How to disable User Account Control?

To keep your computer safe and clean of viruses that's one thing which is very important for your computer. But you don't want to get bothered with annoying warnings from Windows Vista each time you install a program or when you make a change in Vista's settings?

Without any doubt is Vista's most irritating tool the User Account Control (UAC). The User Account Control takes care that Windows asks permission to several system sources over and over again.
I have to admit that this standard setting helps you to keep your computer clean, but do you really want to give permission for every small setting change, like changing the Windows' standard font?

I think your answer is NO!

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Move or Copy Files at Will

Intuitively, when you drag a file from one place to another, it would seem reasonable that the file will be moved, not copied. That is, when you see an object disappear from a location, it shouldn't still be there next time you look. One of the worst inconsistencies in Windows is what actually happens to files when they're dragged. Dragging from one place to another on the same disk ends up moving the files, while dragging from one disk to another copies them. If you're just dragging EXE files, a shortcut is created, and the file is neither copied nor moved. The only consistency here is that this same design flaw is duplicated on Macintosh and OS/2. To cope with this, follow the following instructions:

• To copy a file under any situation, hold the Ctrl key while dragging.
• To move a file under any situation, hold the Shift key while dragging.
• To choose what happens to dragged files, drag them with the right mouse-button, and a menu will appear when the files are dropped.

• Note: Notice that the mouse cursor changes depending on the action being taken. A small plus (+) appears when copying, and a curved arrow appears when creating a shortcut.

• Note: There is no way to set the default action when dragging files - a glaring omission.

• Note: A handy and well-designed utility, WinZIP, utilizes the right-drag menu to ZIP and unZIP files (version 6.0 and later).

Display an index all the files on your system

To get an index of all (or a subset thereof) of the files on your system, follow these directions:

Windows Vista:

• Open Windows Explorer, select Computer in the tree, and type *.* in the Search box on the upper-right side of the window.

Windows Me/2000/2003/XP:

• Select Search and then For Files or Folders from the Start Menu, select a drive (or use Local Hard Drives for all drives), and click Search Now without specifying anything in the Named field.

Windows 95/98:

• Select Find and then Files or Folders from the Start Menu, select a drive (or use My Computer for all drives), and click Find Now without specifying anything in the Named field. Note that Windowx 95 and Windows 98 have an arbitrary limit of 10,000 entries, so you may need to limit your search, or upgrade to a newer version of Windows (see below).

After the search:

• You can then sort the results by clicking on the appropriate column heading (useful for finding the largest or most recent file on your system).
• To save the results, you'll need the Copy to Clipboard as Filename utility (one of Microsoft's PowerToys). This allows you to select all the files in the results list, right-click, select Send To and then Clipboard as Filename. You can then paste the listings into a text editor, such as Notepad, for saving and printing.

How do I know if I can delete a specific file?

• Check the date of the file (right-click on it and select Properties) - if it's recent, it's most likely being used.
• If the file is large, and you want to know if you can delete it, try renaming it or moving it to another directory before to see if everything still works before you delete it.
• No, you shouldn't delete WIN386.SWP (your swap file in Win95/98/Me) or PAGEFILE.SYS (your swap file in Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista).

Downloading Windows Updates

The Windows Update feature can be a convenient way to make sure you have all the latest patches and bug fixes that Microsoft didn't bother including in the boxed version of Windows. However, if you have more than one computer, or you have a slow connection, it can be tedious and quite inconvenient to be forced to download all the files over and over again. Although there's no mention of it on the Windows Update site, Microsoft has made all of the updates available for separate download (for installing later) here:

Make a Duplicate of a File

Windows lets you copy and move files from one folder to another by dragging them with different combinations of keystrokes. You can also rename a file by clicking on its name or pressing F2. However, if you want to make a duplicate of a file in the same directory, with a different name, the process might not be as obvious. Here's how you do it:

On the desktop, or in an open folder window:

• Hold Ctrl, and drag the file from one part of the window to another part of the same window.

In Explorer:

• Explorer won't let you do this, but you can Ctrl-drag a file from the right pane, and drop it on the same folder in the left pane.

In either case:

• You can also use the right mouse button to drag the file from one part of the window to another part of the same window, and select Copy Here.
• The duplicate of a file called, say, MyFile.TXT would be automatically named Copy of MyFile.TXT.
• For keyboard users; press Ctrl-c and then Ctrl-v to create a duplicate of a file using the clipboard.

Duplicate a group of files:

• Obtain and install Power Rename, part of O'Reilly Utilities and Creative Element Power Tools.
• It lets you rename files in a multitude of ways, including making duplicates (renaming without removing the original).

Learn to Explore with Folders

Here are some tips for controlling the way folders and files behave. Although selecting Options from the View menu in My Computer lets you choose whether to open each new folder as a new window or re-use the same window, there is a way to pick-&-choose this behavior on the fly:

• Select Options from the View menu in My Computer, select Custom, and then click Settings.
• From the Browse folders as follows section, choose the option that you want.
• Even though you've chosen one option, you can hold Ctrl while double-clicking folder icons to use the other option.

Other keys that work with either setting:

• Hold Alt while double-clicking on a file or folder to view the Properties window for that object.
• Hold Shift while double-clicking on a folder to open Explorer at that location (careful when using this as Shift is also used to select multiple files).
• Press Backspace in an open folder to go to the parent folder.
• Hold Shift while clicking on the close button (X) to close all open folders.

