 This tutorial will help show you how to reset the password of a user account in Windows 7. This can be handy if the password was lost or forgotten to be able to regain access. Password are case sensitive in Windows. Double check to make sure that you do not have the Caps Lock key on by mistake when typing it in. If you did not create a password for the user account, then you can just click on the next arrow or pressing Enter with a blank password field to log on to that user account. If you are using BitLocker Drive Encryption on your Windows 7 drive, then this will most likely not work. If all options below fail to reset the password, then you may need to reinstall Windows...

How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7 This will show you how to do a clean installation with a retail Windows 7. A OEM Windows 7 may have a few different screens than below, but basically the same. Yes, you can do a clean install from a upgrade Windows 7 version. :) NOTE: See this tutorial for how: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version Do a Clean Installation if: Your computer has no operating system installed, or it’s running a version of Windows prior to Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (including Windows XP). You do NOT want to preserve your data, programs, or system drivers. You want to delete your current operating system and replace it with Windows 7. You want to create a multiboot system by installing...

How to Create a "Hardware and Devices Troubleshoot" Shortcut in Windows 7 This will show you how to create or download a Windows 7 Hardware and Devices Troubleshoot shortcut. You can also Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu this shortcut, or move where you like for easy use.You could also place any or all troubleshooting shortcuts that you would like to use as well from the related tutorials box at the bottom of this tutorial into a new folder, then pin the folder to the taskbar to make using them easier. EXAMPLE: Troubleshooting Hardware and Devices To Download the "Hardware and Devices Troubleshoot" Shortcut 1. Click on the Download button below to download the file below. Hardware_and_Devices_Troubleshoot.zip...

How to Do an Inplace Upgrade Installation from Vista to Windows 7 A upgrade installation allows you to keep intact the files, settings, and programs from your current version of Vista SP1 or SP2. This will show you how to do a upgrade installation with a Upgrade version of Windows 7 from Vista. XP users will now be able to upgrade to Windows 7, but will have to do a clean install or custom install of Windows 7 instead. Yes, you can do a clean install from a upgrade Windows 7 version. :) NOTE: See this tutorial for how: Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version Do a Upgrade installation if: Your computer is running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. NOTE: To see if you are: Open the Start Menu, right click on Computer...

Restore Missing "Open", "Print", and "Edit" Context Menu Items when more than 15 Files are Selected This will show how to restore the missing Open, Print, and Edit context menu (right click) items for when you have more than 15 files selected in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. This will also set how many items that can be selected to Open, Edit, or Print at once. These context menu items were removed by design like this in Windows to avoid accidentally performing these actions on a large number of files. EXAMPLE: Context Menu with more than 15 Files Selected NOTE: The left screenshot is the default with more than 15 TXT files selected, and the right screenshot is when you have them restored even with more than 15 TXT files...

How to Minimize Windows Live Mail to the System Tray in Windows 7 This will show you how to have Windows Live Mail minimize to the taskbar or system tray in Windows 7. EXAMPLE: Windows Live Mail Minimized to Taskbar by Default EXAMPLE: Windows LIve Mail Minimized to System Tray Here's How: 1. If open, close Windows Live Mail. 2. Right click on a Windows Live Mail shortcut or the wlmail.exe file, click on Properties, then click on the Compatibility tab. (see screenshot below) 3. To Always Have Windows Live Mail Minimize to Taskbar A) Uncheck the Run this program in compatibility mode for box, and click on OK. (see screenshot above) NOTE: This is the default setting. B) Go to step 5. 4. To Allow Windows Live Mail to be able...

How to Turn Off Hard Disk After so many Minutes of being Idle or Never This will show you how to have your hard disks to be either turned off after however many minutes you set of being idle, or to never be turned off in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. This setting will only affect internal HDDs and not for SSDs (solid state drives). When set to turn off hard disks after idle, you will notice a brief delay of a few seconds when you try to access a turned off hard disk as it spins back up and is turned back on automatically as needed. Having your hard disks to be turned off after being idle can help save energy and extend a laptop's battery life. Hard disks do not turn off after your computer has been idle If you have the...

How to Enable or Disable Taskbar Thumbnail Live Previews in Windows 7 This will show you how to enable or disable having taskbar thumbnail live previews display a Aero Peek of the open window on the desktop when you hover the pointer over a taskbar thumbnail preview of a icon with a open window in Windows 7. This tutorial also enables and disables Aero Peek. Taskbar thumbnail previews will only work if you are using a Aero Theme. This feature is not available in the Windows 7 Starter edition. EXAMPLE: Taskbar Thumbnail Live Preview NOTE: This is an example of a taskbar thumbnail live preview (Aero Peek) of Task Manager on my desktop when I hover my pointer on the thumbnail preview of the Task Manager icon on the taskbar...