How to switch your Windows 7 display to a projector?

How to switch your Windows 7 display to a projector?

On numerous occasions, I've watched presenters struggle to get their laptops to display with a projector after attaching the cables. Windows 7 makes it easy. Here's how:

1. After attaching the video-out (VGA) port of your laptop to the projector's cable, press the Windows Logo key + P.
2. You'll see a pop-up box with four choices. The first is Computer Only, which is not what you want. You also probably don't want to Extend the Desktop. That leaves two choices. You can select to Duplicate the laptop display to the projector, so that you see the same screen on both (my preference) or you can select Projector Only, so that your desktop is displayed only on the projector screen.

This solution is quick, easy and elegant - far better than having to search for the correct key combination (which varied depending on the hardware) with XP and Vista.

What service pack is installed?

There are several ways to determine what service packs have been applied:

1. Click Start | Run. In the Run box, type winver and press Enter. This will display the About Windows screen that shows the version of Windows you're running. At the end of the second line, you should see the service pack number.

1. Click Start | Run. In the Run box, type MSINFO32. You'll see the System Properties dialog box and on the General tab, it shows your OS, edition, version and service pack number.

1. Click Start | Control Panel. Click the System applet. This displays the same System Properties dialog box.

1. Right-click My Computer. Click Properties. This also displays the System Properties dialog box.

How to change the default wallpaper folder in XP?

By default, Windows XP looks in C:\Windows for the wallpaper images that it uses to populate the list of available backgrounds in the Display Properties | Desktop dialog box. Wouldn't it be handier if you could have it look in a different folder, such as your My Pictures folder where you probably save your favorite images? Well, you can - with a simple registry edit.

1. Open the registry editor
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion
3. In the right details pane, double click the value WallPaperDir (if it doesn't exist, create a new string value and give it that name)
4. In the Value data field of the Edit String dialog box, type or paste the path to the My Pictures folder (or whatever folder you want Windows to look in for wallpapers). For example: c: \ Documents and Settings \ *your user name* \ My Documents \ My Pictures
5.Close the registry editor

You should not have to reboot to apply the change; you can now open the Display Properties | Desktop dialog box and you'll see the images from your chosen folder in the list.

How to change border thickness in Windows 7?

The thick borders on windows look great with Aero transparency, but if you prefer thinner borders, you can configure them to look the way you want. Or you can make them even thicker.

1. Right click an empty area on the desktop and select Personalize.
2. Click Window Color at the bottom.
3. Click the Advanced appearance settings... link
4. In the Advanced Appearance dialog box, in the drop-down box under "Item:" select Border Padding.
5. In the "Size" field, change the default (4) to a lower number to reduce the size of the borders or a large number to increase it.
6. Click OK.

How to disable "Reopen Last Browsing Session" feature in IE8?

Windows 7 comes with Internet Explorer 8, which offers many great new features. One of those is the ability to reopen your last browsing session - this can be a godsend if you accidentally close the browser with a number of pages open that you need to go back to. No more hunting through the History list - you can have them back with a single click. But there are situations wherein this can be a security issue. If you don't like the idea of having your previous browsing sessions so accessible, you can disable the feature and clear the browser cache so it won't be so easy for someone to see where you've been on the web. Here's how:

1. In the registry editor, navigate toHKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Recovery
2. In the right pane, right click an empty space and select New DWORD value (32 bit) Value.
3. Rename the new Value NoReopenLastSession
4. Double click the new value and set the value data field to 1
5. Close the registry editor.
6. Close and restart IE to make the change take effect.

Note: If you want to completely hide the tracks of your previous browsing, clear the browser cache as well: click Tools Delete Browsing History.

How to create a password reset disk?

If you forget your password to log onto Windows 7, you can change it, without knowing the old one, by using a password reset disk. That's handy, especially for accounts that aren't used often. Remember to keep the disk in a safe place, though, because anyone else can also change your password and access your user account with it. Here's how to create it:

1. Log onto the account for which you're going to make the disc.
2. Decide what media you're going to use. It can be a floppy disk (if you have a floppy drive),
3. USB stick, flash card or external hard drive. Insert or connect the media.
4. Click Start Control Panel User Accounts.
5. In the left pane, click "Create a Password Reset Disk."
6. In the Forgotten Password Wizard dialog box, follow the instructions to make the disk.

Note: If your computer belongs to a domain, you cannot create a password reset disk. The domain administrator can reset your password for you.

How to get rid of the "New Items" highlight in the Programs menu

When you install a new program in XP, it will be highlighted in orange in the list of programs. This can be useful for helping you to notice what new programs have been installed, but if you'd prefer not to have new programs highlighted, it's easy to get rid of this feature. Here's how:

1. Right click an empty space on the taskbar.
2. Select Properties.
3. In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click the Start Menu tab.
4. Click the Customize button.
5. Click the Advanced tab.
6. Uncheck the box labeled "Highlight newly installed programs."

Is there a way to show the file extension for some files and not others?

As a matter of fact, it is possible to show file extensions for specific file types only.

1. In Explorer, click Tools Folder Options.
2. Click the File Types tab.
3. In the list of registered file types, choose the file type for which you want to display the extension.
4. Click the Advanced button.
5. Click "Always Show Extension."