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Power user tip: Add global hotkeys to launch your favorite applications in Windows 8.1

Since Windows 95, we have an amazing feature: native global hotkeys for every installed application, yet it seems not many people are aware of it. Have you seen the following text box in the shortcut properties?:

Shortcut Properties

This is where you are able to specify a combination of hotkeys which will be used to launch the shortcut. If you have set those hotkeys for the shortcut in the Start menu folder, then they will be available in every opened window, every application. The secret is the Explorer shell - as long as the Explorer shell is loaded: hotkeys will work globally regardless of the active application. That is very handy!
But Windows 8.1 does not have the Start menu any more, so you can be a bit confused how to assign hotkeys. Today we will learn how to add global hotkeys to launch your favorite applications in Windows 8.1 and use them like a Pro.

How to install and apply third party themes in Windows 8.1

We here at Winaero love Windows customization and we post several custom 3rd party visual styles and themepacks from time to time. We have a HUGE and amazing collection of themes for changing the look-n-feel of Windows. But Windows doesn't allow 3rd party themes by default, so we need to unlock Windows to be able to use those themes.

Note: If you are not a Windows 8.1 user, please refer to the following article.

With every new Windows release, Microsoft makes some minor changes to the theme engine and/or its format. This leads to the situation where for every single release, you need a special software (a so called UXTheme patcher) which supports that new release. Windows 8.1 is no exception.

To use third party themes in Windows 8.1, you should follow these simple steps.

How to set a connection as metered in Windows 8.1

Windows 8 introduced the "metered connections" feature. If you enable it, it can reduce the amount of data you send and receive via your limited data plan and help you save money or avoid bill shock. Some Internet service providers can charge by the amount of data used (the amount of data sent and received by your PC). The service provider monitors your Internet connection data use.

With programs and services in Windows communicating with the internet almost all the time today, this data limit can be reached quite easily. If you exceed the data limit you might have to pay extra amount or get your download speed reduced until the next month. If you have such a limited data plan, setting your network connection as 'metered' in Windows can help you reduce the amount of data you send and receive. Windows turns off unnecessary transfers while on a metered connection and tries to conserve bandwidth.

Now, in Windows 8.1, Microsoft has completely changed the UI for setting a connection as 'metered'.

How to add the “Pin to Start Screen” menu item to all files in Windows 8.1

With Windows 8.1, Microsoft has restricted access to the 'Pin to Start Screen' menu command for 3rd party apps. You might be curious, what does it mean? While in Windows 8, apps were able to get programmatic access to that menu item. You might see such behavior in Mozilla Firefox installer: after the install, it "pins" itself  to the taskbar. The same thing could be implemented in Windows 8, any app was able to pin itself to the Start Screen. Not so in Windows 8.1.

Why did Microsoft do this? Because they wanted to prevent the Start Screen from getting cluttered. Unlike Windows 8 (which pins everything to its Start screen like a maniac), Windows 8.1 keeps its Start Screen clean. As a result of these changes, the command I mentioned above is now strictly accessible only from Explorer! This is also why my application, Pin To 8, was not able to pin anything to the Start screen.

Today I will show you, how you can extend File Explorer in Windows 8.1 and add the ability to pin ANY file or object to the Start Screen. No 3rd party apps will be required, only a simple registry tweak.

Pin to 8

Microsoft has disabled the programmatic access to Start Screen items pinning in Windows 8.1 and above. This is impossible to fix.

Pin to 8, formerly known as Start Screen Pinner - the universal pinner software for Windows 8. It can pin anything to the Start Screen or Taskbar in Windows 8. Finally it got the possibility to pin anything to Taskbar!


Latest version is 2.2.0.0, the change log is available below.
With our Pin to 8 you will able:

Ubuntu 13.10 theme for Windows 8

Ubuntu 13.10 themepack

Get these amazing nature images from the Ubuntu 13.10 wallpapers contest on your Windows 8 Desktop with Ubuntu 13.10 themepack for Windows 8. To get this theme for Windows 8, click the download link below, and then click Open. This will apply the theme to your Desktop.

Tip: If you are Windows 7 user, use our Deskthemepack Installer to install and apply this theme.

Size: 4 Mb

Download link

Discover hidden secret bug in Registry Editor of Windows

While working with Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) the other day, I discovered a rather strange and funny bug in it. I decided to share it with our readers.  It's not a major bug and is perfectly harmless. But it is a bug so Microsoft ought to fix it.  To reproduce the bug, you should do the following:

How to fix the error 0x0000005 and non-working apps in Windows 7 after KB2859537 update

If you are a Windows 7 user, after recent updates from Microsoft, you might have faced the following issues with the OS:

  • When Windows 7 starts, you see a dialog with "error 0x0000005" instead of the Desktop loading.
  • Many executable programs just do not run.
  • When you try to use System Restore to roll back the system, it does not help.

windows 7 error 0×0000005
Let's see how to fix these issues without reinstalling Windows 7.

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