In Windows 8, Microsoft introduced the Ribbon in Windows Explorer so that the numerous Explorer commands can be more prominently displayed when you need them. But most users don't like it because it distributes commands across multiple tabs and hogs a lot of space vertically. Users prefer to have more space in Explorer window, and many of our readers constantly ask me how to get back the contextual command bar as it was implemented in Windows 7. Let's see how we can disable the Explorer Ribbon.
Turn Task Manager into a widget with the Summary View feature
The Task Manager app in Windows 8 comes with a feature called "Summary View", which allows you to modify the appearance of the app completely. When Summary View is enabled, the Task Manager looks like a desktop gadget. It shows CPU, Memory, Disk, and Ethernet meters in one compact window. Let's see how to activate this mode.
Nature HD#42 theme for Windows 8
How to add Copy as Path button to the Classic Shell Explorer toolbar
As a Windows user who is forced to use Explorer very often in Windows 7 and Windows 8, I am trying to make it more convenient than it is out of the box.The main issue with Explorer is that it's not customizable, as it was in Windows XP. Even though Windows 8 has the Quick Access toolbar, it has very small icons and does not allow any custom buttons. While it is possible to add any desired command to the command bar of Explorer in Windows 7, they can only be text buttons, without icons. So I decided to install the awesome freeware, Classic Shell.
How to make the echo command without new line in Windows
By default, the echo command adds a new line character to its output. For example, if you print some environment variable, the output will be appended with an extra line. The extra line can create a problem if you wish to copy the output to the clipboard to be used in another command. Today we will see how to get rid of the new line character in the echo command output at the command prompt.
How to see names and values of environment variables in Windows 8 and Windows 7
Environment variables in an operating system are values that contain information about the system environment, and the currently logged in user. They existed in OSes before Windows as well, such as MS-DOS. Applications or services can use the information defined by environment variables to determine various things about the OS, for example, to detect the number of processes, the currently logged in user's name, the folder path to the current user's profile or the temporary files directory. In this article, we will see how to view environment variables defined on your system and their values for the current user, for specific processes and the system variables.
Why so many svchost.exe processes are running in Windows
When you open the the Processes tab of the Task Manager in Windows 7 or the Details tab of Task Manager in Windows 8, you will be surprised to see that a large number of processes are named svchost.exe. Today, we will see why Windows needs so many instances of the SVCHOST process and how to identify which svchost process runs which groups of services.
Fix: Notification area (system tray) icons are messed up in Windows 8
After using Windows for a while, and installing/uninstalling programs, you may end up with many unwanted icons showing up in the Customize Notification Area Control Panel. There is no way to remove these icons from the list; certain icons remain there even if you have already removed their app. Another issue which users commonly report with the notification area (system tray) is that System icons like Network, Sound, Power get turned off and the 'Behaviors' dropdown which allows turning them on is greyed out. Let us see how to fix these two problems - both issues have one solution.
Nature HD#41 theme for Windows 8
Microsoft to block old versions of Skype for Windows and OS X, forces users to upgrade
Microsoft is going to prevent old versions of Skype from working. In the near future, all versions of Skype below Skype 6.13 for Windows and Skype 6.14 for OS X will be blocked. Microsoft recommends you to upgrade your Skype app to avoid issues in the future. While most users are happy using the latest version and do not remain on an older version, there are some reasons why many people stay with older versions - especially those who do not like the changes Microsoft made in newer version of Skype.
