Shorten the list of frequently used programs in the Start menu

Windows XP, Vista, 7

Windows maintains a list of the most

frequently used programs in the Start

menu. These shortcuts enable quick

access to the applications. But the

long list also tends to be unclear.

You can reduce the number of

entries in the list. Right-click ‘Start’ for

this. Select ‘Properties’ in the following

context menu. The ‘Taskbar and Start

Menu Properties’ dialog box opens.

In case of Windows XP and Vista,

ensure that the ‘Start menu’ option

is selected. As opposed to that, the

‘Classic Start menu’ option sees to

it that Windows displays the Start

menu in the layout of older versions,

where the list for the most frequently

used applications had not yet been

integrated.

The ‘Customize Start Menu’ dialog

box opens on clicking ‘Customize’. It

diff ers depending on the version of the

operating system. In case of Vista and
Windows 7, you must type the number
of desired program shortcuts under
‘Number of recent programs to display’.
If you use Windows XP, you will fi nd the
‘Number of recent programs to display’
option in the ‘General’ tab. Windows
carries out the modifi cations after
confi rming with ‘OK’.
NOTE: By entering ‘0’, you completely
remove the list of the most frequently
used programs.

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End hanged programs with a mouse click

Windows XP, Vista, 7

A program has crashed and is
blocking several other processes.
Normally, the only way out is to use the
Task Manager and end all programs
individually by confirming
in each case.

The ‘taskkill’ command can be used to generate a

tool for automatically ending hanged processes.

You can end programs without
any query in the command line, using
the ‘taskkill’ command. It even off ers
other options. For instance, it can fi rst
determine all the programs that are not
reacting anymore and only end those. If
you create a shortcut, you can save the
necessary options along with it. Rightclick
on a free spot on the desktop and
select the context command ‘New |
Shortcut’. Enter the following command
in the input field: taskkill /F /F1
“STATUS eq NOT RESPONDING” and
click ‘Continue’.
The first option ‘/F’ compels the
processes to end while ‘/F1’ activates
the following fi lter. This fi lter verifi es the
status of all processes and reports those
with the message ‘NOT RESPONDING’
instead of ‘RUNNING’. Provide the
shortcut with a suitable name such as
‘Ending hanged programs’ and click
‘Finish’. You can subsequently even assign
another icon using the context command
‘Properties’. In the future, calling this
shortcut will suffice for ending all
processes that have crashed.
CAUTION: Make sure that you do not lose
the saved application data. Always try to
wait for a response and end the program
in the regular manner.

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Start system tools without annoying user account queries

Windows Vista, 7

The security query every time you start

a system tool like Regedit is annoying.

Although the User Account Control can

generally be deactivated, this stops

Windows from warning you before

starting unknown programs.

Calling system tools via the Task Scheduler helps

avoid the annoying security query.

You can avoid the annoying
security query with a trick. Arrange for
an indirect program start using task
scheduling. Subsequently, start the
scheduled task using a shortcut which
then does not trigger off a User Account
Control, although this security mechanism
remains active for all other programs.
Click on ‘Start | Control
Panel | System and Security
| Administrative Tools | Task
Scheduler’. Confirm the User Account
Control query. Click ‘Create Task’ in the
actions pane towards the right. Enter the
name of the task in the ‘General’ tab.
Activate the ‘Run with highest privileges’
option shown below. Then switch to the
‘Actions’ tab and click ‘New’. Select ‘Start
Program’ and click ‘Browse’ to navigate
to the desired program. You can also
directly enter the call with the complete
path, for e.g. ‘C:\Windows\regedit.exe’.
Confirm with ‘OK’ and switch to the
‘Conditions’ tab. Here, deactivate all the
set options and confirm the dialog box
with ‘OK’. In the future, you will also find
this task in the list under ‘Task Scheduler
Library’.
Now, create yet another shortcut
for directly starting the task. For this,

and select the context command ‘New |
Shortcut’. Type the following in the input
field: C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.
exe /RUN /TN ??
For ‘??’, use the name that you have
assigned to the previously defined task.
Both the parameters ensure that the
named task is immediately executed.
Click ‘Continue’ and provide the shortcut
with a suitable, preferably short name
such as ‘regx’. Click ‘Finish’.
If you start the Registry Editor using
this shortcut in the future, there is no
annoying User Account Control query.
This method can also be used for other
programs.

