Archive for the ‘Windows 7’ category

Disable Beep Sound When Plugging / Unplugging Laptop Charger

May 2nd, 2018 by Admin

Disabling annoying power cord beep? When plugging in or plugging out the power adapter, there will be an annoying beep sound. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to disable beep sound when plugging or unplugging laptop charger.

Method 1: Disable Beep Sound When Plugging / Unplugging Laptop Charger via Device Manager

If you’re running Windows 7:

  1. Press the WIN + R keys together to open the Run box. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.

  2. When the Device Manager window opens, click the View menu and then select Show hidden devices.
  3. In the left pane, click on Non-Plug and Play Drivers to expand it, then double-click the Beep device.

  4. Switch to the Driver tab. Set Startup type as Disabled.

    Click Apply and reboot your computer.

If you’re running Windows 10 or Windows 8, you have to disable the System Speaker device instead:

  1. Press the WIN + R keys together to open the Run box. Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
  2. In the left pane of the Device Manager window, Expand “System Devices“. Right-click on System Speaker and select Disable.
  3. Reboot your computer.

Method 2: Disable Beep Sound When Plugging / Unplugging Laptop Charger via BIOS

  1. Press a specific key (F2, F12, DEL, ESC, etc) repeatedly after restarting your laptop to access the BIOS Setup utility.
  2. Use the arrow keys to navigate through BIOS settings to look for “Power Beep“, “Power Control Beep” or a similar option, and set it to Disabled.

  3. Save your changes and exit BIOS.

How to Stop Laptop from Sleeping / Shutdown When Lid is Closed

April 25th, 2018 by Admin

how do I stop my Windows laptop from shutting down when I close the lid? By default, Windows will go into sleep mode when you close your laptop’s lid. If you want Windows to keep running even when your laptop’s lid is closed, here’s how to customize the default action to take when you close the lid.

How to Stop Laptop from Sleeping / Shutdown When Lid is Closed?

  1. Open the Control Panel in Large icons view. Click Power Options.

  2. Click the “Choose what closing the lid does” link in the left side panel.

  3. If the options are grayed out, you have to click the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link at the top.

  4. Open the drop-down list next to the “When I close the lid” option. Select “Do nothing” under both “On battery” and “Plugged in“.

  5. Click Save changes. Now, when you close the laptop lid, Windows will still keep running, without losing any unsaved work or suspending your downloads.

How to Create Keyboard Shortcuts for Any Windows Application

April 8th, 2018 by Admin

Is there a way to create your own keyboard shortcut to launch the apps you use most often? This feature is built into Windows for quite a long time, but many people don’t even know it existed. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create custom keyboard shortcuts to launch any application in Windows 10 / 8 / 7, without using third-party programs.

How to Create Keyboard Shortcuts for Any Windows Application

  1. Right-click on the shortcut to the app you need a keyboard shortcut for, and then select Properties.

    If you can’t find a shortcut, right-click on the relevant executable file and choose New -> Shortcut.

  2. In the Properties window, go to the Shortcut tab. Click in the Shortcut key box and type a letter or number. This character is appended to Ctrl+Alt, so you’ll end up with something like Ctrl+Alt+F.

  3. Click OK to save your change. When asked for administrator permissions, click on Continue.

    You can then launch your application using the keyboard combination: CTRL + ALT + a letter / number. That’s it!

If you want to delete the keyboard shortcut later, just open the Properties window again and click in the Shortcut key box and press the Backspace key to delete the shortcut.

How to Open Print Management in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 29th, 2018 by Admin

Print Management missing from Windows 10 Administrative Tools? Print Management is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that enables you to install, view, and manage the printers. In this tutorial we’ll show you the easiest ways to open Print Management in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Method 1: Open Print Management via Run Command

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run command box, type printmanagement.msc and hit Enter.

This will launch the Print Management console immediately. Expand the Print Servers node on the left, you can add / delete the printers and drivers, view printer queue, configure the printer port, print test page, etc.

Method 2: Open Print Management via Control Panel

Open the Control Panel and select Large icons under the View by drop-down list. Click Administrative Tools.

You can find the Print Management shortcut.

Can’t Find Print Management in Windows 10/8/7 Home?

Print Management is not available in the Home edition of Windows. However, you can find an alternative Control Panel applet that can help manage the printers connected to your computer. Follow these steps:

Open the Control Panel in Large icons view. Click Devices and Printers.

