Since christmas holidays I’m running Windows 7 – 64bit on my home computer. Attached is a collection of tips & tweaks I gathered in the meantime.

Overview of Keyboard Shortcuts

  • WIN+LEFT Arrow and WIN+RIGHT = Arrow dock
  • WIN+UP Arrow and WIN+DOWN Arrow = maximizes and restores / minimizes
  • WIN+SHIFT+UP Arrow and WIN+SHIFT+DOWN Arrow = maximizes and restores the vertical size
  • WIN+P = Display Projection
  • WIN+Home = minimize all the non-active background window
  • WIN+SHIFT+LEFT Arrow and WIN+SHIFT+RIGHT Arrow = move windows from one monitor to another – keeping them in the same relative location to the monitor’s top-left origin.
  • WIN+E = Launch Explorer with Computer as the focus
  • WIN+H = Move current window to full screen
  • WIN+I = Restore current full screen window to normal size or minimize current window if not full screen
  • WIN+SHIFT+arrow = Move current window to alternate screen
  • WIN+D = Minimize all windows and show the desktop
  • WIN+F = Launch a search window
  • WIN+G = Cycle through gadgets
  • WIN+L = Lock the desktop
  • WIN+M = Minimize the current window
  • WIN+R = Open the Run window
  • WIN+T = Cycle through task bar opening Aero Peek for each running item
  • WIN+U = Open the Ease of Use center
  • WIN+Space = Aero Peek the desktop
  • CTRL+WIN+Tab = Open persistent task selection window, roll mouse over each icon to preview item and minimize others
  • Hold the SHIFT key down while selecting the context menu in Explorer for “Open Command Prompt Here”
  • Start a new instance of any of the first five icons in the new taskbar by pressing WIN+1, WIN+2, WIN+3 etc.
  • Hold CTRL+SHIFT while you click on the icon, and you’ll immediately launch it with full administrative rights
  • Hold the SHIFT key while clicking on the taskbar icon, and it will open a new instance of the application
  • Middle-click with the third mouse button on the taskbar icon will open a new instance of the application
  • Hold the CTRL key while you repeatedly click on the single icon will toggle through each of the application window instances in order
  • To start the Explorer.exe from different location, edit the properties and change the target to:
    Computer = %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
    Network = %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
    Control Panel =%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002b30309d}

 

Disable CD/DVD AutoEject
There is an easy option via gpedit.msc
Navigate to “user configuration>administrative tempaltes>windows components>windows explorer> THEN on the right
pane click “Remove CD Burning Features” set it to “ENABLED” to disable the annoying eject. Then reboot.

 

Disable low diskspace check
Use regedit.exe to set this registry key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
“NoLowDiskSpaceChecks”=dword:00000001

 

Useful links

The Logon Changer for Windows 7 provides an easy way to customize the logon screen background with just a few clicks.
http://tweaks.com

Create a Flip3D Taskbar Icon in Windows 7
http://tweaks.com

Aero Shake is one of the lesser known features included in Windows 7. It offers a unique way to minimize all the open windows on your screen while leaving one up that you want to work with.
http://tweaks.com

Network Activity Indicator displays the old ‘two monitors’ icon in Windows 7 that flashed blue to show network activity on the System Tray.
http://www.itsamples.com

Windows 7 enables searching for content on remote locations right from the Explorer itself. Integrating federated search into Windows gives users the benefits of Windows 7 Federated Search using familiar tools and workflows to search remote data.
http://www.redmondpie.com

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC, available on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate, allow you to run multiple Windows environments, such as Windows XP Mode, from your Windows 7 desktop.
http://www.microsoft.com

Half-open TCP connections limit (Event ID 4226) is not implemented in Windows 7, so no patch is necessary.
http://www.mydigitallife.info

Not many people know that Vista and Windows 7 have a hidden super-user account. This will show you how to activate this Administrator account via a ‘Net User’ command. One “benefit” of logging on as this super account is that you will never be prompted for the nagging UAC dialog box.
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk