21. Enjoy a retro taskbar
Windows 7 now combines taskbar buttons in a way that saves space, but also makes it more
difficult to tell at a glance whether an icon represents a running application or a shortcut. If you
prefer a more traditional approach, then right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and set Taskbar
Buttons to "Combine when taskbar is full". You'll now get a clear and separate button for each
running application, making them much easier to identify.
22. Remove taskbar buttons
One problem with the previous tip is the buttons will gobble up valuable taskbar real estate, but
you can reduce the impact of this by removing their text captions. Launch REGEDIT, browse to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics, add a string called
MinWidth, set it to 54, and reboot to see the results.
23. Restore the Quick Launch Toolbar
If you're unhappy with the new taskbar, even after shrinking it, then it only takes a moment to
restore the old Quick Launch Toolbar.
Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars > New Toolbar, type
"%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" (less the
quotes) into the Folder box and click Select Folder.
Now right-click the taskbar, clear 'Lock the taskbar', and you should see the Quick Launch
toolbar, probably to the right. Right-click its divider, clear Show Text and Show Title to
minimise the space it takes up. Complete the job by right-clicking the bar and selecting View >
Small Icons for the true retro look.
24. Custom power switch
By default, Windows 7 displays a plain text 'Shut down' button on the Start menu, but it only
takes a moment to change this action to something else. If you reboot your PC a few times every
day then that might make more sense as a default action: right-click the Start orb, select
Properties and set the 'Power boot action' to 'Restart' to make it happen.
25. Auto arrange your desktop
If your Windows 7 desktop has icons scattered everywhere then you could right-click it and
select View > Auto arrange, just as in Vista. But a simpler solution is just to press and hold down
F5, and Windows will automatically arrange its icons for you.
26. Disable smart window arrangement
Windows 7 features interesting new ways to intelligently arrange your windows, so that (for
example) if you drag a window to the top of the screen then it will maximise. We like the new
system, but if you find it distracting then it's easily disabled. Run REGEDIT, go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, set WindowArrangementActive to 0, reboot,
and your windows will behave just as they always did.
27. Browse your tasks
If you prefer the keyboard over the mouse, you will love browsing the taskbar using this nifty
shortcut. Press Windows and T, and you move the focus to the left-most icon on the taskbar.
Then use your arrow keys to change the focus to other icons, and you get a live preview of every
window.
28. Display your drives
Click Computer in Windows 7 and you might see a strange lack of drives, but don't panic, it's
just Microsoft trying to be helpful: drives like memory card readers are no longer displayed if
they're empty. We think it's an improvement, but if you disagree then it's easy to get your empty
drives back. Launch Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options > View and clear 'Hide empty drives
in the computer folder'.
29. See more detail
The new and improved Windows 7 magnifier offers a much easier way to zoom in on any area of
the screen. Launch it and you can now define a scale factor and docking position, and once
activated it can track your keyboard focus around the screen. Press Tab as you move around a
dialog box, say, and it'll automatically zoom in on the currently active control.
30. Hiding the Windows Live Messenger icon
If you use Windows Live Messenger a lot, you'll have noticed that the icon now resides on the
taskbar, where you can easily change status and quickly send an IM to someone. If you prefer to
keep Windows Live Messenger in the system tray, where it's been for previous releases, just
close Windows Live Messenger, edit the shortcut properties and set the application to run in
Windows Vista compatibility mode.
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