Our favourite tweaks for Microsoft's latest OS
Getting to know Windows 7? Here are 20 ways to get around the interface and make it act the way you want.
Taskbar tips
One of the most significant changes to the Windows 7 interface is its new taskbar, which acts more like the Mac OS X dock than the Windows taskbar of old.
Here are a few quick tips for using the new taskbar and tweaks for taking charge of it.
New: Speed up the display of thumbnails on the taskbar
One of the nicest things about the taskbar is that when you hover your mouse over the icons in it, you can see thumbnail previews of all open windows for each of those applications.
When you do so, there is a slight delay before the thumbnail appears. But you can make the thumbnails display more quickly by using a Registry hack.
Important: Always create a Restore Point before editing the Windows Registry.
Launch the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Search box and pressing Enter.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse.
Double-click MouseHoverTime. The default value you'll see is 400 - which means 400 milliseconds. Type in a new, smaller value - 150 is a good bet. Then click ok and exit the Registry Editor. You'll have to log off or restart your computer for the change to take effect.
Rearrange taskbar icons
It's easy to rearrange the icons across the bottom of the screen - simply drag an icon to where you want it to live.
You can also add icons to the taskbar by dragging them from an application, and delete the icons by highlighting them and pressing the Delete key.
Take control of the taskbar notification area
The notification area, at the far right of the taskbar, shows system messages and alerts, and displays the icons of programs and services that typically run in the background, such as Windows 7's wireless service.
But what determines when, how and which icons show up there seems one of Windows' great mysteries.
There's a simple way to find out, and better yet, to customise it.
- Right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and from the dialog box in the notification area section, click Customise.
- For each application, select from the drop-down box whether you want the icon and notifications to always be displayed, to never be displayed or to have an icon appear only when there's a notification of some kind. Click ok when you're done.
- You can also customise the system icons and services that appear there, including the clock, volume, network, power and Action Centre icons.
- At the bottom of the same screen, click ‘Turn system icons on or off', and from the screen that appears, choose whether to turn on or off the icon and notifications. Click ok twice when you're done.
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NEXT PAGE: See taskbar thumbnails without a mouse
Comments
Lou Ayers said: HelloGreat article - but it glosses over a problem that Ive been having since I installed Win 7 I cannot get Hybernation Ive asked the Microsoft Forum but no one can help Can you
John said: Several of your tips involve using the Group Policy Editor gpeditmscMost of your readers will be using Home versions of Windows which dont come with gpeditmscTheyll just get an error message if they follow your instructions
Peter Stonebridge said: I experienced Windows 7 for all of 7 days and loved it Sadly my ailing computer gave up with a motherboard fault Opinion is divided as to whether Microsoft will allow me to reload Windows 7 into my new computer being despatched shortly or whether they will force me to buy a new copy If they do I will go back to XP3 it must be cheaper A good topical talking point for readers