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1.Launch Taskbar Apps in a CinchYou probably have all your favorite apps pinned to your taskbar. Launching each

requires you moving your mouse all the way down and clicking. Boring!

An easier is to press the Windows key and the position of the app in the taskbar. or

eample" in the eample below" # have $plorer in the first position.%ressing Win+1will open it up right away. &ddly" using the numpad for this doesn't

seem to be working.

I wish I could multitask better

2.Search Within DocumentsBy default" Windows doesn't search the contents of files that aren't indeed. #f you're

in a hurry and need everything searched" prefi your search keywords

withcontent:and Windows will look for every instance of the word.

3.Change the Shut Down Button Behavioror people like me who hibernate on a whim" the shut down button in the start menu

is an absolute hindrance. (wo clicks to get what # want) *nacceptable. ortunately"

you can easily customi+e this behavior.

I still prefer XP's approach. Win followed by U and enter.

,o to your -ontrol %anel" clickAppearance and Personalization -> Taskbar -> Start

Menu. elect the Start Menutab and choose the /ibernate option and you're good to

go.

4.Enable Internet Searches from the Start MenuA slightly impractical but still very useful tip. rom the start menu" rungpedit.msc. #n

the window that opens up" go to ser !on"iguration -> Administrati#e Templates -> Start

Menu and Taskbar. #n the right page" you should find an entry calledAdd Searc$

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%nternet link to Start Menu. ,o ahead and enable it to see Windows display a earch

the #nternet link with every search.

As I mentioned, not very practical but at least saves you from openin a browser

5.Copy into the Command lineLet's start off with a nerdy one. &ften when you're following a tutorial online" you'll be

asked to run a few commands in your command line. You coyly press !trl+&but uh

oh. What's this) 0othing happened.

(o copy something into the command line" press Alt+Spacewhich invokes the

windows menu. 0ow go to the editoption and choosepaste. 1oila! (o make it even

shorterAlt+Spacefollowed by'andPgets it done in four keystrokes.

6.Use the Volume Mixer to Granular Audio Control2id you know Windows ships with the ability to control volume on a per app level)

You'd usually control the volume by clicking on the speaker icon in your system tray.

or the volume mier" right click on the icon and choose the mier. You'll notice a

window with options for your main playback device as well as each application that's

capable of outputting sound. #n the eample below" # have irefo" and Winamp

running.

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!reat son, if you're wonderin.

As an added bonus" if there's a ungodly sound blaring from you speakers and you

don't know where it's coming from" the mier is the place to check!

7.Create a Picture Slideshow on your Desktop(ired of using the same wallpaper but tired of having to constantly change your

wallpapers) Windows 3 has a solution.

(he much easiest way is to select multiple images in an eplorer shell anywhere"

right clicking and choosing et as Background. Windows will automatically cycle

through the chosen images.

"ou're free to select as many as you want

#f you're itching for a little more control" right click anywhere on the desktop"

choosePersonalize -> (estkop )ackgroundand choose multiple images. You can now

choose the interval between changes as well as the order in which they are shown.

8.Invoke the Run Utility in a Single KeystrokeAs a power user" #'m constantly looking for getting things done quickly. (he run utility

is a big help in this aspect. Launching it is still a chore. (he easier way) Win+*.4eep in mind that the utility is launched with user level permissions only.

#ola there, indeed$

9.Adding Additional Clocks# work as part of a distributed team and # frequently have to look up times in different

cities. (o make this work in Windows 3" click the clock icon in your tray.

-hooseAdditional !locksin the windows that pops up and add the additional cities

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you want. *nfortunately" the additional times don't eactly get displayed in your tray

5 you need to hover over the clock.

"es, I'm writin this article this late.

10.Instant Window Docking2o you have multiple windows open at a time and in need of some immediate

organi+ation) %ress the Windows key and the left or right arrow key to dock that

window to that portion of the screen.

&nce docked" you can revert to your earlier position and si+e by pressing the

Windows key and the opposing arrow key.

11.Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts2id you know you can launch your favorite applications through custom shortcuts)

Let me show you how" it's easy.

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!reat ame and ets a thumbsup from me$

6ust right click the application or its shortcut and click on %roperties. elect the

hortcut tab where you'll find a field for hortcut 4ey. 6ust use a keystroke combo

that doesn't clash with eisting shortcuts!

12.Maximize and Minimize Windows in a Heartbeat(ired or too busy to click the maimi+e button) Windows provides you with a super

quick shortcut7 Win+pkey. What about minimi+ing" you ask) Win+(on ke,. %retty

nifty when you're 8uggling lots of windows.

13.Clean Up Your Text Rendering&ne thing # adore on & 9 is the clean" crisp typography that it renders. While earlier

versions of Windows struggled with this aspect" 3 is pretty spot on.

