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How to reset the Start Screen layout in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8

In Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, the Start Screen is designed as a touchscreen-friendly Start menu replacement. It focuses on the concept of pinning. Everything must be pinned to the Start screen and it appears as a tile. Earlier in Windows 8 RTM, it pinned every single installed app automatically, creating a real mess of random icons splattered all across the Start Screen. Thankfully, in Windows 8.1, Microsoft has changed this behavior. Windows 8.1 does not pin anything automatically, so you are able to keep your Start Screen well organized. With help of apps like Pin to 8, you can even pin any file, folder or system location.

If you want to change the way your Start Screen is organized, you may want to reset its layout to the defaults. It's pretty easy to do this.

Customize the taskbar date and time formats in Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7

One of our readers wanted to know what is a good clock replacement for the default Taskbar clock in Windows because he didn't like the format in which Windows shows the time and date. While many power users would want to replace the system tray clock on the Taskbar with a more powerful one for extra features, the format of the built-in clock in modern versions of Windows is customizable. In this article we will see how we can change the format.

Daily Bing #34 theme for Windows 8

Daily Bing #34

Reduce extra space between icons on the taskbar and tray notification area

Ever since Windows 7 got released, the Windows desktop has had a redesigned Taskbar which is also designed for multi-touch. The icons are larger on the Taskbar so they're easier to access using touch and they are spaced wider apart. The notification area icons (the small ones in the system tray) are also spaced much farther apart than they were in previous versions of Windows. While this definitely makes them easier to access, they do waste a lot of space. Let us see how we can reduce the space between the icons on the taskbar as well as the icons in the notification area.

Customization for power users with 7+ Taskbar Tweaker

In an earlier article, we became familiar with how we can make the taskbar in Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7 work like the classic XP taskbar using 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. It also includes some extra customizations for advanced users which we will look at today.

Get a classic taskbar in Windows 8 and Windows 7 that works like XP

Ever since Microsoft redesigned the taskbar in Windows 7 and simply declared it as a superior one, long-time users of Windows have been frustrated at being unable to use it the way they were accustomed to in classic versions of Windows. Not only did the reimagined taskbar change the design of many features without giving any choice but it also eliminated some features of the classic Taskbar. Let us see how we can make the new Taskbar work exactly like the good, old classic Taskbar. You will need to install a free third party program.

Add a Run button in Firefox for downloaded EXE files to open them directly

In Mozilla Firefox, when you click on the hyperlink of a downloadable file, it gives a choice of whether you have to open the file, save the file or cancel the download. However if you try to download EXEs or any other kind of files which Firefox considers as executable files (.MSI) for example, it will only show you a Save button and a Cancel button. There is no option to directly run the executable file. Well, an addon can easily change that. Let us explore it.

How to disable geolocation sharing feature of Mozilla Firefox

By default, Mozilla Firefox comes with a geolocation feature (location-aware browsing). It is enabled by default. This means that websites and web apps will be able to get all the necessary information to track the user's physical location. In some cases it can be useful, i.e. for online maps services, because they can display the appropriate starting point on the map wherever you are located at that moment. But it is also a cause for privacy concerns. There is a certain category of users who always prefer disabling such options completely. Unfortunately, there is no setting in the Firefox GUI options to turn off geolocation. Luckily, there is a way to disable it.

Where to download Google Chrome full offline standalone installer

Recently we covered how to get the full offline installer for popular browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer. If you want to download the full installer for Google Chrome, then here's where you can download it.