FettesPS » win7

How to Enable or Disable Aero Peek in Windows 7

FettesPS — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:33:46 +0000

Aero Peek, which is also known as Desktop Preview, is a new feature in Windows 7 that allows you to quickly hide all the windows open and view your desktop. It can be activated by clicking the Show Desktop icon at the far right of the superbar or by holding the windows key and hitting space.

Desktop Preview is a new feature in Windows 7 which is otherwise also known as AeroPeak (Desktop Preview is a feature enabled by Aero Peek desktop enhancement function). Desktop Preview allows user to temporarily minimize all open windows and make open windows transparent in order to preview what is on desktop when user place the mouse pointer to mouse over the “Show Desktop” bar on the far right end of the taskbar.

Illustration above shows the effect of Desktop Preview, where user mouse over the Show Desktop (without actually clicking on it) on the far end of the Windows Taskbar.

Right click on the Start button and click on Properties
Select the Taskbar tab
Uncheck the Use Desktop Preview checkbox
Click OK

Desktop Preview is now disabled. If you would like to re-enable it, simply follow the same steps again making sure to check the Desktop Preview option this time.

How To Enable Secure Logon for Windows 7

FettesPS — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:03:06 +0000

Much like in previous versions of Windows you can enable an extra level of security by requiring the user to hit CTRL+ALT+DEL before they can enter their username and password. Whether or not this actually makes your system any more secure is up to debate, but if you are looking to enable this feature in Windows 7 by following these steps:

Press the Windows Key and R at the same time to open the Run dialog
Enter “control userpasswords2″ and hit OK
In the dialog box select the Advanced tab
Look to the bottom under Secure Logon and check the box beside “Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete”
Click OK

Now when you boot your system users will be required to activate the logon screen by using the three finger solute.

How To Enable Classic Logon for Windows 7

FettesPS — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:03:03 +0000

Much like in Windows Vista you’ll find a graphical login screen for Windows 7. This has a much nicer look and feel to it than the old login prompts of Windows XP and its predecessors but it at the expense of security. Anyone attempting to infiltrate your system will have access to all the possible usernames and will merely have to guess the passwords. If the users are not using secure passwords then they will easily be compromised.

So how can one protect their system from this type of attack? Aside from using secure passwords you can also go a step further and enable the classic logon screen as used in the earlier versions of Windows. This will force the user to not only guess the password but the username as well.

Press start
Type: local security policy
Press enter
Expand local policies
Click Security Options
Double-click “Interactive Login: Do not display last user name”
Check Enabled
Click OK

Now close all open windows and restart the system. After it is done booting you will now be prompted to enter both the username and password, without being provided with a list of available users.

How To Add the Run Command to Window 7′s Start Menu

FettesPS — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:32:55 +0000

Those of you who rely heavily on the run dialog may have noticed it is no longer in the Windows 7 start menu by default. If, like myself, you’re accustomed to using the Win+R hotkey then this isn’t much of an inconvenience. However if you’d like to add it back to the start menu this can be done easily by following these steps:

Right Click on your taskbar
Click Properties
In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog select the Start Menu tab
Click the Customize button
Scroll down the list until you see Run Command and click the check box beside it
Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes

That’s it, you should now see “Run…” when you click your start button

How To Disable Explorer’s Search Suggestion History in Windows 7

FettesPS — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:49:52 +0000

Disable the search suggestions from appearing when you type something in the search box in Explorer in Windows 7 with tis registry tweak.

Click Start
Type regedit and hit Enter
Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER->Software->Policies->Microsoft->Windows->Explorer
Right click Explorer and select New -> DWORD Value
Name it DisableSearchBoxSuggestions with a value of 1
Close the Registry Editor

Your search history in Windows Explorer will no longer be saved or displayed.

How to Remove the Windows 7 Build Number

FettesPS — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:42:09 +0000

So you’re still using the Windows 7 Release Candidate, and plan on using it until it expires in on June 1, 2010, but you’re sick of looking at the build number that’s etched in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thanks to our friends at DeepXW, this is quite simple to remove.

Download the Patch
Extract the archive
Right click the appropriate executable and select Run As Administrator
When prompted, enter Yes to apply the patch
When it is complete, hit enter to close the program
Reboot

If after rebooting you find the watermark is still present, then perform the following additional steps:

Hold down your Windows key and hit R to open the Run dialog
Enter cmd and hit enter
Type mcbuilder.exe into command prompt and press enter. After it has finished, reboot your computer once again

You should now be free of the Windows build number watermark!