10 best hidden features in Windows 8

Discover the useful tools and tricks for Windows 8 that you probably haven't yet discovered

There are two distinct parts to Windows 8 - the desktop, which looks and feels a lot likeWindows 7, and the all-new, all-singing, all-dancing Start page, which is a complete departure for the operating system.

If you've just upgraded, it may take you some time to discover all of the tools hidden away in the nooks and crannies of Windows 8, so here are the top 10 hard-to-find features you should be aware of.

If you've uncovered some useful tricks of your own, let us know in the comments.

1. The secret Start menu

Moving your mouse cursor down to the bottom-left of the screen and left-clicking switches to the tiled Start page... but if you right-click instead, you'll be met with a menu linking to key areas of the operating system, including Control Panel, the command prompt and the Task Manager.

2. Sync your settings

Windows 8 supports the old user account system, but it can also create a new kind of user account that's linked to your Windows ID, and pulls in information from SkyDrive, Xbox, Hotmail/Outlook and all the other cloud services the company is pushing.

A linked account can also sync your Windows settings (from your desktop wallpaper to your browsing history) across machines, which is handy if you have multiple computers at home or at work.

Launch the Settings charm, then choose 'Change PC settings' and open the 'Sync your settings' page to configure the feature.

3. Windows Defender

Windows Defender is back from extinction, taking over from Microsoft Security Essentials.

Unlike Security Essentials, Windows Defender tackles both viruses and spyware, and comes baked into the operating system.

You'll notice that it makes an appearance in Windows 8 if you don't already have antivirus and anti-spyware tools in place, leaping into action to plug whichever security gaps need filling.

4. Simpler shutdown

It's the same keyboard shortcut as in previous versions of Windows, but it's worth mentioning here because Windows 8 makes shutting down your PC more drawn out.

Rather than opening the Charms bar, clicking Settings, selecting the Power button and choosing 'Shut down', simply press Alt+F4 while viewing the desktop.

You can then press Enter to shut down the PC or choose an alternative option from the drop-down menu.

5. Built-in screenshots

Windows 7 had the Snipping Tool for taking screenshots, and this tool is still around in Windows 8.

However, there's an even easier way to capture what's happening on your display - press the Windows key and the PrtScn button together, and a PNG grab will be automatically saved to your Pictures library.

6. Keyboard shortcuts

Swiping and tapping around Windows 8 is fine on a touchscreen interface, but what about standard laptops and desktops?

Knowing the keyboard shortcuts for Windows 8 can save you a lot of clicking and dragging with the mouse, and make it easier to navigate the operating system.

Win+C brings up the Charms bar, for example, while pressing the Windows key on its own switches between the desktop and the Start page.

Another useful one: hit Ctrl+Tab on the Start page to switch to the 'All apps' view.

7. Snap your apps

As you may already know, Windows 7 allowed you to snap windows to the side of the screen by clicking and dragging the title bar.

Windows 8 goes one step further, enabling users to dock a Start page app (like Weather or Bing) to the side while you work on the desktop.

So, for example, you could keep an eye on the forecast while playing around in Photoshop, or stay in touch with your Twitter feed via the People app while crunching numbers in Excel.

To dock a full-screen Start page app, drag it from the top to the left or right of the screen. You can run Start page apps alongside each other too.

8. File History

Windows 8 can keep track of previous versions of your important files, which can be a lifesaver if you accidentally delete a document or a favourite photo becomes corrupted.

The feature - File History - is not enabled by default, so you'll have to activate it from the System and Security section of Control Panel. The only caveat is you'll need a second hard drive available, whether this is external, internal or networked.

9. ISO support

Windows 7 came with a built-in ISO burner; Windows 8 does away with the burning, and can launch ISOs (and VHD files) natively.

Double-click on a downloaded or ripped ISO to view its contents; right-click and choose 'Mount' to run it.

10. Reinstall Windows

Here's a feature you might not come across until something goes wrong - Windows' new reinstall routine, known as Reset (on the PC Settings page).

There's no need to dig out discs or serial codes, because everything you need is already available, hidden away on the hard drive.

Returning Windows to its factory setting takes a handful of clicks, and has never been easier.

Alternatively, you can do a 'refresh', which brings back all the default operating system settings, keeping your personal files, settings, the programs that came with your PC and any applications that you have downloaded from the Windows Store.

