Windows 7 Archives - Page 7 of 8

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 set different icons for the open and closed folder in Explorer

With Windows Vista, there was a little change in Explorer which has remained the same in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 or Windows 8: it shows the same icon for open and closed folders.

In earlier releases of Windows before Vista, when a folder was expanded in the navigation pane of Explorer, it used to show a different icon. This change makes it more difficult to see which folder you are viewing by just looking at the icons. This change also affects the tree view in Registry Editor and in the Windows 7 Start Menu All Programs view.

If you preferred having distinct icons for open and closed folder states in Explorer, then there's good news for you - it can be done. I will show you how to set the folder icon for a closed folder in Explorer of Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Vista. The method is the same for all these operating systems.

How to move Computer above Libraries in the Navigation pane in Windows 7

In Windows 8.1, there are some changes to the Navigation pane of File Explorer. The Libraries icon has been moved below the 'This PC' icon. Many users consider this change as a useful one and have been emailing me asking how to move Libraries below the Computer icon in Windows 7.

This is extremely simple to do. In this article, you will learn all the required steps to move Computer above Libraries in the Navigation pane of Windows 7 Explorer.

Security tip: Protect your Windows product key from being stolen

Did you know that when Windows is installed, it continues to store your product key in the registry. This may be useful, if you don't remember which key you used on your current installation. Also if you lost your product key, this can be useful for recovering your product key with some third party tool or with a simple PowerShell script.

But at the same time, your Windows product key is at risk of being stolen. If you are concerned about your product key being stolen (i.e. with some malicious software), you might want to remove it from the registry permanently. This operation is safe and will not affect your OS activation status. Follow this simple tutorial to learn how you can erase the stored product key in Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

How to get the Windows product key without using third party software

If you lost, cannot retrieve or forgot where you had stored the product key of your Windows 8.1, Windows 8 or Windows 7 OS, do not despair. I would like to show you a simple solution to extract your product key from the OS installed on your PC without using any third party software.

How to invert colors in Paint in Windows 7 and Windows 8

Inverting colors in Paint is not something I do frequently. But when you do need this feature occasionally, I have the point of view that Paint is the best tool for such basic image editing. Few days ago, I needed to create a header image for my Youtube channel with a line of inverted colors. I am a Windows power user, yet I was really confused by the user interface of the modern version of MS Paint (I use Windows 8.1).

Starting with Windows 7, the Paint application ships with the Ribbon UI. It looks fancy, but when you need to invert colors of your image, you will not find the appropriate command on any tab of the Ribbon nor in the File menu.

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.

Let's see how to fix these issues without reinstalling Windows 7.

Engage theme for Windows 7

How to change a Windows theme from the command prompt

Many people, including my friends, often ask me how to change a Windows theme from the command prompt without opening the Explorer window. They want to apply the custom theme they have installed from the command line. Unfortunately, Windows does not provide any native or user-friendly way to change the current theme and apply *.theme file silently. Today, I would like to provide you with an easy-to-use solution - our brand new release: Winaero Theme Switcher.

Tag: Windows 7