In our previous article, we reviewed a trick which allows you to switch between File Explorer views quickly by holding down Ctrl key and scrolling with the mouse. Now I would like to share with you how to resize icons in the File Explorer window or on the Desktop with extra hotkeys. These hotkeys are used by default in all modern browsers for zooming in and out. Similarly, you will be able to zoom icons in Explorer windows quickly. The trick will work in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1. Let's take a look.
Download CtrlWheelMouseZoom
CtrlWheelMouseZoom.
The Autohotkey script to change the icon size on the Desktop and in the Explorer window with extra browser-like hotkeys Ctrl++ and Ctrl+-.
How to resize icons quickly on the Desktop and in the Explorer window in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
In modern versions of Windows, File Explorer has the ability to show your files and folders at several different sizes and views. These sizes include Extra Large icons, Large icons, Medium icons, List, Details, Tiles and Content. To switch between views, you can use a set of hotkeys, or the appropriate Ribbon commands, or two tiny buttons on the Explorer status bar in the bottom right corner of the open window. In this article, we will review another method, which is very fancy and fast. What's great is that this same method also works on Windows 7 and Vista.
Tweak the hidden secret options of the Start screen and Charms with ModernUI Tuner
Windows 8, as everyone knows by now, comes with brand new user interface called "Modern UI". It features the Start screen, the Charms and the new PC Settings app which is designed for devices with touchscreens. In Windows 8.1 Update 1, Microsoft has improved some aspects of the Modern UI, made it more customizable and tweakable. However, some useful and interesting parameters are not accessible with the default set of options. My little freeware application, ModernUI Tuner, will allow you to control some mighty useful parameters. Let's take a closer look at the app.
Nature HD#43 theme for Windows 8
How to change the power plan from the command line or with a shortcut
In Windows 8, Windows 7 and earlier, you can choose from predefined power plans which are a group of several power-related settings. If you are running a laptop on battery, you can choose the "Power Saver" plan. If you are running a desktop PC which is on AC power, you can set the "High Performance" plan. To switch the power plan, Windows gives you only two options if you use the notification area power icon. One of them is always the "Balanced" plan. This is not ideal because you have to open the Control Panel and go to Control Panel\System and Security\Power Options to access all the available power plans. Today, we will show you how to save your time and switch the power plan directly from the command line or with a shortcut so you don't need to open Power Options Control Panel every time.
How to check in a batch file if you are running it elevated
Sometimes it is useful to check in a batch file if it was started from an elevated command prompt or as an administrator. I would like to share with you a trick which I am using to do this. The main idea of my trick is based on the value of the special environment variable %errorlevel% which stores the exit code for most console apps and commands. Let's see this in action.
Tip: Now you can run Chrome 64-bit stable on Windows
In June, Google began testing the 64-bit version of Chrome for Windows. It was available only in the beta channel (Dev and Canary branch) users. Today it became available to the rest of Chrome users. With version 37 of Chrome, there is now a native 64-bit stable build available for Windows. Google claims several benefits of running a 64-bit browser over the regular 32-bit version.
Fix: The screen does not dim when you take a screenshot using Win+PrintScreen in Windows 8.1 or Windows 8
In Windows 8, a new screenshot feature was introduced for end users. If you press Win + Print Screen keys simultaneously on the keyboard, your screen will be dimmed for half a second, and a new screenshot will be captured to the This PC\Pictures\Screenshots folder. This is a nice visual indication that the screenshot was taken. However, if the screen dimming stops leaving you with no indication that the screenshot was captured, here is how you can fix it.
How to edit environment variables quickly in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
Environment variables in an operating system are values that contain information about the system environment, and the currently logged in user. Recently we covered how to view those variables for system, for a specific user or for a process. In this article, I would like to share with you a trick to view or edit environment variables directly, from the command line or a shortcut.
