Tutorials

Darik's Boot and Nuke - Use to Wipe a Hard Drive How to Securely Wipe a Hard Disk with "Darik's Boot and Nuke" This tutorial will show you how to use Darik's Boot and Nuke to help you secure wipe a hard drive that has data that you need to have destroyed. Before we start: Darik's Boot and Nuke will irrecoverably erase all data on the hard drive. It will also erase any hard drive/ flash drive that is connected to your computer, so be sure to unplug drives that you don't want to have erased before you use Darik's Boot and Nuke. Also, Darik's Boot and Nuke will take several hours depending on the options you choose, so be sure you have time to do this. Let's begin: 1. You need to download Darik's Boot and Nuke. It can...

How to Add or Remove "Open with Notepad" from the Context Menu of Files This will show you how to add or remove Open with Notepad from the context menu of all files for all users in Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 to easily open any file with Notepad without setting it as the file's default program. You will need to be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial. EXAMPLE: "Open with Notepad" added to Context Menu of Files Here's How: 1. To Add "Open with Notepad" to Context Menu A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 3 below. Add_Open_with_Notepad.reg http://www.sevenforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82096&stc=1&d=1277835527 2. To Remove...

How to Enable or Disable "Run" Command Dialog Box in Windows This wiil show you how to enable or disable the Run command dialog box for all or specific users in Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8. When Run is disabled: Users will not be able to open the Run command box. The Customize Start Menu option to add or remove Run from the Start Menu is removed in Vista or Windows 7. The New Task (Run) command is removed from Task Manager. Users will be blocked from entering the following into the Internet Explorer Address Bar: A UNC path: \\<server>\<share> Accessing local drives: e.g., C: Accessing local folders: e.g., \temp> EXAMPLE: Run command (Windows + R) EXAMPLE: Message a User will See when Run is Disabled To Enable or...

How to Prevent or Allow Themes to Change Mouse Pointers in Windows 7 and Windows 8 This will show you how to allow or prevent the mouse pointers from being changed to the mouse pointers included in a new theme instead in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. Allow or Prevent Themes to change Mouse Pointers in Desktop Icon Settings 1. Open the Control Panel (icons view) in Windows 7 or Windows 8, and click/tap on the Mouse icon. 2. Close the Control Panel window. 3. Click/tap on the Pointers tab, and do step 4 or 5 below for what you would like to do. (see screenshot below) 4. To Allow Themes to Change Mouse Pointers NOTE: This is the default setting. A) Check the Allow themes to change mouse pointers box, and go to step 6...

How to Create a "Volume" Shortcut in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 This will show you how to create or download a Volume shortcut that opens the same master volume control pop-up as when you click on the Volume system icon on the taskbar. EXAMPLE: Volume To Download the "Volume" Shortcut NOTE: This shortcut will open at the far right corner of the far right monitor. If you have more than one monitor, then you may wish to remove the location part in red in OPTION TWO below from this shortcut to have it open on your main display instead. 1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below. Volume.zip http://www.sevenforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=184358&stc=1&d=1321681885 2. Save the .zip file to your...

How to Setup and Use ReadyBoost in Windows 7 Windows 7 supports Windows ReadyBoost. This feature uses external USB flash drives as a hard disk cache to improve disk read performance. Supported external storage types include USB thumb drives, SD cards, and CF cards. Since ReadyBoost will not provide a perfor¬mance gain when the primary disk is an SSD, Windows 7 disables ReadyBoost when reading from an SSD drive. This will show you how to setup and use ReadyBoost in Windows 7 with USB flash drives and flash memory cards to help speed up your computer. However, you most likely will not notice any increase in performance if your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements of 1 GB RAM (4 GB recommended) for 32-bit...

How to Activate Windows 7 Online Activation is the required process of ensuring that Windows 7 on your computer is genuine and used according to the Microsoft Software License Terms. This will show you how to activate Windows 7 online with your valid product key number. To activate online, your computer will need an Internet connection.Genuine Windows is a recurring process that checks your product key to ensure it's being used with the hardware it was paired with during activation. If the product key is found to be non-genuine, or not valid, it's likely that the product key is either being used on another computer or is counterfeit. Try doing the Diagnostics and Validate Windows options. For more information about genuine Windows, go...

How to Read Crash Reports When your system crashes and you're hit with a BSOD (the blue screen with white text), it's for a purpose. Something either software or hardware related has gone wrong in your system, and it's your job to go get to the bottom of it. This tutorial requires changing a setting that tells the computer to save your dump files, if it hasn't been doing so already. Do not mess with any other options if you don't know what you're doing, as there's the potential for making another problem. First, we want to make sure the computer is saving your dump files. Go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Startup and Recovery [Settings] Make sure that "Write Debugging Information" is set to Small Memory...

How to Tell if Windows 7 is a 32-bit or 64-bit System Type This will show you how to tell if you have a 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) Windows 7 version.For some articles that help detail the differences between a 32-bit and 64-bit OS, then please see: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7: frequently asked questions Video: 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 - Help & How-to - Microsoft Windows 64-bit: More than just the RAM - Vista Forums Here's How: 1. Press the Windows Key + Pause/Break key. A) Go to step 3. OR 2. Open the Start Menu. A) Right click on the Computer button and click on Properties. (See screenshot below) 3. If You Have a 32-bit (x86) Windows 7 System Type 4. If You Have a 64-bit (x64) Windows 7 System Type That's it, Shawn...

