Unlike the good old Start menu in Windows 7, the Start menu in Windows 10 do not come with an easy option to add the Run command. Many users prefer to have a clickable item to open the Run dialog. Personally, I love and always use Win + R keyboard shortcut, but for mouse and touchpad users who really miss the Run item in Windows 10's Start Menu, here is a very simple way to get something similar to Windows 7's Run command.
Start Windows 10 in Safe mode
Windows 10 inherited the boot options from Windows 8 and comes with the same graphical environment for various recovery related tasks. Due to this, the Safe mode is hidden by default in favor of the automatic repair engine shipped with the new OS. If Windows 10 fails to boot, it starts the automatic repair mode and tries to analyze and fix startup problems on its own without your help and without asking you what actions it is going to take. If you feel you need to run Windows 10 in Safe mode, e.g. to troubleshoot some issue with drivers and apps, here are instructions on how you can access Safe Mode.
The command prompt has been further improved in Windows 10
Microsoft has released their brand new Windows 10 for public testing. The Technical Preview build comes with a set of experimental options for the command prompt (cmd.exe) and other console-based tools such as PowerShell which can improve their usability. Here are the notable improvements.
Windows 10 allows you to reinstall the OS and uninstall updates from Troubleshooting options
Troubleshooting options are part of Windows Recovery Environment. They allow you to repair your Windows installation, remove unwanted drivers, enter Safe Mode and so on. In Windows 10, Microsoft has added additional options which allow you to reinstall the OS and also remove unwanted updates.
How to access recovery and troubleshooting options via reboot in Windows 10
Along with a new Start menu, Windows 10 introduces a new way to access the troubleshooting and recovery environment. It can be useful if your OS does not work properly, or does not boot at all. In this article, I would like to share the new way to access the recovery environment and reboot Windows 10 to access troubleshooting options.
Speed up the startup of desktop apps in Windows 10
Since Windows Vista, Microsoft has been trying to improve Windows startup after you log on so that startup programs don't open all at once when the system is still loading its processes. Windows Vista had a "Startup Delay" feature. In Windows 10, when the OS is started, it delays the loading of apps from the Startup folder, especially when the Start screen is enabled. This behavior was implemented by Microsoft in Windows 8 as it was a tablet-oriented OS. You can reduce this startup delay for desktop apps with a simple Registry tweak.
Enable the hidden Aero Lite theme in Windows 10
Similar to Windows 8, the brand new Windows 10 comes with a secret hidden Aero Lite theme, which can be enabled with just a simple text file. It changes the appearance of windows, the taskbar and also the new Start menu. Here are the steps you need to perform to enable the Aero Lite theme in Windows 10.
New Exit Explorer option in Windows 10 allows you to restart the Explorer shell properly
Windows 10 comes with a new secret option to exit the Explorer shell properly. Instead of writing a whole new post, I decided to update my awesome tutorial "How to properly restart the Explorer shell in Windows" with new information about that option. A restart of the Explorer shell is helpful after you make registry tweaks and or when you change new Windows settings which don't take effect unless you restart the shell. If you plan to stay abreast of the developments in the latest version of Windows and keep it under your control, I recommend checking out the article.
How to make the taskbar opaque in Windows 10
Like Windows 8, Windows 10 has a transparent taskbar and does not allow you to disable the transparency for some reason. Many users, including myself, are not happy with the transparent taskbar and prefer to have it opaque. Here is how to get it in your Windows 10.
Disable window shadows in Windows 10
Compared to the small and subtle shadows behind open windows in Windows 8, Windows 10 has really huge and prominent shadows. Many users do not like this new effect of Desktop Window Manager and would like to get rid of shadows. Thankfully, it is easy to do so. Microsoft has added an option to disable it. Let's take a closer look on how to disable shadows.