#f you're unhappy with the current way it renders tet" you can always tune it up. ,o

to !ontrol Panel -> Appearance and Personalizationand chooseAdust !learT,pe

tetunder the/ontscategory. (he utility that pops up should walk you through setting

up tet rendering the way you want.

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Pay attention to this tool %% it relies on user input for proper calibration

14.Turn Your PC Into a Wifi Hot SpotWindows 3 ships with the ability to turn any run of the mill wifi adapter into a working"

basic wifi router.

etting it up is a matter of running two commands as well as clicking a few

checkboes. But for the sake of brevity" #'m not including the full guide today 5 you

can find ithere.

15.Tweak the Autorun BehaviorBy default" Windows 3 pops up an autoplay window when you plugin new media.

While a lot of people find it quite useful" it merely gets in the way for me.

(hankfully" you can tweak this behavior in a granular manner. Want your audio -2s

to autoplay in Winamp but want your movie 212s to open with 1L- instead) &r

want autoplay disabled on 8ust your *B devices) $asy. ,o to !ontrol Panel ->

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0ardare and Sound. (here you can find a separate section 8ust for autoplay. (he first

link lets you tweak everything to your heart's contents.

It's best to disable autoplay for software

16.Open Folders in New Processes for Added

Stabilityolders are opened under the same process by default which" while more efficient"

can cause issues when you're dealing with an unstable file system. You can work

around this issue by opening each folder in its own process. You can do so by

pressing S$i"twhen right clicking a folder and choosing pen in ne process.

&he approach is pretty similar to how browsers sandbo pluins and tabs.

17.Use the Inbuilt Black BoxWindows 3 ships with a utility that records the steps you've taken on the computer

automatically including mouse clicks. You can use these recordings to speed up

issues when you're dealing with tech support.*se the previously mentioned Win+*combo to bring up the run dialog and type in

psr. 6ust click on the bright red button to get started with recording your steps.

&his tool is a boon when you need tech support.

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18.Remove the Recycle Bin from the Desktop# tend to run a super tight ship on my desktop. 0o icons whatsoever. When # first

started using Windows 3" the recycle bin was a thorn in my side. 1ista let me right

click and delete the entry but Windows 3 denied me that.

As # figured out earlier" the functionality is still present 5 8ust behind a couple ofclicks. :ight click on the desktop" choosePersonalizeand then !$ange (esktop

%conson the left side pane.

*ncheck the relevant entry and off the bin goes!

It should be apparent which options is relevant here

19.Insta-Lock Your Workstation2o you have someone at the door in the middle of a financial transaction or

something else sensitive) #t'd be wise to lock your computer before leaving but ittakes multiple pesky mouse movements and clicks to get it done.

(here is a simple combo in 3 to instantly lock your desktop7 Win+2. :eally helps

when you're in a hurry and has saved me lots of times.

20.Minize All Open Windows

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#f you're running a :ainmeter or otherwise widget heavy desktop like me and need to

look at your desktop instantly to look something up" the traditional way is a bit of a

chore.

Look no further than a quick Win+Mwhich will instantly minimi+e all open

windows.Win+(does roughly the same thing ecept it seems to render the widgets

invisible as well.

21.Restore the Quick Launch Bar# was one of those people who used the quick launch bar fervently in 1ista. $ven

though" this feature is not enabled by default in 3" there is a quick workaround.

:ight click your taskbar" choose Toolbars -> 3e toolbar. #n the dialog that pops up"

paste in 4App(ata45Microso"t5%nternet 'plorer56uick 2aunc$. You can now tweak the

bar's position" enable;disable titles and the si+e of the icons.

(tart here

22.Show the AM/PM Symbol in the System Tray2epending on which locale you selected during installation" the time in the system

tray may not display the A !lock7 2anguage and *egionand choose !$ange t$e date7 time or

number "ormat. #n the window that pops up" look for the S$ort timesetting and change

it to $$:mm tt

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I still can't et over the way the yanks format their dates

23.Set the Taskbar to Show Text Along with Icons(he default taskbar is setup so that apps only display their icons. Which works for

me but you may feel otherwise 5 specially if you're feeling nostalgic about 1ista.

aka )ista mode

(o display each icon's tet as well" right click the taskbar and chooseProperties. #n

the popup" change the Taskbarbuttons setting to 0ever combine.

24.Disable Aero PeekWhen you hover over the icon at the end of your taskbar" Windows displays renders

8ust the borders for each window letting you take a look at your desktop 5 otherwise

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called Aero peek. (his might be a performance killer if you run an older generation

machine.

*or those readin these captions %% aain, some ecellent music

(o turn this off" right click your taskbar" choose Propertiesand uncheck se Aero

Peek..(his method seems to have a variable success rate so let me know how it'sworking out for you.

25.Zoom in Effortlesslyor users who need to +oom into their screen quickly" here is an alternative that's

mouse free7 Win plus + button. (he Windows magnifier tool will kick in at =>>?

magnification. You can +oom in further or +oom out once done.

