Windows 7 Tweaks

Steve Sinchak has repeatedly been honored with Microsoft′s MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He manages several Web sites geared toward computer enthusiasts, most notably tweaks.com and wingeek.com. Steve is the author of Hacking Windows Vista and Hacking Windows XP, both from Wiley.

Introduction xxiii


Part I Getting Started with Windows 7 1


Chapter 1 Selecting the Right Version 3


Version Comparison 3


Windows Anytime Upgrade 7


Summary 8


Chapter 2 Installing Windows 7 9


Install Media 9


32–Bit or 64–Bit? 9


Alternative Install Media 10


Full Install 13


Dual–Boot Windows XP 15


Configuring HDD and Installing XP 17


Installing Windows 7 18


Summary 19


Chapter 3 Safe Tweaking 21


Using System Restore 21


Creating Restore Points 22


Reverting to a Previous State 23


System Recovery Console 23


Accessing the System Recovery Console 24


Using the System Recovery Console Tools 25


Creating a Backup Image 25


Creating the Image 26


Restoring a System Image 27


Summary 28


Part II Customizing Windows 7 29


Chapter 4 Customizing the Startup 31


Customizing the Logon Screen 31


Changing User Pictures 32


Hiding Users on the Logon Screen 33


Clearing the Last User Logon 35


Changing the Logon Screen Screensaver 36


Displaying a Security Message 37


Enabling Num Lock by Default 38


Changing the Logon Screen Background 39


Summary 41


Chapter 5 Customizing User Navigation 43


Customizing the Start Menu 43


Customizing Navigation Shortcuts 44


Customizing the Frequently Run Programs List 46


Customizing the Program List and Search 51


Customizing the Taskbar 53


Pinning Applications 54


Modifying Icon Locations 55


Tweaking Jump Lists 55


Enable Classic Taskbar Look and Behavior 57


Customize Taskbar Icon Sizes 57


Tweaking Taskbar Preview Delay 58


Restore Classic Quick Launch Bar 59


Modifying the Taskbar Location 60


Customizing the Notification Area 60


Using Group Policy Editor to Customize the


Start Menu and Taskbar 62


Setting Policies with the Group Policy Editor 63


Start Menu and Taskbar Policies 64


Summary 69


Chapter 6 Personalizing the Desktop 71


Customizing the Desktop Icons 71


Removing All Icons from the Desktop 72


Customizing the Icon Drop Shadow Effect 72


Displaying Windows System and User Icons on the Desktop 73


Adjusting the Size of Desktop Icons 74


Renaming the Recycle Bin 75


Removing the Shortcut Arrow from Icons on the Desktop 76


Customizing the Icons 76


Customizing the Desktop 79


Automatically Rotate Your Wallpaper 79


Using Desktop Gadgets 80


Summary 86


Chapter 7 Customizing the Appearance of the Windows Interface 87


Working with Themes 87


Changing the Current Theme 88


Downloading More Themes 89


Making Your Own Theme 89


Automatic RSS Background Themes 95


Customizing Aero Glass 96


Tweaking the Color of Aero Glass 97


Changing the Aero Glass Borders 98


Disabling Animations 100


Disabling Aero Glass 101


Skinning Windows 7 101


Using Hacked Visual Styles 102


Changing the Look of Windows 7 Via WindowBlinds 103


Adding More Skins for WindowBlinds 104


Summary 105


Chapter 8 Fine–Tuning Windows Explorer 107


Customizing Windows Layout 107


Customizing Panes 108


Tweaking Search 110


Modifying File Associations 114


Changing the Default Launch App 114


Customizing the Context Menu 115


Removing Items from the Context Menu 116


Modifying the Send To Menu 117


Working with Libraries 118


Creating Your Own Libraries 118


Customizing Your Folders 119


Changing a Folder Icon and Picture 119


Changing the Template of a Folder 120


Customizing the Folder View 121


Applying Your Settings to All Folders 124


Working with Hidden Files 125


Showing Hidden Files 125


Revealing the Super Hidden Files 126


Summary 127


Chapter 9 Personalizing Internet Explorer 8 129


Customizing Search 129


Adding Popular Search Engines 130


Managing Your Configured Search Engines 131


Adding Custom Search Entries 131


Creating Registry Files to Import Sites to Search 132


Tweaking the Tabs 133


Tab Keyboard Shortcuts 133


Multitab Home Pages 134


Customizing Tabs 135


Fun with RSS 137


Subscribing to Feeds 137


Viewing Your IE–Subscribed RSS Feeds on Your Desktop 138


Customizing Feed Settings 139


Using Add–ons in Internet Explorer 140


Using ieSpell 140


Using RoboForm 141


Advanced Internet Explorer 8 Features 141


Using Accelerators 141


Using Web Slices 143


Summary 144


Chapter 10 Customizing Windows Media 145


Adjusting Your Audio Experience 145