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Install new fonts and manage them centrally

Windows 7 has a wide range of fonts
but they are still not enough for some
users. Unfortunately, a command for
installing more fonts is not available in
the font folder at first glance.

Simplify font management with Windows' own

built-in tools.

In order to configure fonts, click
‘Appearance and Personalization’ in the
Control Panel and then ‘Fonts’. In this
view, every entry already has a mini
preview of the relevant font.
There are several options for installing
new font types. It is usually enough to
copy the new font fi le into the folder ‘C:\
Windows\Fonts’. The disadvantage of
this method is that only the fi le name
and not the font name is later displayed
in applications. It is thus better to select
one of the following procedures: Open
the folder with the desired font fi le in
Windows Explorer. Right click the fi le
entry and select the context command
‘Install’. Even the preview window of the
font type which opens on double clicking
has an ‘Install’ button. A click on it
integrates the font into the system.
The other option is to open the Fonts
folder and press [Alt]. Windows then
displays the menu bar. Click ‘New Font’
in the ‘File’ menu, navigate to where the
new font is saved and open the fi le.
You can also uninstall fonts via the ‘Fonts’ folder, for example, using
the context menu command ‘Delete’.
System-relevant ones are an exception.
Today’s computers are so potent that
system performance is not aff ected even
if a lot of fonts are installed.
If you just want to reduce the number
fonts displayed in the selection lists,
you can simply deactivate the unused
ones. These then continue to be in the
system but cannot be used. For this, right
click the entry and select the context
command ‘Hide’. You can reactivate the
font at a later time using the context
command ‘Show’. But unfortunately,
not all programs respect this option.
Microsoft Offi ce 2010 continues to display
all fonts.

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Define the actual folders hidden behind shortcuts

From Vista onwards, specifi c
folders seem exist for the sake of
compatibility, but actually redirect
to other real folders. This messes up
scripts and batch files you’ve written
yourself.

Backward compatibility is maintained through

logical shortcuts called Junction Points.

These shortcuts, called junction
points, exist throughout Windows.
For example, programs can try to
save data to the old ‘Documents and
Settings’ folder, but will be seamlessly
redirected to the applicable new ‘Users’
folder. The operating system however
hides this persistently. Attempts to
access the junction points directly
(Windows displays them if you enable
the display of the system fi les via the
folder options) are aborted with an
error message. And another stumbling
block is that real folder names need
to be used in scripts or batch files.
Else, they hang during execution.
The free tool NTFSLinks-View provides
help. It lists the active junctions in the
system. Download the program from
www.nirsoft.net/utils/ntfs_links_view.
html. The tool ‘nftslinksview.exe’ can
immediately be started. The program lists
all active junctions in the folder of your
user profi le.
In the ‘Target Path’ column, it displays
the relevant real folder which the junction
controls in the ‘Full Path’ column. Right
click an entry and select the context
command ‘Open Target Path’ to open
this target folder in Explorer.
In order to check other directories,
enter the folder in the input fi eld, e.g. ‘C’
and click ‘Go’. Use the key combination
[Ctrl]+[A] to select all entries and then
‘Save’ them to a text fi le using ‘File I Save
selected items’.

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Add data types to hard drive cleaning

Hard drive cleaning helps in tracking
trash on the system. Unfortunately, the
functionality is restricted to predefi ned
fi le types.

You can add more data types
for this function to clean out. For this,
right click a free place on the desktop
and select ‘New | Shortcut’. Enter the
following command in the ‘Item location’
input field:
C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe
/c cleanmgr /sageset:4711 &
cleanmgr /sagerun:4711
and confi rm with ‘Next’. On the second
page, define a name for the new link

such as ‘Hard drive cleaning selection’.
Then click ‘Finish’. If you use this link to
run the Disk Cleanup utility in the future,
you will see more entries such as ‘Old
CHKDSK fi les’, ‘Setup log fi les’, ‘System
error memory dump files’ and ‘Log files
for Windows Upgrades’ for selection.
The command behind this link makes
Windows call up the hard drive cleaning
utility ‘cleanmgr.exe’ twice, with diff erent
start options. First with ‘/sageset’ and
then with ‘sagerun’. The number after the
start options must always be identical
and must be between 1 and 65535.
The option ‘sageset’ results in

Additional options for cleaning up disk space can

be revealed.