In the Devices and Printers window, you can see the connected printers, scanners, Bluetooth and other external devices. Right-click on your printer and you can see how many documents are in the printing queue, set the default paper size for printing, manage the printer properties.

Click the “Print server properties” in the toolbar area and it lets you configure available printer forms and printer ports, add and remove printer drivers, etc. That’s it!

How to Change Mouse Sensitivity and Pointer Speed in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 27th, 2018 by Admin

Mouse cursor moving extremely slow? The cursor lag could make you mad especially when you’re playing games. In this tutorial we’ll explain how to change mouse sensitivity and pointer speed in Windows 10, 8 and Windows 7.

How to Change Mouse Sensitivity and Pointer Speed in Windows

  1. Open the Control Panel in Large icons view, click the Mouse option.

  2. In the Mouse Properties window, go to the Pointer Options tab. Under the Motion section, move the slider toward Slow or Fast until you achieve the desired mouse sensitivity.

  3. To make the pointer work more accurately when you’re moving the mouse slowly, select the Enhance pointer precision check box as well.
  4. Click OK to save your changes.

If you are a gamer with a gaming mouse, you might know what the DPI is. DPI is the standard used to measure the mouse sensitivity, expressed as the number of DPIs (dots per linear inch) that a device can detect. You can often change the DPI settings with the software created by your mouse’s manufacturer.

How to Disable SuperFetch in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 21st, 2018 by Admin

Superfetch causing high disk or memory usage? SuperFetch, previously known as Prefetch, is a Windows service that makes your frequently-used programs load faster by preloading them into RAM. However, Superfetch can sometimes take up too many system resources (such as CPU, memory and storage). Here’s how you can disable Superfetch in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Method 1: Disable Superfetch Using Windows Services App

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run prompt, then type services.msc and click OK.

  2. In the Services window, scroll down to find the Superfetch service. Double click on it to configure its properties.

  3. Click the Startup type drop-down list and select Disabled, then click OK and restart your computer.

If you don’t want to permanently disable Superfetch, you can stop the service temporarily by running the following command at the Command Prompt:
net stop superfetch

Method 2: Disable Superfetch Using Registry Editor

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run prompt, then type regedit and press Enter.

  2. Browse to the following registry location using the left sidebar:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

    Then double-click the 32-bit DWORD value EnableSuperfetch in the right pane. If it doesn’t exist, you have to create it.

  3. To disable SuperFetch, change Value Data to 0 and click OK.

    Once you reboot, Superfetch will stay inactive.

If you want to enable SuperFetch later, just restore the value of EnableSuperfetch back to 3 and you’re done!

Find Location of Mouse Pointer Using Ctrl Key in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 12th, 2018 by Admin

Mouse cursor has disappeared after upgrading to Windows 10? This may happen irrespective of whether you use a wireless or a wired mouse. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to enable Windows to show the location of mouse pointer when pressing the Ctrl key.

How to Find Location Of Mouse Pointer Using Ctrl Key in Windows?

Press Windows key and R key at the same time. When the Run box appears, type main.cpl and hit Enter.

In the Mouse Properties dialog, select the Pointer Options tab at the top. Check the box “Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key” and click OK.

From now on, you just need to press the CTRL key to find and show the pointer location on the screen.

How to Open Mouse Properties in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

March 12th, 2018 by Admin

If you want to change mouse sensitivity or customize mouse cursor in Windows, you have to access the Mouse Properties dialog. This tutorial will show you the easiest ways to open Mouse Properties in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Method 1: Open Mouse Properties via Run Command

Hold down the Windows Key and Press R on your keyboard. Once you’ve got the Run command box open, type main.cpl and press Enter.

This will open the Mouse Properties dialog immediately.

Method 2: Open Mouse Properties via Control Panel

Open the Control Panel in Large icons view, and then click the Mouse option.

Method 3: Open Mouse Properties via Settings App in Windows 10

Open the Settings app in Windows 10, and click the Devices category.

Select the Mouse tab, then click the Additional mouse options link on the right side.

Now you can access the Mouse Properties window.

Fix: Can’t Type Special Characters on Windows Login Screen

March 5th, 2018 by Admin

Can’t log into Windows if your password contains certain special characters? If you’re concerned about the security of your Windows account, you may use some ultra complex password generated from password manager. When setting up password via Control Panel, you can input special characters with a copy and paste operation, or using the built-in Character Map utility. The problem is that these ways don’t work on the Windows login screen.