Bass Boost 147


Virtual Surround 147


Room Correction 147


Loudness Equalization 149


Headphone Virtualization 149


Customizing Windows Media Player 12 149


Tweaking the UI 149


Sharing Your Library 151


Sharing Your Library over the Internet 153


Using Audio Effects 154


Customizing Media Center 157


Turning Your PC into a DVR 157


Summary 164


Part III Increasing Your System’s Performance 165


Chapter 11 Analyzing Your System 167


Monitoring Your System Hardware 167


Using the Resource Monitor 168


Using Performance Monitor to Get More System Stats 173


Using the Reliability Monitor 179


Using Event Viewer 180


Using Task Manager 183


Other Performance Monitoring Utilities 186


Benchmarking Your System 186


Windows Experience Index 187


Benchmarking with PCMark Vantage 189


Summary 191


Chapter 12 Speeding Up the System Boot 193


Working with the BIOS 193


Changing the Boot Order of Your Drives 194


Using Quick Boot Feature of the BIOS 196


Modifying the Operating System Boot 197


Windows Boot Manager 198


Disabling the System Boot Screen 200


Disabling Unneeded Hardware Devices 202


Removing Extra Fonts for Speed 204


Disabling Unneeded Services 207


Optimizing the Location of the Boot Files 222


Summary 226


Chapter 13 Making Your Computer Log On Faster 227


Speeding Up the Logon 228


Enabling Automatic Logon 228


Adjust the Startup Programs 229


Customizing Auto–Start Programs for Other Users 238


Other Time–Saving Tips 239


Assigning Alternative IP Addresses 239


Turning Off the Logon Sound 241


Summary 242


Chapter 14 Speeding Up Windows Explorer 243


Speeding Up File Browsing and Access 243


Disabling Legacy Filename Creation 244


Disabling the File Access Timestamp 247


Adjusting NTFS Memory Allocation 248


Speeding Up the User Interface 250


Fine–Tuning Performance Options 251


Adjusting Animations 251


Disabling Aero Glass for Faster Performance 255


Windows Classic Look for Maximum Performance 257


Adjusting Explorer’s Search 258


Adjusting Search Scope 258


Adjusting Windows Indexing Service 259


Using Windows Search without an Index 261


Summary 261


Chapter 15 Optimizing Core Windows Components 263


Windows Loves RAM 264


Adding RAM to Your Computer 264


Using a USB Storage Device to Add Memory 266


Tweaking the Paging File 268


Disabling the Paging File 269


Adjusting the Size of the Paging File 271


Changing the Location of the Paging File 273


Defragmenting Your Hard Drive 274


Using the Windows Defrag Utility 275


Using Third–Party Defrag Utilities 275


Adjusting Your Application Priorities 277


Using Task Manager to Adjust Priorities 278


Starting Applications with a User Set Priority 279


Summary 280


Chapter 16 Optimizing Your Network 281


Optimizing Your Web Browser 281


Speeding Up Internet Explorer 282


Speeding Up Firefox 283


Accelerating Your Downloads 285


Speeding Up Your Network Connection 288


Tweaking Auto Tuning 289


Disabling Unneeded Protocols 289


Summary 292


Part IV Securing Windows 293


Chapter 17 Windows Security 295


Actively Protecting Your Computer 296


Staying Up–to–Date 296


Updating Windows 7 297


Active Security Tips 299


Controlling Your Computer Accounts 301


Managing User Accounts 301


Tweaking User Account Control 307


Controlling User Account Control 307


Using File Encryption 312


Encrypting Your Files 312


Using BitLocker Drive Encryption 315


Summary 318


Chapter 18 Internet Security 319


Analyzing Your Security 319


Testing Internet Security 320


Watch the Action Center 321


Using a Firewall 323


Using the Windows 7 Firewall 323


Web Browser Security 327


Internet Explorer 8 327


Defending against Spyware and Malware 330


Using Windows Defender 331


Using Antivirus Software 333


Using avast! Antivirus Software 333


Summary 335


Chapter 19 Protecting Your Privacy 337


Internet Explorer Privacy 337


Removing Address Bar Suggestions 338


Clearing Temporary Internet Files, History, and Cookies 339


Adjusting Your Cookie Security Policy 341


Protecting Sensitive Online Data 343


Disabling AutoComplete 344


Clearing Temporary Internet Files Automatically 344


Running Internet Explorer 8 in Super Privacy Mode 345


Windows Interface Privacy 346


Clearing Frequently Run and Opened Files Lists


Including Jump Lists 347


Removing Specific Entries from Taskbar Jump Lists 348


Removing Temporary Files from Your Hard Drive 349


Removing Saved Passwords with Credential Manager 350


Setting File and Folder Permissions 352


Summary 354


Index 355