• A shortcut for choosing a new program to be used with a certain file type is to hold the Shift key while right-clicking on a file, and choosing Open With...

Run a Shortcut from the Command Prompt

Since Shortcuts to applications aren't recognized by DOS, you can't execute them directly. However, there is a way to launch them, either from the prompt, or from a batch file:

• Type the following: start "c:\directory\Shortcut to Someprog.exe.lnk", where c:\directory is the full path containing the shortcut, and Shortcut to Someprog.exe.lnk is the filename of the shortcut.

Print Out a Directory Listing

Although there is no built-in way to print a directory listing (all the filenames in a folder), there is a way to add this functionality to Windows. Here's how you do it:

Solution #1:

• Obtain and install the Copy to Clipboard as Filename utility.
• This allows you to select all the files in a folder, in Explorer, or in the Find window results list, right-click on them, select Send To and then Clipboard as Filename.
• You can then paste the listings into a text editor, such as Notepad, for printing or saving.

A similar tool is also available as part of O'Reilly Utilities and Creative Element Power Tools.

Solution #2:

• Open a text editor, such as Notepad, and type the following lines into a new document: (assuming the printer you wish to use is connected to printer port #1).

CD %1
DIR >LPT1

• Save the two-line file into your Windows\Command folder, and call it PRINTDIR.BAT.
• Find the file in Explorer, right click on it, and select Properties.
• Click on the Program tab, turn on the Close on Exit option, choose Minimized from the Run list, and click Ok.
• Next, run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
• Open My Computer\ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Directory\ shell.
• Select New from the Edit menu, and then select Key.
• Type Print for the name of this new key, and press Enter.
• Highlight the new Print key, select New from the Edit menu, and then select Key again.
• Type command for the name of this new key, and press Enter.
• Double-click on the (default) value in the right pane, and type C:\Windows\Command\PRINTDIR.BAT (assuming that C:\Windows\ is your Windows folder).
• From now on, when you right-click on a folder icon, you can click Print to print its contents.

• Note: this assumes that your printer is connected to the LPT1 port, which is true for most users. However, if your printer is connected over a network or you have more than one printer, you need to change LPT1 to the correct port.

Sort by Extension in Explorer

In Windows Explorer, files are classified by their File Type, which is one step beyond the file extension. However, there are circumstances where it is advantageous to sort by file extension, and not file type. While sorting by file type and extension yield similar results, they are not identical. A temporary, although impractical solution to this limitation is to rename all your file types to mirror the extension names (such as *.TXT = "TXT file," *.WPD = "WPD file). As of yet, there is no way to sort the files in Explorer by the actual extension.

Set Defaults in Explorer

The single most commonly reported annoyance with Windows 95 when it was released, was its inability to set defaults for new explorer windows (or file folders), such as size, position, sort order, and display type (large icons, details, etc.). In Explorer, unless the window had been opened and configured recently, the files are unsorted and displayed as large icons until you manually configure the window. A similar limitation that plagued DOS was fixed 13 years after DOS 1.0 was released - a sign of things to come? Windows 98 and subsequent versions have the following, although I have yet to see it function correctly in any Windows release:

• Open a folder, and configure the sort order, icon size, column widths, etc. to your liking.
• Then, select Folder Options from Explorer's Tools menu (it's in the View menu in Windows 98), and choose the View tab.
• Click Like Current Folder and then click Ok.

Go Directly to Device Manager

The Device Manager is one of Windows' most useful diagnostic tools. It lets you see all of the devices attached to your computer, and which resources they are each using.

Windows 95/98/Me

• You can open Device Manager by double-clicking on the System icon in Control Panel, and choosing the Device Manager tab. It is also accessible by right-clicking on My Computer, selecting Properties, and selecting the Device Manager tab. Getting to the Device Manager this can require up to six mouse clicks, but there is an easier way.

• Open an Explorer window, and select your Start Menu folder (under your Windows directory). It doesn't have to go here, but it's as good a place as any.
• Select New and then Shortcut from the File Menu.
• In the field labelled Command Line, type C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE Sysdm.cpl, System,1 (replace C:\WINDOWS\ with your Windows directory, if different).
• Click Next, type Device Manager for the name of this shortcut, and press Finish when you're done.
• There will now be a shortcut directly to Device Manager in your Start Menu.

Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista

• You can open Device Manager by double-clicking on the System icon in Control Panel, choosing the Hardware tab, and clicking Device Manager.

• Fortunately, Device Manager can be more easily run by launching devmgmt.msc - just create a shortcut to the file (as described above), and launch it at any time.

Force Explorer to Start With the Folder You Want

Few things in Windows are more irritating than the way that Explorer always opens in the same folder (C:\ for Windows 95/98, My Documents for Windows Me/2000/XP). If you have an entry in your Start Menu to run Explorer, you can change it to "Explore" at the folder of your choice:

• Open Explorer, and go to your Start Menu folder.
• Find the shortcut for Explorer, right click on it, and select Properties.
• Click on the Shortcut tab, and change the Target so it reads: c:\windows\EXPLORER.EXE /n, /e, d:\myfolder (where c:\windows is your Windows directory, and d:\myfolder is the directory in which you want Explorer to start.)

• Tip: To have Explorer start with My Computer, so no branches are initially expanded, use the following command line options: /n, /e, /select, c:\

  Note: this won't work if you try to start Explorer by right-clicking on the Start Menu (here's why). Just put a shortcut to EXPLORER.EXE in the top level of your Start Menu folder for easy access.