How to Extract Windows 7 System Image Files Using Disk Management When you create a system image, Windows 7 creates a Virtual Hard Disk VHD file that contains all of your files. This will show you how to attach (mount) this VHD file using Disk Management to manually extract and restore specific files of your choice from the system image instead of doing the default full system image recovery.System images are saved in this format: (selected backup location's drive letter)\WindowsImageBackup\(your computer name)\Backup (year-month-day) (time-hhmmss) For example, if your computer name is Windows7-PC, your backup image location is on hard disk or partition (network or local) D: , and you backed up on September 14th 2008 at 4:39:45...

How to Display User Information or Not when a Windows Session is Locked This will show you how to have the user name to show or hide when a user locks the computer in Vista and Windows 7. If set to be hidden, users will be required to enter both their user name and password when logging back in from the locked computer screen. You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial. EXAMPLE: Locked Computer Screen Using a REG File Download 1. To Set as "Not Defined" NOTE: This is the default setting. It does the same as the setting in step 2. A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below. Locked-Not_Defined.reg...

How to Change AUTOCHK Initiation Countdown Time in Windows 7 and Windows 8 This will show you how to change the AUTOCHK initiation countdown time to how many seconds you would like to have for the To skip disk checking, press and key within 10 second(s) option for a scheduled chkdsk at boot. The default time is 10 seconds. If you set the time to low (ex: 1 second), then you will not be able to press a key fast enough to cancel a scheduled disk check. You will need to be logged in as an administrator to be able to change the AUTOCHK initiation countdown time. EXAMPLE: AUTOCHK initiation countdown time (default and changed) Change AUTOCHK Initiation Countdown Time using Command Prompt 1. To See the Current AUTOCHK Initiation...

How to Select a Power Plan Scheme in Windows 7 and Windows 8 A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your computer uses power. Power plans can help you save energy, maximize system performance, or achieve a balance between the two. This tutorial will help show you how to select either a Balanced, Power Saver, High Performance, or Custom power plan as active for your user account in Windows 7 and Windows 8. You may also have a custom power plan available from your computer manufacturer (OEM) that may also appear by default on the battery meter on a mobile PC (laptop), or as one of the preferred power plans (step 7 below) on a desktop computer. To Select Power Plan Scheme as Active in Power...

As Shawn once said to me, the best tutorials are those that address a problem which a member has posted. This tutorial was triggered by a problem that a member posted on the eightforums and also by a member on another forum. 1. The Problem We all know that the internet is not a safe place especially when you operate from a Windows system. There are thousands of new pieces of malware each day and the Firewalls and AV programs can protect us only to a certain point. But despite all those tools there is no 100% guarantee that you may not get a malware infection. You are especially exposed if you work on an open access point like in an airport, a hotel, at McDonald, Starbucks or alike. In those situations you do not want to expose the...

How to Change Desktop Background Wallpaper in Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic Editions By default the Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic editions do not include the Personalization features such as change desktop background, Desktop Slideshow, Screen Saver, and Windows Color and Appearance. This tutorial will show you how to add these features to the Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic editions. For free desktop background wallpapers from Microsoft, see: Desktop backgrounds (wallpaper) - Microsoft Windows By default, the Windows 7 Home Basic edition will only allow you to change the desktop background by right clicking on a image and clicking on Set as desktop background. If you plan on doing a in-place upgrade to...

Troubleshooting with System Update Readiness Tool Troubleshooting with System Update Readiness Tool Symptoms Sometimes while using Readiness Tool,the tool stuck or it return following errors -Readiness Tool is already installed -error 0x8024800C and other errors Sometimes Readiness Tool require about 30 minutes to finish it's job,so please wait patiently before you apply below advices STEP I 1.Open task manager (Start>>Search>>taskmgr) and kill CheckSur.exe process. 2.Delete any hexadecimal folder on your partition examples: Fig 1.Circled red line you can see some hexadecimal folders.Such kind of folders are remains from updates -not only from Readiness Tool You may have hexadecimal folders on other partition...

How to Change Behavior of User Account Control (UAC) Prompt for Standard Users This tutorial will show you how to change the behavior of the User Account Control (UAC) elevation prompt for standard users in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial. Description of Options: Prompt for credentials - When an operation or program requires elevation of privilege, the standard user is prompted by UAC to enter an administrator's user name and password before it is allowed. Prompt for credentials on the secure desktop - When an operation or program requires elevation of privilege, the standard user is prompted by UAC on the secure desktop to enter an...

How to Enable Windows to Make and Accept a Remote Desktop Connection This tutorial will show you how to enable Remote Desktop Connection, and to connect remotely in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. While all editions of Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 can be a remote desktop client... Only the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions can host a remote desktop connection. Only the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions can host a remote desktop connection. Only the Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise editions can host a remote desktop connection. To Enable Remote Connection 1. Go to Control Panel>System>Advanced System Settings 2. Go to Remote tab. 3. Under Remote Assistance, put a check mark on Allow Remote...

How to Check / Repair the Windows System Files from a Command Prompt at Boot This shows how to start the PC and open a command prompt at boot so the Windows system files can be checked and repaired if possible, if the PC will not start to Windows normally or in safe mode. For those that are dual/multi booting or if the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) does not 'see' the Windows Operating System needing repair, see Method Two below. Let's get started! In the BIOS set the boot order to boot first from the CD/DVD Drive, insert the Windows full version installation DVD or a created repair CD and restart the PC. Method One For Windows 7 and Vista full version installation media, after the "Press any key ... " black...

How to Setup and Use Parental Controls in Windows 7 You can use Parental Controls to help manage how your children on a Standard user account use the computer. For example, you can set time limits on the hours that your children can use the computer, the types of games they can play, and the programs they can run. When Parental Controls blocks access to a game or program, a notification is displayed that the program has been blocked. Your child or Standard user can click a link in the notification to request permission for access to that game or program. You can allow access by entering your account user name and password information. Parental Controls is verified to be available in all editions of Windows 7. Web restrictions...