Disable Google Web History

Google is changing its Privacy Policy therefore some people have decided that it is a good idea to disable their Google web search history which is stored for targeted ads and what ever else Google wants to store your searches for, here I will show you how you can turn this off in your settings.

Search History
Sooo. do you think this matters? if not then why not see what is in your history by following Google History you can see your search history that is stored with Google.
Opt Out
If after looking at your history you decide that you now want to opt out from Google auto storing of your history then you need to click the following link and select opt out (you will need to log in to your Google account) Google History Opt Out

Opting out just stops Google storing/collecting your search history and therefore also stops targeted search ads.. note: it does not delete your account just your search history..

Privacy Policy
I suggest you read Google's new Privacy Policy here as it comes in to effect on March 1, 2012.

If you want more hints and tips like this then please let me know.

Generate an Energy Report Windows7

As everyone is concerned with power consumption now days using this command line utility is a real must and not only that its nice to know what might be using your power up for example USB devices are a real power drain especially on laptops.

To create a report on your PC's do the following.

• Click on the Windows key and type cmd in the search box.
• Now right-click on cmd and select Run as Administrator.
• Select the cmd window and type (or copy and paste) powercfg -energy -output %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\Energy_Report.html
  now press Enter.
• do not use the system until the process is complete
• you can view your report by clicking on start and pasting %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\Energy_Report.html
  
  Powercfg will run for about 60 seconds, and generate a report called energy-report.html on your desktop. This report will notify you of anything in your computer that is keeping the CPU cycling, which might be burning power. After you run the report, you'll likely find that USB devices never entered the Suspend state.  people often think that the power consumption of a USB key is pretty insignificant, however if it prevents the CPU from cycling off then that device can really hit you where it hurts in the pocket.

System Restore

System Restore allows you to restore your computer's system files to an earlier point in time. It's a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos.

For example:
You have just installed your new webcam but somehow managed to install the drivers for windows XP on to your windows 7 PC,  This is causing the computer to crash and and randomly BSOD on boot up!! I would consider this to be a good enough reason to use system restore.

If your computer will not load into windows (aka it keeps crashing) then you will need to enter safemode before starting the system restore.

let it snow with google search

For some festive fun google have added a fun feature (not sure for how long).  Anyhow if you would like to give it a try then just type "let it snow" in the google search bar.

1. open your browser
2. go to google.com
3. type "let it snow" in to the search

It really is as simple as thats, you should now have your snow.

Disable Search History in Explorer

Note this will not work if you are using Home edition of windows 7

The search feature in Windows 7 by default saves your recent searches. If you want to turn this function off then we can show you how to by using Group Policy Editor.

1. Type gpedit.msc into the start search box and hit Enter.
2. Navigate to User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Windows Explorer
3. Double click on “Turn off display of recent search entries"
4. Select Enabled then hit Apply

thats it, the search history in explorer will no longer be shown.

Copy / Move To using Right Click Menu

There are many hidden functions in Windows and this one allows you to right click on a file, then select Copy To Folder or Move To Folder. 

1. Open Regedit
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
3. Right click and choose the New Key option and name the folder Copy To
4. Double-click on the (Default) value and enter the following: {C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}
5. To enable Move To  choose the New Key option again and name the folder Move To
6. Double-click on the (Default) value and enter the following: {C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Thats it your done, now when you right clilck you get copy to and move to options!

any issues let me know.

Customise your log-on screen

Windows 7 has made the dodgy hacks of xp and vista a thing of the past,so setting a custom login screen is quite easy...

1. Open Regedit.exe
2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background
3. Double-click the DWORD key called OEMBackground (not there? Create it) and set its value to 1.
4. Get the background image you would like to use and make sure it's less than 256KB in size, and is the same resolution that you use for your monitor.
5. Copy that image into the %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds folder (create the info\backgrounds folders if it dosnt exist).
6. Rename the image to backgroundDefault.jpg and reboot

Now your login screens background is set to what ever image you set!

any prolems let me know.

Restore Quick Launch in Windows7

Do you hate the pinned Icons in Windows 7, then here is how to go back to the quick links the same as you had in Vista and XP..

1. First right click on the bottom Taskbar and then select "Toolbars" and then "New Toolbar"
2. In the box that appears paste in the following %AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch and then click select
3. Right click the Taskbar and untick "Lock the Taskbar"
4. If you would like to remove the text next to the quick launch icons then you need to right click the new toolbar and untick the "Show Text" and "Show Title" options
5. now by clicking on the verticle quick launch bar you can move the quick launch bar to the left to where it was in XP or Vista
6. now you can enlarge the icons if you like by right clicking in verticle quick launch area and clicking on to view and then click large icons
   
   And there you have it, Quick Launch is back!
7. you can now drag the icons from the start menu desktop or anywhere else onto your Quick Launch bar once again!
   
   if you have any questions please ask, I will create a video if required.

Windows Printscreen Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are the keyboard shortcuts to do screen capture (printscreen) in Windows.

• PrtScn (you will find it in the upper right on your keyboard) – The Print Screen button captures all the screen that you can see, you can then paste what you captured in to  a word or paint document using ctrl + v or by right clicking and pasting.
• Alt + PrnScn – captures only the activly selected window. This means that you can capture a snapshot of the current focused window without including your taskbar desktop or other open windows you can paste in to another document the same as above.

I know this is a quick and easy tip for most, however quite a few people have asked for help with capturing an picture of the selected window only.