Link Safe

Windows 7 the best operating system of all time. But it could be even better. By hacking it yourself you can make it faster, disable irritating features and add more great functionality without having to install new software. All the hacks we're Suggesting here involve editing the Windows Registry, which is a lot less scary than it sounds. You need to be logged in with an Administrator account, then open the Registry Editor by clicking Start, typing regedit and pressing Enter. Follow the instructions in each tip to locate the relevant Registry keys and edit them-in most cases all this really involves  is typing text. You may need to restart your PC in each case.

Before making changes to any Registry keys‘ you Should back them up in case anything goes Wrong or you later decide you want to reverse the changes. To back up individual keys, highlight the item in question in either the left or right pane of the Registry Editor then click File and select Export. Choose somewhere to save your backup, name the file something memorable and click Save.

To restore an individual key, locate the .reg file you backed up and double-click it, then click Yes twice. You'll see a message telling you the key has been added to the Registry Click OK. If you're planning to make lots of changes to the Registry, then it makes sense to back up the whole thing instead or-for as well as- individual keys. To do this, create a system Restore point before carrying out your edits. Click Start, type restore point and press Enter. Click Create, name your restore point and click Create again.

There are a number of simple Registry hacks that will instantly make your PC feel faster by minimising the unnecessary delays that Microsoft has built into the operating system's behaviour. For example, you can eliminate the annoying pauses that occur when you move your mouse over the taskbar icon for a preview, or over the Aero Peek button at the end of the taskbar to view the Desktop. Open the Registry Editor and navigate

to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/Advanced

Right click in the blank area in the right-hand pane and select New then choose ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’ and name it ExtendedUIHoverTime. Double- click the new key put a check next to Decimal, change the ‘Value data’ to 10 and click OK. Right-click in  the right-hand pane again and create another ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value‘ as above, naming this one DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime. As before, double-click it, put a check next to Decimal, change the ‘Value data’ to 10 and click OK.

For many people, one of the more annoying aspects of Windows 7’s interface is Aero Snap. This is the feature that automatically resizes and fixes the position of a program window if you drag it near the sides or top of your screen. If you find this a constant source of irritation, you’ll be pleased to hear that there's a Registry hack that will turn Aero Snap off Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Desktop. Scroll down and double-click on the key named

WindowArrangementActive. Change the number in the ‘Value data’ field from 1 to 0 then click OK

It's best to set Windows Update to download and install the latest updates automatically However, this inevitably results in the sporadic appearance of a reminder window that pops up and nags you to restart your PC. You can choose to postpone the restart, but if you happen to be away from your PC later on, Windows Update may eventually elect to restart your computer automatically anyway, interrupting any downloads and programs that are running. Here's how to stop the restarts happening without disabling automatic updates altogether. In the Registry Editor, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU.

If you can’t find entries for WindowsUpdate or AU, you can create these yourself To do so, right-click on the Windows key in the left.-hand tree and select New, then Key. Type WindowsUpdate, and press Enter. Then right-click on the new  WindowsUpdate key, select New, then  Key. Type AU and press Enter. With the AU key highlighted on the left, right-click in the blank space in the right-hand pane and select New, then ‘DWORD (32—bit) Value‘. Name this NoAutoRebootWithLogged0nUsers, then double-click it, set the ‘Value data’ field to 1 and click OK

If you rarely-or never-use the Caps Lock function it can be irritating when you accidentally hit the key, especially if you're trying to enter a case-sensitive password that’s hidden on-screen. If you want to disable the Caps Lock key altogether, you can use Registry hack that effectively changes it to a blank key. Open the Registry Editor and browse to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\KeyboardLayout. Right—click in the blank space in the right-hand pane, select New, then Binary Value. Type the name Scancode Map and press Enter, then right-click the new entry and select Modify Binary Data. Enter the following into the text box exactly as it is written here: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 3A 00 00 00 00 00.

If you‘ve typed everything correctly the ‘Value data’ field will look the same as the one shown in the screenshot (below left) -the numbers in the left column appear automatically. Click OK, restart your PC and the Caps Lock key will no longer do anything.

You can add programs and files to the Start Menu by holding down the Shift key, right-clicking the item and selecting ‘Pin to Start Menu’. Oddly though, Windows 7 doesn’t let you do the same thing with folders. To change this, open the Registry Editor, browse to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers. Right-click the ContextMenuHandlers key in the left-hand tree and select New, then Key. Type the following, exactly as it’s printed here, including the curly brackets: {a2a9545d-a0c2-42b4-9708-a0b2badd77c8} then press Enter. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC. Next time you want to add a folder to your Start menu, hold down the Shift key and right-click the folder. You’ll see a new option labelled ‘Pin to Start Menu‘- click this.

To make Windows 7’s taskbar bigger, open the Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband. Right-click in the blank area in the right-hand pane and select New, then ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’. Type the name MinThumbSizePx, then double-click this item and enter the number 500 into the ‘Value data’ box and click OK. Once you've restarted your PC, you’ll get much larger previews of your open windows when you hover your mouse cursor over taskbar items. If they’re still not big enough, increase the number in the ‘Value data’ box as required.