Daily Bing #33 theme for Windows 8
How to turn off a PC that has stopped responding or hanged
Sometimes your PC hangs completely and you are not able to even turn it off. Whatever may be the reason - some malfunctioning software, defective hardware problem, overheating or buggy device drivers, it can be pretty intimidating if your PC just hangs and you don't know how to recover. On desktop PC cases, there is the Reset button to restart but if you do not have the reset button (a very common situation for most modern mobile PCs, tablets and laptops), you may wonder how to get a PC that has stopped responding working again. What do you have to do in this case?
How to change the icon of default libraries in Windows 8.1
In Windows 8, one of new features was an option to change the icon of a library. For some reason, Microsoft has restricted this option only to custom libraries, which were created by the user. For built-in Libraries, the icon cannot be changed from the Windows interface on Windows 8, nor on Windows 7.
Today, we will look at how to change the icon of any library, including the predefined/system libraries. The method I will cover is applicable to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1, but I will use Windows 8.1.
How to change the icon of a folder inside a Library
With Windows 7, Microsoft has introduced Libraries: a wonderful feature of the Explorer shell, which allows you to group multiple folders in a single view, even if they are located on different volumes. Searching through Libraries is also very fast, because Windows performs indexing of all locations which are included inside a Library.
If you use Libraries regularly, you might have noticed that when you open the Properties of a folder to change its icon, you are unable to do so because the Customize tab is missing from the folder's properties.
How to apply skins to Firefox Australis
Australis, the new interface of the Firefox browser, is the most radical change to its UI since the release of version 4. It is less customizable, and looks completely different compared to the current stable version. While some users like it, others are not impressed by its new look and want to disable Australis in Firefox and restore the classic appearance. However, there is good news for every Firefox user: now it is possible to customize the appearance of Firefox's Australis UI and apply cool skins to the browser.
Nature HD#30 theme for Windows 8
How to create a shortcut to open Windows Update settings in Windows 8.1
Windows Update settings allow you to configure the frequency of updates. Using these settings, you can specify if you want to receive recommended updates or not; also you can enable updates for other MS products installed on your PC.
In Windows 8.1, Windows Update settings are included in the Modern Control Panel, which is touch friendly. It is included in the PC Settings application. Today I am going to share a way to create a shortcut to open Windows Update settings in Windows 8.1.
How to run Explorer as administrator on Windows 8.1, Windows 8 and Windows 7
As you may know, Windows Vista introduced some major changes to the security model of Windows, including User Account Control. What UAC does is introduce the concept of apps having the least privilege - only enough permissions that apps need to run should be granted to them and not full admin permissions, because if malware or bad apps run as admin, they can pretty much do any damage to your OS.
However, thanks to UAC, the user experience gets spoiled slightly and decades-old Windows users who were not used to this concept or who were not explained why it was introduced were bewildered when they migrated from Windows XP. They didn't understand why they were asked to confirm any action that does system level changes to their PC. One such application that shows considerable amount of UAC prompts if you are running Windows with the highest level of the UAC setting is File Explorer (formerly known as Windows Explorer). While Explorer does not show that many UAC prompts at the default UAC setting, the default UAC setting is not 100% foolproof. It is only secure against apps that assume admin level privileges to do bad things.
How to invert selection in File Explorer of Windows 8.1
File Explorer, formerly known as Windows Explorer, is the default file manager of Windows 8.1. Starting with Windows 8, it features the Ribbon interface, which exposes all the possible commands for quick access to regular file management features. Additionally, it offers you the quick access toolbar, where you can put any of your favorite commands.
Today we will look how we can use the Ribbon UI to manage the selection of items in File Explorer effectively.
