The Windows AutoPlay feature is the bane of many-a-PC user, particularly because of nasty DRM histories and other intrusive business, but what about when you actually want to use the AutoPlay feature? For example, let’s say you’re a fan of Lifehacker’s very own DVD-ripping tool, DVD Rip, and you want your computer to automatically start ripping DVDs as soon as you put one in (making the simple one-click solution even simpler). Here’s how it works.
Windows guy Dennis O’Reilly points out a few Windows registry tweaks that will make your PC “close shop like it’s late for the bus ride home.” These modifications will shorten the amount of time Windows waits around before killing hanging applications, and will set your PC to automatically stop running tasks. If Windows takes a little too much time to shut itself down, these may be for you; of course keep in mind that registry tweaks shouldn’t be done lightly or without a full backup. Shut down Windows in an instant [Workers' Edge]
If you upgraded to Vista Service Pack 1 when it went live earlier this week, Windows left behind several files system files from your pre-SP1 install that aren’t being used any longer. The files are left taking up space on your drive so that you can roll back SP1 if you wanted to, but since you’re unlikely to grow sick of all those improvements, weblog Digital Inspiration details how to remove the unneeded junk files and free up space on your hard drive. There are no manual steps involved. Just open your Windows command prompt and type vsp1cln.exe (short for Vista SP1 Cleaner). It takes less than a minute to execute.
Just remember, once you execute the SP1 cleaner, you won’t be able to roll back, so make sure you’re happy with SP1 before you start freeing up space. Finished Installing Windows Vista SP1 ? Now Remove All The Junk Files [Digital Inspiration]
CNET’s Worker’s Edge blog offers up a way to customise the default locations for saving or opening files in Windows XP by putting shortcuts to your favourite folders in common dialogs via XP’s Places Bar.
You can use Microsoft’s own Tweak UI utility in PowerToys for XP to do this. Or to do it manually, hit Start > Run and type:
gpedit.msc, and press Enter to open the Group Policy applet. Navigate in the left pane to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer > Common Open File Dialog. Double-click Items displayed in Places Bar in the right pane, check Enabled in the resulting dialog box, and enter the folder paths in the five text fields below it.
You must enter five locations to avoid having empty default locations created, and you’ll need to follow his directions for specifying the path.
He also explains how to do a similar thing in Vista using Favorite Links.
There’s certainly a few ways to shortcut to your favourite locations in Windows – I use FileBox eXtender to give me one click access to my frequently used folders. Got a favourite shortcut? Please share in comments.
Place shortcuts to your favorite folders in Windows’ common dialogs [CNET Worker's Edge]
The best way to speed up your PC is to give it more available memory—but freeing up as much of the memory you already have is cheaper and easier than cracking open your case to install a new stick of RAM. It takes a lot of memory to get a modern Windows system up and … well, not doing anything in particular, really. Between cryptic system processes, confusing “helper” applications, and background utilities, a whole lot of who-knows-what gobbles up memory and slows down your work. While a lot of programs claim to optimse memory use and pare down processes, Windows’ built-in Task Manager can do the job just fine, given the right tools and know-how. Today you’ll extend and empower Windows’ Task Manager to speed up your system by cutting out unnecessary memory hogs.
Dear Lifehacker, The only Vista feature (honestly) I hoped that XP could have is a very simple one. In Explorer if you hit F2 to rename a file Vista automatically selects the file name WITHOUT the extension, something that does not happen in XP. I cannot begin to describe how frustrating it is to hit F2+Shift+< -
Despite its slim profile and Windows 3.1-style interface, Notepad is a tool that Windows users have come to know and love, using it for all manner of tweaking, quick editing, and other tasks. The How-To Geek explains a pretty simple registry hack that lets you add “Open with Notepad” to the right-click context menu anywhere in Windows, saving most of us a few screens’ worth of clicking through the “Open with …” dialogs. We’ve previously show how to accomplish the same kind of tweak with the freeware apps Sent to Notepad and the larger Send To Toys, but the Geek’s solution requires no extra software and just a little bit of registry hacking (which means, of course, it’s time to make a backup). Follow the link for instructions, or a file that can add the right key for you. Add “Open with Notepad” to the Context Menu for All Files [The How-To Geek]
Windows guy Dennis O’Reilly says you can clear space on your hard drive by removing “uninstall folders”—temporary folders of files Windows sets up that let it roll back updates in case something goes wrong. To see your uninstall folders, browse to the C:\Windows\ directory, and take a gander at all the folders listed there whose name starts with “$NtUninstall.” (You’ve got to have “Show hidden files and folders” enabled in Explorer’s folder options to see them). I’ve got about 231MB of uninstall data stored there myself. Of course, deleting these folders all willy-nilly could screw up any System Restore points you’ve got going on, or perhaps the Add/Remove Programs functionality for Windows updates, so proceed with caution and only delete if you’re desperate for space. Here’s how to identify more system disk space hogs with a free download. Clear space on your hard drive by deleting old Windows uninstall folders [Workers' Edge]
Tech blog CyberNet delves into System Restore, Windows’ built-in configuration roll-back service, and surfaces with a shortuct that saves time, and might save your system, with just two clicks. Click through for the code to create the shortcuts in Windows XP and Vista.
The CyberNet weblog follows up on their previous tip for creating quick-kill shortcuts for individual programs in Windows by expanding the idea to an automated batch file that kills off a bunch of programs at once. The batch script is smart enough to skip any apps you don’t have open, and makes it easy to strip down running programs to grab the most power from your system, for Photoshop, games, or other resource-intensive apps. The basic trick is to open the Windows Task Manager, find the executable names (like firefox.exe) of the apps you want to kill, then open a simple text editor and add a line for each app, like so: taskkill /im program.exe
Replace program.exe with the ones you want to kill, save the text file with a .bat extension, and you’ve got a quick streamlining app. Ready to take the next step? Take a look at setting up working environments with batch files. Shortcut to Close Multiple Programs [CyberNet]
