In Windows 8, Microsoft introduced the Ribbon in Windows Explorer so that the numerous Explorer commands can be more prominently displayed when you need them. But most users don't like it because it distributes commands across multiple tabs and hogs a lot of space vertically. Users prefer to have more space in Explorer window, and many of our readers constantly ask me how to get back the contextual command bar as it was implemented in Windows 7. Let's see how we can disable the Explorer Ribbon.
Tag: Windows 8
Nature HD#42 theme for Windows 8
How to see names and values of environment variables in Windows 8 and Windows 7
Environment variables in an operating system are values that contain information about the system environment, and the currently logged in user. They existed in OSes before Windows as well, such as MS-DOS. Applications or services can use the information defined by environment variables to determine various things about the OS, for example, to detect the number of processes, the currently logged in user's name, the folder path to the current user's profile or the temporary files directory. In this article, we will see how to view environment variables defined on your system and their values for the current user, for specific processes and the system variables.
Why so many svchost.exe processes are running in Windows
When you open the the Processes tab of the Task Manager in Windows 7 or the Details tab of Task Manager in Windows 8, you will be surprised to see that a large number of processes are named svchost.exe. Today, we will see why Windows needs so many instances of the SVCHOST process and how to identify which svchost process runs which groups of services.
Fix: Notification area (system tray) icons are messed up in Windows 8
After using Windows for a while, and installing/uninstalling programs, you may end up with many unwanted icons showing up in the Customize Notification Area Control Panel. There is no way to remove these icons from the list; certain icons remain there even if you have already removed their app. Another issue which users commonly report with the notification area (system tray) is that System icons like Network, Sound, Power get turned off and the 'Behaviors' dropdown which allows turning them on is greyed out. Let us see how to fix these two problems - both issues have one solution.
Nature HD#41 theme for Windows 8
Switch from IDE to AHCI after installing Windows 7 or Windows 8
Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a technical standard defined by Intel that specifies the operation of Serial ATA (SATA) disk controllers. When it is supported by your operating system and PC hardware, you will get the benefits of features such as native command queuing and hot swapping. For an older OS like Windows XP which does not support AHCI mode out of the box, without OEM-supplied drivers, it is possible to turn on the legacy (IDE) mode in the BIOS to get it to install properly. If your installed your Windows 7 or Windows 8 accidentally in the legacy IDE mode, and want to switch to the AHCI mode, Windows will not boot after you switch from IDE to AHCI in the BIOS. Here is how to fix it.
Switch between multiple displays (monitors) directly with a shortcut or from the command line in Windows 7 and Windows 8
If you have multiple displays or an external projector, you might be familiar with the built-in feature of Windows 7 and Windows 8 to change the active display and the sharing mode of your current desktop. When you press Win+P, you can choose to extend your desktop, duplicate it, or turn off one of the displays entirely. It is possible to control this feature via the command line, so you can create a shortcut any of these 4 settings. Let's see how it can be done.
How to backup the Start screen layout in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
In Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, the Start Screen is designed as the touchscreen-friendly Start menu replacement. It allows you to customize its layout as you want. You can pin and unpin your favorite apps and documents as tiles there, in the order you want. Once you have organized your Start screen layout according to your personal preferences, you might want to backup the layout for further use, e.g. to use it again after a re-install of Windows. Here's how you can back up the customized layout that you have.
How to change the icon of a pinned desktop app on the Start screen
The Start screen in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 allows you to pin Desktop app shortcut for fast access. After pinning a shortcut, the Start screen shows a tile with the app's icon and its name. In Windows 8.1, Microsoft has improved the visual appearance of such tiles by making the background color of the tiles match the icon's predominant color. The one thing the Start screen lacks is the ability to change the pinned app's icon. Let's look how it can be done.
