10 Advanced Windows 7 Tips Part 2

This is the second part of a series of advanced Windows 7 tips. The first part has been published at our sister site ghacks.net. The ten tips that have been posted at ghacks will be listed at the end of this article for your convenience.

Windows 7 offers a lot of hidden features and settings that most users do not know about. Just try holding the shift key in Windows Explorer or in the Windows 7 Taskbar to see the difference for yourself.

The following article contains ten advanced Windows 7 tips that can speed up the operating system, speed up a user’s workflow or increase other features of the OS.

Tip 11: Rearrange and customize System Tray icons

Not all system tray icons are displayed by default in the Windows 7 operating system. They are divided into icons that are hidden all the time, icons that only show notifications and icons that are shown all the time.

The configuration for each icon can be customized individually by opening the customize link in the system tray.

This will open the Windows 7 Taskbar Notification Area Icons menu with options to customize the visibility of each known icon in the system tray.

It is furthermore possible to rearrange the icons in the system tray or move those icons from the tray to the taskbar.

Tip 12: Display Extended Send-To menu

Holding the [shift] button will right-clicking and selecting the Send-To option in Windows Explorer will display additional options in the Send-To menu. This will for instance add links to MyDocuments or Downloads which are otherwise not available in the menu.

Tip 13: Launch taskbar items with keyboard shortcuts

The taskbar items can be launched by left-clicking an icon, new instance by shift-clicking on an item. It is also possible to start items or bring them to the front with the keyboard by pressing [Windows] + [number between 1 and 0]. The numbers correspond to the icons in the taskbar from left to right.

Tip 14: Switch program instances in the taskbar

The standard way of locating a specific program instance (say from five open Windows Explorer windows) is to use [alt tab]. A better solution provided by Windows 7 is to [ctrl]-click the icon in the taskbar which allows the user to quickly switch through the open instances of the program.

Tip 15: Display all drives

Windows 7 hides empty drives by default. This is for instance the case if no disk is inserted into a CD or DVD drive. Some users might want to display all drives all the time. This can be changed so that all drives are displayed in Windows Explorer all the time.

The option to change that setting is available in the Folder Options configuration. The menu can be accessed by clicking on Tools > Folder Options and then switching to the View tab.

The entry Hide empty drives in the Computer folder will hide or show empty drives in the Computer folder.

Tip 16: Use Check boxes to select multiple items in Windows Explorer

Multiple items in Windows Explorer can be selected by drawing a left-click rectangle around them, by holding the [shift] key or [ctrl] key. The [ctrl] key offers the only solution to select files and folders that are not listed next to each other.

An alternative to the [ctrl] key solution is to enable checkboxes in Windows Explorer which can then also be used to select multiple items regardless of their location in the folder in Windows Explorer.

The feature to enable checkboxes is also available in the View tab of the Tools > Folder Options menu. The entry Use check boxes to select items needs to be activated to add the functionality to Windows Explorer.

Tip 17: Move Windows to another computer monitor

A new feature of Windows 7 is the ability to move windows from one computer monitor to another which is a handy new feature for multi-monitor systems.

The keyboard shortcuts [Windows]+[Shift]+[Left] or [Windows]+[Shift]+[Right] move the active window to the left and right monitor.

Tip 18: Rename multiple files at once

It is possible to rename multiple files in Windows Explorer at once. This can be done by selecting the files that should be renamed in Windows Explorer and pressing F2. the name that is entered will be applied to all files that have been selected. Numbers are automatically added to files of the same file type.

Tip 19: Create a system repair disk

The Windows System Repair Disk is a bootable disk for troubleshooting the operating system. It provides access to System Restore, Startup Repair, Windows Complete PC Restore, Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool and a command prompt. It is recommended to create a system repair disk right after the installation of Windows 7.

The easiest way to create such a disk is to type [system repair disc] in the start menu form of the operating system. This will open the Create a system repair disk window where the system repair disk can be created.

Tip 20: Create New Libraries

Windows 7 provides access to four libraries by default. Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos are the libraries that are pre-installed. The user has the option to add new locations to the libraries which become available immediately.

There is however also an option to create new libraries. This can be helpful to add a new library for general items or to add a secondary library for documents, videos, music or pictures.

A new library is created by right-clicking the Libraries entry in Windows Explorer and selecting New from the list.

A right-click on the new library and the selection of the Properties menu to add new folders to the new library.

Here is the list of the tips that have been posted in part 1 of the article.

Tip 1: Opening a new instance of a pinned program or folder in the Windows 7 taskbar
Tip 2: Extend the options of the right-click menu in Windows Explorer
Tip 3: Enabling AHCI to speed up hard drive operations
Tip 4: Run as keyboard shortcut
Tip 5: Display the old context menu in the taskbar
Tip 6: New Keyboard Shortcuts
Tip 7: Configure the volume of applications individually
Tip 8: Configure Cleartype for better readability on lcd monitor systems.
Tip 9: Change the shut down button in the start menu
Tip 10: Change system links in the start menu from links to menus
Bonus Tip: Disable or enable Hibernation in Windows 7

All accessible at 10 Advanced Windows 7 Tips Part 1

Related posts:

1. Display Icons And Text In The Windows 7 Taskbar
2. Windows 7 Guides: Windows 7 Libraries
3. Windows 7 Secrets
4. 70 Useful Windows 7 Tips And Tricks
5. Microsoft publishes Tips and Tricks smart guides for business