The option ‘sageset’ results in
Windows opening the ‘Settings for
cleaning the hard drive’ dialog box in
which the drive cleaning settings can be
configured. The system then saves this
confi guration in the registry under the
specifi ed number. The option ‘/sagerun’
then executes the confi guration saved
under the specified number.

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Hide unused libraries in Windows Explorer

The Libraries function in Windows
7 help in structuring data. But a lot
of users still prefer the conventional
folder structure.



In such a case, you can hide
the libraries and thus make space for
displaying more folders. For this, right
click the fi rst library ‘Pictures’ and select
the context command ‘Do not display
in navigation fi eld’. Repeat this step for
all other unused libraries. In order to
display individual entries again, click
‘Libraries’ in Explorer. Then right click the
desired element and select the context
command ‘Display in navigation fi eld’.
The main entry ‘Libraries’ cannot be
deleted so easily. To do this, a detour

Reduce clutter by hiding unnecessary Library

targets from the Explorer pane.

via the registry is necessary. Type
‘regedit’ in the search fi eld of the Start
menu, press Enter, and confi rm the
user account control prompt by clicking
‘Yes’. Now navigate to the key ‘HKEY_
LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Desktop\NameSpace’. Then select the
sub-key ‘{O31E48257B94-4dc3-B131-
E946B44C8DD5}’ and open ‘File | Export’.
Then select a safe storage location, enter
a fi le name such as ‘Explorerlibraries’
and click ‘Save’. This is to back up the
entry. Then simply delete the subkey
in the Registry Editor and confi rm with
‘Yes’. Now close the registry and restart
Windows Explorer. A system restart is
not required.
In order to display the libraries again,
double click the exported REG fi le and
confi rm the requests for user account
control and adding values into the
registry with ‘Yes’. The libraries will be
visible once again the next time you start
Explorer.

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Switch between applications quickly with Apple’s Exposé function

When you fl ick the cursor to a specifi c
corner of the monitor, Exposé shows
thumbnails of all active programs
minimised on the desktop. You
can then quickly switch to another
application – but only on Mac OS X.



The tool SmallWindows equips
Windows with the practical Exposé
functionality of Mac OS X. SmallWindows
has two functions: It either minimizes
all windows so that it is easy to toggle
between applications, or it moves all
windows to the screen border so that you
get a free view of the desktop. You can
download it from http://smallwindows.
sourceforge.net. A wizard guides you
through the setup. Under Vista and
Windows 7, you need to authorize the
installation by selecting a user account
with administrator rights and entering the
relevant password if needed.
At the time of the fi rst start, confi gure
the program asks whether Windows
should automatically load it during
startup so that it is at your disposal
immediately, so confi rm the query
with ‘Yes’. After the start, a new icon
is displayed in the system notifi cation
area. Right click it and select the context

Add the cool Exposé feature to Windows XP with

this simple free tool

command ‘Settings’ to open the dialog
box for confi guring the application.
Here you can also deactivate the
automatic start during system start by
removing the checkmark on ‘Start when
Windows starts’.
The hot zones are the four corners of
the desktop via which you can activate
SmallWindows. For every hot zone,
defi ne a reaction using the relevant fi eld.
In case of all ‘All’, Windows displays all
the open programs in one minimized
view. You can select a program with
just a click and bring it into foreground.
You can deactivate the function with
‘None’. ‘Desktop’ moves all windows to
the screen border and gives a free view
of the desktop. ‘Related’ minimizes the
current program. This function is however
of no use otherwise. In addition to fl icking
the mouse, you can also defi ne key
combinations for individual functions via
‘Hotkey Activation’.

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Get a constant overview of several time zones

When making a call to another country

such as the USA, you don’t want to

inadvertently wake someone up in

the middle of the night. But this can

actually happen if you do not pay

attention to the time diff erence.

