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Windows Tips

Make Disk Cleanup Run Faster

WARNING:  This tip involves editing the Registry, so only perform these steps IF you feel comfortable making changes to a part of the computer where one wrong move can bring your whole system down.

Performing these steps will disable the "compress files" part of the Windows Clean Up utility:

  1. Click Start –> Run
  2. Type:   regedit
  3. Navigate to and expand the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE  –> SOFTWARE –>   Microsoft –>   Windows –>  CurrentVersion –> Explorer –> VolumeCaches

Windows Accessibility Options

Microsoft has built in a few features into Windows to make the operation of the computer a little less annoying. As the word Accessibility suggests, they were designed to aid computer users who have a hearing, visual or physical disability. However, many of the features can help any computer user.

To access the Accessibility Options, Click Start –> Control Panel, then double-click the "Accessibility Options" icon.

 

Keyboard Options


StickyKeys – If your fingers don’t function like a contortionist or you find it hard to press combinations of keys for shortcuts, enable this feature. It configures the computer so that if you need to push a combination of keys, you can push them one at a time and get the same affect as pushing them together.

FilterKeys – For heavy hands or if you tend to rest your fingers too long on the keys, enabling and tweaking the settings in this section will teach the computer to understand your individual touch of the keyboard.

ToggleKeys – If you tend to accidentally push the Num Lock or Caps Lock keys, this feature will give you an audible beep when those keys are turned on and off to bring your attention to them.

Sound Options

Use these settings to give you visual cues when your computer is making error or warning sounds.

Display

Set High Contrast mode if full color is hard to distinguish

Cursor Options – Make the "blinking cursor" easier to say by changing the width of the cursor (very helpful) and the speed at which it blinks.

Mouse

Enable this setting to use the directional keys on the keyboard like a mouse.

Other options available for accessibility can be found by clicking Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> Accessibility.  You can find a basic "screen narrator" that reads the screen to you, a screen magnifier, and an on-screen keyboard to use in place of a traditional keyboard.

For more details on these tools and more, visit the Windows XP Accessibility Resources section of Microsoft’s web site.

 

Print Preview Revisited

I have a couple of tips related to this topic on the site that I will link later, but this feature is important to keep in mind when creating documents you want to print. Print Preview also comes in handy when printing out documents that you aren’t sure how they will look printed; like spreadsheets and web pages. If something doesn’t look quite right, you can then close the preview window and click into the Page Properties from the File menu to adjust margins or paper size and orientation before previewing again.

Here are two tips related to conserving a little paper, ink and time that you can find on the site:

Remember the size of your program windows

Sometimes Windows forgets what size you like your application Windows to open up with when you start them. To get Windows to remember your preferences, follow these steps:

  1. Open your program
  2. Manually resize the Window using by clicking on the edge of your window and stretch it to the size you desire
  3. Now click File —> Close (or exit) from the menus

When you re-start the program, it should remember your preference.

 

Windows XP Repair Option

I was ‘back in the saddle’ today after a hiatus last week for spring break with my kids. Helped a client out with a problem that, fortunately, isn’t too common, but common enough that it warrants its own tip. It applies to Windows XP only and you might need to try using it if you cannot boot your computer up to anything other than the startup menu screen (where you get the option to start in Safe Mode…see picture).

If after turning on and off your computer a few times to try and get your desktop to come up, AND you can’t get into Safe Mode using the menu shown, AND using the "Last known good configuration" option don’t work, try these steps:

How to get into safe mode

We have told a number of callers today to run their utilities like scandisk, antivirus and antispyware in safe mode. Here is a quick reminder on how to do it. You can find more information on safe mode by searching for "safe mode" in our search box.

1. Turn on your computer

2. As your computer turns on press your F8 key over and over in about half second intervals until a menu of options comes up.

3. Choose Safe Mode using your arrow keys and press ENTER

Safe mode is a troubleshooting version of windows that disables unnecessary features that can get in the way of removing viruses, spyware and other problems.

Windows XP User Picture

Windows XP reached its first birthday last month. Yet, as with all other versions of Windows, learning all the tricks takes a lot of time OR just listening to my show and reading the Tip of the Week!

If you use Windows XP and use the default ‘two column’ Start menu, then you see your Windows user name and picture at the top of the menu. The stock pictures that come with Windows XP include a frog, cat eye, butterfly, space ship and more. They are nice enough pictures, but hardly representative of our individual personalities. Follow the steps below to change your user name and the user picture at the top of the Windows XP Start menu:

Windows XP Printing

Over the past year, I have pointed out many of the great features of Windows XP. One more to add to the list is the improved printing engines added to XP.

In particular, I really like that XP prints the last page first and the first page last for documents that span two or greater pages. You might think that this seems backward, but think about it for a moment. When you print with Windows 95/98/Me, you have to take the documents out of the printer and then manually order them. By Windows XP printing the ‘last’ page first, the document comes out of your printer already perfectly in order!

Windows XP Makes Computing Easier

When Microsoft released the latest version of Windows in October ’01, one of the most touted features was its redesigned user interface. The press and reviewers of the software initially called the interface “Fisher Price” like, but after working with the operating system over the past four months, I have come to appreciate some of the new usability features.

Some basic computing functions like renaming, copying, and even deleting files remain elusive to many computer users. The new “Explorer Bar” that runs vertically along almost every window in Windows XP addresses the problem quite admirably. For example, in the My Documents folder (or any other folder for that matter), one click buttons along the left side of the window offer easy access to functions such as moving, copying, printing, deleting, and even emailing files.

Windows XP Look and Feel

Recently, I read an article that described the new Windows XP color and icon scheme as “Fisher-Price” like…you know, the toy company. It made me chuckle and has some truth to it.

I happen to be ok with the new change, but you may not. If you aren’t, you can easily revert back to the traditional Windows colors and icons by:

1. RIGHT Click on the desktop
2. Click on Properties
3. Choose Windows Classic as your theme
4. Click Apply
5. Click OK