Add Copy To / Move To to the Windows Explorer Right Click Menu

A hidden functionality in Windows allows you to right click on a file, select Copy To Folder or Move To Folder, and the move to box will pop up and let you choose a location to either copy or move the file or folder to.

Here’s the quick registry hack to get this working. As usual, back up your registry just in case. You will want to browse down to this key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Once you are at that key, right click and choose the New Key option:

Now you will double-click on the (Default) value and enter the following:

{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Click OK and continue.

If you want to enable Move To, you will repeat the same steps, except creating a new key named Move To, and using this value:

{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Now when you right click on a file or folder, you should see the following options:

Let’s click Copy To Folder just to see what happens….

Add "Open with Notepad" to the Context Menu for All Files

The default method of opening unknown files forces you to go through a list of known applications and is generally a pain to deal with. That’s why I like to have a context menu option for “Open with Notepad” so that I can quickly open up files without having to go through a lot of trouble.

This registry hack is nothing new, it’s been around forever… think of this as a refresher course. Also note that you can use this same technique to substitute any other application that you’d like by adjusting the path in the registry to point to the different editor.

Manual Registry Hack

Open regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then browse down to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell

Right-click on “shell” and choose to create a new key, calling it “Open with Notepad”. Create a new key below that one called “command”. Double-click on the (Default) value in the right-hand pane and enter in the following:

notepad.exe %1

The change should take effect immediately… just right-click on any file and you’ll see the next menu entry.

Access Hidden Regional Themes in Windows 7

Windows 7 offers you location specific Aero themes based on the language and location you pick during installation. Here we will take a look at accessing other hidden themes from different countries.

When you first start the Windows 7 installation the first thing you will do is select a language, time and currency format. This is where Windows determines what themes you’re presented with by default.

Being from the US I’m presented with location specific themes from the United States with desktop backgrounds such as scenery from Maine, Idaho, Oregon etc.

To access the other international themes copy and paste the following path into the search box and hit Enter.

C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT

In the MCT folder you will find additional themes for Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Great Britain.

You can go in and grab just the Wallpapers…

Or go into the Theme folder double click on the the thumbnail to add it.

Here you can see I added all of them and now they will be available under the My Themes section for when you want to change them around.

This is a neat little trick that will let you customize Windows 7 with hidden themes already available. Also if you want to get more themes head over to the Microsoft site

Top 7 Firefox add-on’s

Foxmarks
If you use more than one computer then Foxmarks might become handy as it keeps your bookmarks and passwords (optionally) synchronized.

Adblock Plus
This is a must-have add-on for Firefox. Many sites have annoying flash ads in them. Not anymore – Adblock plus blocks them all!

Sxipper
Tired of filling in various web forms and all the spam you get on your e-mail? This add-on automatically fills in registration forms and creates fake e-mails which forward to your e-mail. If you get too much spam from one of the fake e-mail you just cancel forwarding. Simple as that!

Greasemonkey

If you want to make your browsing more comfortable then this comes handy as you can use all the user made scripts. The largest script database is at Userscripts.

FireFTP
Don’t want to install an extra program for FTP? Download this add-on and you gain FTP access to servers from your browser.

ChatZilla
Another useful add-on with which you can chat on IRC networks and you don’t have to install a separate program!

URL Fixer
Ever mistyped the end of a address? This fixes all of your mistakes – if you usefultrick.blogspot.cot it automatically corrects it to usefultrick.blogspot.com

Speeding Up your Windows Xp

1.) Eliminate programs that run at start-up

Stopping programs from running at start-up is especially daunting because there is no single place you can go to halt them all. Some run because they're in the Startup folder, others because they're part of logon scripts, others because of Registry settings, and so on. But with a little bit of perseverance, you should be able to keep them from running.

• Start by cleaning out your Startup folder. Find it in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup, where username is your Windows logon name. Delete the shortcuts of any programs you don't want to run on start-up. As with any shortcuts, when you delete them, you're deleting only the shortcut, not the program itself. (You can also clear out the start-up items by going to Start > Programs > Startup, then right-clicking items you want to remove.)
• 
  
• Next, clean out your Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to C:\Windows\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any programs that you don't want to run automatically on a schedule.
  
  Note: You can bypass all the programs in your Startup folder on an as-needed basis. To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down the Shift key during bootup. No programs in the Startup folder will run, but the items will still remain there so that they will start up as they would normally the next time you boot.