Additional clocks can be placed in the system tray

to help you work better with international clients.

Windows provides help in

displaying several time zones. Click

the clock to the right of the taskbar.

A window with an analog clock and a

calendar is displayed. Use the ‘Change

Date and Time Settings’ link in this

window. The ‘Date and Time’ dialog box

opens. Activate the ‘Additional times’

tab in it. This tab can be opened via the

control panel as well as via the ‘Time,Language and Region’ and ‘Add times for

diff erent time zones’.

Alternatively, in the classic view of

the Control Panel, double click ‘Date

and Time’ and activate the ‘Additional

Times’ tab. You can defi ne up to two

more time zones that Windows then

displays near the analog clock with the

local time. For this, there are two ‘Display

this time’ fi elds in the ‘Additional Times’

tab. Checkmark the heading to activate

the fi eld. You can then select ‘Select time

zone’ and ‘Enter display name’ with the

help of which you can later identify the

time zone. The country name would be

an ideal entry. Repeat these settings for

the third time if required and confi rm

with ‘OK’.

Now after clicking the taskbar clock,

Windows will show both additional time

zones. If you simply hover the cursor over

the time, a small tooltip with the current

date and the various times is displayed.

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Defragment several disks automatically without monitoring

Regular defragmentation keeps the
system performance consistent. But
you cannot sit at your PC through this
entire process. What is also irritating
is that defragmentation needs to be
manually activated if there are several
hard disks.

The graphical interface of
Windows’ defragmenter does not provide
the option to process several drives one
after the other, at least under XP. What a
lot of people don’t know is that Windows
has an additional command line tool
called ‘defrag.exe’ that is suitable for
batch processing as well. You can use
it to automate the defragmentation of
several drives. If you operate a system
with the drives C, D and E for instance,
enter the following in Notepad:
@echo off
defrag.exe -f c
defrag.exe -f d
defrag.exe -f e
Save the fi le as ‘defrag.cmd’. If you
are using other drive names or more
drives, change the fi le accordingly.
Double click this fi le to defragment
all hard disk partitions one after the
other automatically without a break.
However you need to be logged in with
administrator rights for running the fi le.
The used parameter ‘-f’ carries out the
defragmentation even if the hard disk has

less than 10 percent free space, without
pausing for an error message. But the
process takes too long in that case. What
you can do is delete the large fi les that
are no longer required.
Vista and Windows 7 regulate
defragmentation automatically on the
basis of a schedule. Irrespective of that,
you can either use the batch processing
operation via ‘defrag.exe’ or even select
several drives simultaneously with the
graphical interface.
For this, right click a drive entry (e.g.
in Explorer) for both the versions, select
the context command ‘Properties’,
activate the tab ‘Tools’ and then click
the ‘Defragment now’ button. Under
Vista, click the ‘Select Volumes’ button
and you can then activate several drives
for defragmentation or select ‘Select all
data carriers’. Under Win7, keep the [Ctrl]
key pressed and then select the desired
drives by clicking the entries one after
the other.

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Switch off Aero interface automatically or program-specifically

Windows 7

You need to switch of   the Aero ef ects
in Windows for taking screenshots or
for some games, but using the display
properties dialog box each time is extremely teous.

This simple setting will ensure that the program 

runs without consuming extra system resources.

 You can automate this task by
means of a property in the shortcut
with which you can call up a specifi c
program, such as the Screenshot tool.
The programs get more graphics power
when the Aero is switched of . The PC
thus has a little more breathing room in
case of intensive graphics applications
such as games.
Search for the link to call up the relevant program on the Desktop or in 
the Start menu. Right click it and select
the context command ‘Properties’. Then
switch to the ‘Compatibility’ tab and
activate the option ‘Disable desktop
composition’ in the ‘Settings’ area.
Confi rm this change with ‘OK’. After
this, Windows automatically switches
to the ‘Windows 7 Basic’ color scheme
when you start the relevant program.
Windows automatically switches back
to the previous scheme as soon as you
close the program.
NOTE: When calling up Windows’ built-in
components, it is not possible to set
compatibility options. A shortcut to
‘notepad.exe’ is thus not suitable for
this trick.

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