In this tutorial we’ll explain how you can enter special characters on Windows login screen, or simply remove your password to unlock your computer.

Method 1: Type Special Characters on Windows Login Screen

To insert the special character (such as #, &, @, {,}, [,],) shown on the upper part of a key, just hold down SHIFT and press the desired key to type it. If your desired characters (such as ©,®,∆,√) that are not on the keyboard, you can type it using Alt key codes:

  1. Place your cursor in the location where you wish to insert a special character.
  2. When the NUM LOCK key is on, press and hold down the Alt key, then tap the numbers (ALT code) on the numeric keypad at the right side of your keyboard.
  3. Release the Alt key, the desired character will appear.

For example, let’s say you want to type the copyright symbol ©. It’s ALT code is 0169. With Num Lock enabled, hold down Alt key and tap the sequence of numbers (0, 1, 6, 9) on the numpad, then release the Alt key.

The following is the ALT codes for the most common characters:

Note: You must use the numeric keypad to type the ALT code. However, most laptops and tablets don’t have the traditional numeric keypad. To type special characters, you may have to add an external USB keyboard with embedded numeric keypad.

Method 2: Remove Windows Password to Bypass the Login Screen

If you’re still unable to type special characters on the login screen, you may be completely locked out of Windows admin account. In order to regain access to your system, you can use PCUnlocker to remove the login password before Windows loads up.

  1. To start, use a second computer to download the ISO image of PCUnlocker. Run the ISO2Disc utility and browse for the ISO file you just downloaded, just select your USB drive and start the process to create a bootable PCUnlocker USB drive.

  2. Plug the USB drive into your locked computer. Enter into the BIOS setup and change the boot sequence to force your computer to boot from USB drive first.

  3. After PCUnlocker loads from the USB drive, you can see all local accounts found on your computer. Just select your admin account and click on Reset Password button. This lets you remove / delete the Windows password that you’re unable to type on the login screen.

  4. Reboot your computer and restore the BIOS boot sequence to boot from hard drive. Windows will log in to your local admin account without prompting you to type password any longer. Done!

4 Ways to Enable or Disable Aero Peek in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

February 24th, 2018 by Admin

Aero Peek is a usability feature available since Windows 7, which allows you to temporarily view the desktop without having to minimize all the open windows. Just move the mouse at the far right end of the taskbar, it makes all the open windows go transparent and you can see the desktop. Move the mouse away to see your open windows again.

If you don’t like Aero Peek, you can disable it easily. In this tutorial we’ll show you 4 ways to enable or disable Aero Peek in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

Updated: These methods don’t work with Windows 11. If you want to disable desktop peek in Windows 11, please check out this tutorial.

Method 1: Enable or Disable Aero Peek via Right-clicking “Show desktop” Button

Move your cursor over the “Show desktop” button, which can be found as a small rectangle present at the right corner of the taskbar. Right-click the “Show desktop” button, and then select “Peek at desktop” from the popup menu.

When Aero Peek is turned on, there should be a check mark next to the “Peek at desktop” option. Clicking that option again will then disable Aero Peek.

Method 2: Enable or Disable Aero Peek via Right-clicking Taskbar

Right click an empty space on the taskbar, and then select Taskbar settings from the popup menu.

On the Taskbar settings window, just toggle the “Use Peek to preview the desktop when you move your mouse to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar” option on or off to enable or disable Aero Peek.

If you’re running Windows 7, right-click on the taskbar and select Properties. You’ll get a similar option “Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop” that allows you to enable or disable Aero Peek.

Method 3: Enable or Disable Aero Peek via System Properties

  1. Press the Windows + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog, then type sysdm.cpl and hit Enter.
  2. On the System Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under the Performance section.

  3. Select the Visual Effects tab, look for the option entitled “Enable Aero Peek” or “Enable Peek“, which allows you to turn the Aero Peek feature on or off.

  4. Click Apply and then OK.

Method 4: Enable or Disable Aero Peek via Registry Hack

  1. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
  2. Double-click a DWORD value called DisablePreviewDesktop on the right pane, set its value to 0 if you want to enable Aero Peek, or change its value to 1 when you don’t use Aero Peek.

  3. Close Registry Editor. Restart or log off your system.