Using the system configuration utility
Taking the previous steps will stop the obvious programs from running at start-up, but it won't kill them all. The best tool for disabling hidden programs that run on start-up is the System Configuration Utility. To run it, type msconfig at a command prompt, and press Enter. (If that doesn't work, first do a search for msconfig.exe; when you find the file, double-click it.)

• To stop a program from running at start-up, go to the Startup tab in this utility, and uncheck the box next to the program. It can sometimes be difficult to understand what programs are listed on the Startup tab. Some, such as America Online, are clearly labeled. But often, you'll see a phrase or collection of letters, such as fs20. That's the name of the running file--such as fs20.exe, which is Free Surfer mk II, an excellent free pop-up killer.
  
  
• To get more information about a listing, expand the width of the Command column near the top of the Startup tab. Expand it enough and you'll see the start-up command that the program issues, including its location, such as C:\Program Files\Free Surfer\fs20.exe. The directory location should be another hint to help you know the name of the program.
  
  
• When stopping programs from running at start-up, it's best to stop them one at a time rather than in groups. You want to make sure that you're not causing any system problems by stopping them. So stop one, then restart your PC. If it runs fine, then stop another and restart. Continue doing this until you've cleared all the programs you don't want to run automatically.
  
  

Each time you uncheck a box and restart your PC, you'll get a warning that you've used the System Configuration Utility to disable a program from starting automatically. If you don't want to see that warning, disable it by checking the box in the dialog itself.

After you've used the system configuration utility to identify programs that run on start-up, you may want to try disabling them from with the programs themselves. So run each program that starts automatically, and see if you can find a setting that allows you to prevent it from running on start-up

2.) Speed up shutdown times

It's not only start-up that you'd like to speed up; you can also make sure that your system shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process:

• Don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it. To shut down XP without clearing your paging file, run the Registry Editor (click Start > Run, then type regedit in the Run box) and go to:
  
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
  
  
• Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry, and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.
  
  Note: Please be careful when editing the Registry; you can do a lot of damage here. Don't change or delete anything unless you know exactly what it is.

3.) Disable services that run at start-up

Constantly running in the background of XP are services--processes that help the operating system run or that provide support to applications. Many of these services launch automatically at start-up. While you need many of them, some are not required, and they can slow down your system when they run in the background.

You can disable services at start-up by using the system configuration utility, similar to the way that you halt programs from running at start-up, except that you use the Services tab instead of the Startup tab. But the system configuration utility doesn't necessarily list every service that launches on start-up. A bigger problem is that disabling services is more of shot in the dark than disabling programs. When you disable a program, you can get a sense of what the program does. But when you disable a service through the system configuration utility, there's often no way to know what it does.

• A better way of disabling services at start-up is via the Services computer-management console. Run it by typing services.msc at the command prompt. The Services computer-management console includes a description of all services so that you can know ahead of time whether a particular service is one you want to turn off. It also lets you pause the service so that you can test your machine and see whether that service is needed.
  
  
• After you run the console, click the Extended tab. This view will show you a description of each service in the left pane when you highlight the service. The Startup Type column shows you which services launch on start-up--any with Automatic in that field. Click that column to sort together all the services that automatically launch on start-up. Then highlight each of those services and read the descriptions.
  
  
• When you find a service you want to disable, right-click it and choose Properties. In the Properties dialog box that appears, choose Manual from the Startup Type drop-down list. The service won't start automatically from now on, but you can start it manually via the console. If you want the service disabled so that it can't be run, choose Disabled. To test the results, turn off any services that you don't want to run by clicking Stop The Service in the left pane, or by right-clicking the service and choosing Stop.
  
  

Here is a list of some common services you might want to stop from running at start-up.

Service	What it does
Portable Media Serial Number	Retrieves the serial number of a portable music player attached to your PC.
Task Scheduler	Schedules unattended tasks to be run. If you don't schedule any unattended tasks, turn it off.
Uninterruptible Power Supply	Manages an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) connected to your PC.
Automatic Updates	Automatically checks for Windows updates. (You can check manually by going to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/.)
Telnet (service available on XP Pro only)	Allows a remote user to log in to your computer and run programs. (This will not be found on all versions of XP Pro.)
Wireless Zero Configuration Service	Automatically configures a Wi-Fi (802.11) network card. Disable this only if you're not using a Wi-Fi network card.