"es, the tool really is this small. Works reat thouh.

26.Shift Click for a New Instance of an App/ere's a cool trick7 if you have an app running that has an icon in your taskbar" shift

or middle click on its icon and Windows will launch a fresh instance of the

application.

As an added bonus" !trl + S$i"t + clickwill open an instance with admin privileges.

27.Automatically Reduce the Volume When a Call

Arrives# think a vast ma8ority of our readers use our %-s to make voice calls. Windows 3

has lots of built@in functionality around this feature. Let's take a look at one of themost practical.

When you're using a %- to make calls and you have a sound producing app on the

side" Windows 3 will automatically reduce the system volume. # prefer completing

muting everything and that's how #'ve set mine up. /ere's how.

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%ress Win: and type in mms,s.cpl. (his will take you directly to the ound section of

the -ontrol %anel. -lick on the !ommunicationstab and chooseMute all ot$er sounds.

As epected" this will automatically mute everything but the call.

28.Move Your Page File

(his is one of those fabled performance tricks told over the years7 moving yoursystem's paging filr from the - partition to a separate hard drive gives you a nice

little performance boost. #'ll let you google up about the whys but here is how to do it.

&pen !ontrol Panel -> S,stem -> Ad#anced S,stem Settings. -hoose theAd#ancedtab

and click on the settings button of the %erformance category. #n the popup" click on

theAd#ancedtab and finally the change button. *ncheck the solitary checkbo and

create a new page file in a different hard drive after selecting the3o paging "ileoption

for the - partition. %hew!

29.Activate God Mode

(hough the name is quite misleading" the fabled ,od mode is a neat trick. #nvoking itis pretty easy. -reate a new folder titled 8odMode.9'()A;

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When working in the command line" there are plenty of times where you need to

provide the path to a specific file or folder. -ompiling code" for eample. #nstead of

typing it out" 8ust drag the file into the command prompt and its path will automatically

be inserted.

32.Enable Hidden Wallpapers-onsidering wallpapers are" well" free this isn't as impressive as #'d like but hey"hidden is hidden and unlocking equals dopamine. :ight) :ight)

,o to !:5Windos58lobalization5M!Tand you'll find it stuffed with folders named

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&hat's the -uby root folder, if you're interested.

36.Calibrate Your ScreenWindows 3 ships with calibration tools in built. While you google around for the long

way" here is a quick tip. %ress Win:" and enter dcc.eein the popup. (he

Windows 2isplay -olor -alibration tool will pop up to sort out your issues.

&he calibration tool's welcome screen

37.Monitor Your Performance with ResourceMonitor

Windows 3 is usually incredibly quick for me but if yours is acting out" here is a quick

little tool buried in Win 3 to help you diagnose the issue.

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-lick on the start menu and type in resmonto launch the :esource

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"es, I know the file names are incredibly chaotic

39.Navigate Your Taskbar With Your KeyboardYou can easily move through your taskbar directly through 8ust your keyboard.

%ressWin+Tto cycle through the taskbar icons. &nce the initial combo has been

pressed" you can also use the arrow keys to navigate your apps.

40.Launch Task Manager in the Proper Context# bet you always press -trlAlt2el to bring up the venerable task manager. /ave

you noticed there is a slowdown before it launches)

While you can deal with the technicalities of why it happens here" here is a quick littleshortcut that step around the entire process7 !trl+S$i"t+'sc .

Looking for More?#f you en8oyed the deluge of information here" please feel free to check out some of

our other massive roundups below7

01 2eautifully esined Windows Apps

345 Awesome Apps for esiners and evelopers

01 Absolutely !oreous Windows Phone 6 Apps

345 Awesome Utilities to 2oost "our Windows P/

Wrapping UpWell" that's about everything #'ve got at the moment. /ow many of these did you

know already) And how many new ones do you have for me)

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2012/01/30/10261611.aspxhttp://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/25-beautifully-designed-windows-apps/http://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/30-awesome-apps-for-designers-and-developers/http://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/windows-phone/25-absolutely-gorgeous-windows-phone-7-apps/http://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/30-awesome-utilities-to-boost-your-windows-pc/http://windows.appstorm.net/wp-content/blogs.dir/7/files/2012/02/checkboxes.pnghttp://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2012/01/30/10261611.aspxhttp://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/25-beautifully-designed-windows-apps/http://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/30-awesome-apps-for-designers-and-developers/http://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/windows-phone/25-absolutely-gorgeous-windows-phone-7-apps/http://windows.appstorm.net/roundups/30-awesome-utilities-to-boost-your-windows-pc/

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And yes" # know the title mentions D>. /ere's the final piece of the pu++le and it's a

path7 !:5Windos5Media5onestop.mid. You're welcome!

Let us know in the comments and thank you so much for stopping by!