8 useful tips for Windows 7

Defragment multiple hard drives simultaneously, or automatically adjust the volume when making VoIP calls . are new features on Windows 7 that many people do not know.

If anyone who has ever had the chance to try out Microsoft's upcoming operating system will surely understand that Microsoft has had a lot of fundamental changes in this version compared to its seniors. The new toolbar, new menu system, avatar images (thumbnails) are larger in size . but hidden deep inside is also a series of features that not all users discover.

1. Ultra-fast defragmentation

Data stored on the hard drive is often distributed after a period of operation. This makes the operation process, the speed of accessing the data of the system will be reduced and defragmenting the hard drive is a must do regularly. However, this is a frustrating task on previous versions of Windows because it takes a lot of time. Microsoft has improved this problem on Windows 7 by speeding up the defragmentation process and allowing users to perform this operation on multiple hard drive partitions at the same time.

All the user needs to do is type the command line: defrag / c / h / u / r

In which / r is to defragment multiple hard drives at the same time, / h to accelerate this process, / u to display the entire process in progress.

2. Start IE faster

Some Internet Explorer (IE) add-ons start up quite slowly, making IE's booting and working process slow. Since IE 8 users have been able to interfere with this issue. Select Tool> Manager Add-ons menu, select Load Time in the right column and you will see which application is making your IE slow. Turn it off if not needed.

3. Run the blocked secondary application

Microsoft has enhanced security on Windows 7 by not allowing the running of auxiliary programs if the user account management (UAC) function is turned off. This helps unverified (and possibly malicious) programs not run on Windows. But if you have turned off UAC and still want to run a program with a little risk, you can still do it.

At the Run menu, type REGEDIT >> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSidebarSettings. Right-click to create a new DWORD, name it AllowElevatedProcess, and enter the value 1. Exit the Registry and start your program.

4. Replace Alt + Tab key combination

For a long time, we have a habit of using Alt + Tab to switch between different windows. The downside of this shortcut is that we can hardly find the required window quickly because we have to flip through all kinds of windows (of different types of programs and applications). Windows 7 has a solution: Press and hold down the Ctrl key and click on the Explorer icon or the program icon.

5. Turn off the intelligent window sorting function

Windows 7 has a nice new feature that users can manually arrange their windows, for example, just drag a window to the top of the screen, this window will automatically open. in full screen (full screeen). But if we're used to the classic simplicity of previous Windows versions, we can turn this feature off by starting REGEDIT >> HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop, changing the value of WindowArrangementActive to 0. Restart machine.

6. Customize the System Restore function

Since Windows Vista users have been able to adjust a bit to the function of remembering system status and choosing the time to restore (System Restore). In Windows 7, we can do even more. In the Start menu, right-click the Computer> Properties> System Protection> Configure icon, select Max Usage if you want Windows to save multiple restore points (but take up a lot of memory) or choose smaller values ​​as desired.

7. Run the program from another account

If you log into the system via a Guest account or a Limited account, to prevent viruses, there are some programs that can only run in the top level account (admin - administrator). Run as feature can overcome this drawback without requiring you to log into multiple accounts. Right-click the icon of a program, select Run as in the menu that appears and then select the account in the list.

Actually, the Run as function appeared in Windows XP but to Windows Vista Microsoft removed it.

8. Customize the volume

By default, Windows 7 will automatically reduce the volume of all programs if it detects that you are making a VoIP call. However, this may make you dislike or you want to turn off all the sounds of other programs to make a call. Right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar and choose Sound> Communications and choose which feature which you want.