User Account Control is one of the most hated features in Windows Vista because of its constant annoying messages.  In Windows 7 UAC is a lot better and you can still tweak it to your liking. Here are a couple of tips.

Modify UAC Settings

You can make Windows 7 UAC less intrusive, or more vigilant, or turn it off completely. To change the default settings:

1. Go to the Control Panel – User Accounts and Family Settings
2. Click User Accounts and then Change User Account Control settings
3. A new window will open
4. 
5. Now use the slider to set the protection level that suits you
6. Click OK.
7. You may need to restart. Depends on what you selected.

Use Gadgets Without UAC

If you turn UAC off, you won’t be able to run gadgets that run on your desktop. Windows regards them as a security threat, you see. However, that threat is only potential and most likely nothing bad will happen. If you are comfortable with that, here’s how to use gadgets with UAC turned off:

1. Create a Restore point or backup the Registry, because you’ll need to edit the Registry
2. Type regedit in the Search bar and press Enter to launch Registry Editor
3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings
4. Create a new DWORD value called AllowElevatedProcess. To do that select Edit - New DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it AllowElevatedProcess
5. Set its value to 1
6. Close Registry Editor. Right-click the desktop and select Gadgets. Now you will be able to add and use gadgets as you would normally.

Here are some more  tips to optimize Windows 7. They will save you a lot of time and make using Windows 7 even more enjoyable.

Hidden Send To Menu

Personally I love right-clicking because it’s such a great way to get more options quickly. For example, the Send To option when you click on a folder in Windows Explorer can save you a lot of time.

By default the Windows 7 Send To menu contains only a few locations and doesn’t give you that much choice:

That doesn’t look too impressive. But luckily there is a trick to it – press Shift before right-clicking and the Send To menu will expand:

Now that looks a lot better, don’t you think?

Switch Between Windows Faster

The Minimize – Maximize window animation was first introduced in Windows Vista and made its way into Windows 7. While it does look cool, it also creates a delay and makes your PC slower. Disabling this effect is really easy. It will speed up your computer and make it more responsive.

• Go to Start, type in SystemPropertiesPerformance and hit Enter
• Go to the Visual Effects tab
• Uncheck Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
• Click OK

Enjoy a faster and more responsive PC.

Use Problems Step Recorder

Have you ever struggled when trying to describe a problem to a computer technician? I bet you have – after all some problems are almost impossible to describe with words.

Windows 7 offers an easy solution – a tool called Problems Step Recorder. Basically, it works like any screenshot software and also records everything you do with your mouse, etc. So now you can use it to monitor the system and create a report. Then you can send the report to your computer technician or any other user.

To test the tool, simply type psr.exe in the Start menu and hit Enter.

There are many other ways to optimize your Windows 7 and Auslogics BoostSpeed will help you make it even faster and customize it to your liking.

Windows 7 looks and feels a lot better than any previous Windows versions (though I still like XP a lot). Nevertheless, it still can be tweaked and made a lot faster. Like in any previous Windows versions, you can disable visual effects for maximum performance.

1. Go to System Properties (press Windows + Pause/Break keys)
2. Select Advanced
3. Then press the Settings button in the Performance section
4. A new window will open
5. Select the Adjust for best performance radio button

If you don’t like the minimalistic look, choose the Custom radio button, disable the effects you don’t need, and leave the effects you like.

Another thing you can do is customize folder and search options:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Go to Organize - Folder and Search Options
3. Disable the following:

• Hide extensions for known file types
• Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
• Display file size information in folder tips
• Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in colour

Another good thing to do would be running Auslogics Service Manager, which is part of BoostSpeed, and check out which services can be safely disabled. Running some services can take up a lot of hard drive space and it’s a shame, especially if you never use those services.

For more Windows 7 tips and tricks read my other post here.

Windows 7 Beta was made available for download a while ago and I’m sure a lot of you installed it. I guess some of you started looking for ways to tweak and optimize it.

First of all run Auslogics BoostSped 4.3 to get the most out of your new OS, as BoostSpeed now offers full Windows 7 Beta support. And after that you can fine-tune it manually.

Back Up Your MP3 Files

Windows Media Player 12 has a feature that auto fills-in missing metadata on your music files, large albums included. It’s all good in theory, but the thing is that there is a nasty bug that can damage your music  – it can permanently cut off a few seconds at the beginning of the track. To fix it, read this Microsoft article and install the fix. But I would advise you to back up your music files in any case, just to keep them away from harm.

Control UAC

UAC in Windows 7 isn’t nearly as annoying as in Vista (don’t get me wrong, it’s a good feature in theory – just way too annoying in every-day life!). So, if you’d like to change something:

1. Type UAC in the start menu search field and hit Enter
2. Click the result and you will be taken to UAC settings
3. 
4. Now you can adjust the settings to your liking – I prefer having it just above Never notify, since it’s a good combination of not being constantly annoyed and security.

Feel Free to Right-click

One of the things I quite like about Windows 7 is that you can do a lot by simply right-clicking everything. For example, if you want to change your screen resolution, simply right-click an empty space on your desktop. You’ll find the relevant menu entry. So now there will be no need to spend time browsing through display settings.

If you want to have faster access to common folders, like Documents or Pictures, just right-click the Explorer button in the taskbar.

And if you don’t like the idea of using Internet Explorer, you don’t need the icon in the taskbar. Right-click it and click Unpin this program from the taskbar.

Get Back Your Familiar Taskbar

The Windows 7 taskbar is basically a big quick-launch toolbar. It can hold whatever program shortcuts you like. But if you have too many shortcuts, it will consume your desktop space. And, besides, a lot of people would be more comfortable with the traditional taskbar. To change it:

1. Click the Start button and go to Properties - Taskbar
2. Click Use small icons
3. Then set Taskbar buttons to Combine when taskbar is full

Burn CDs and DVDs

Another great Windows 7 feature is that now you don’t need third-party software to burn ISO images onto CDs and DVDs. Just double-click the ISO image file you want to burn, and a small program will open. Then all you have to do is select the disk burner drive and click Burn.

Keyboard Shortcuts

And here is a list of useful new keyboard shortcuts:

Alt+P
Display/ hide the Explorer preview pane

Windows key+G
Display gadgets in front of other windows

Windows key++ (plus key)
Zoom in, where appropriate

Windows key+- (minus key)
Zoom out, where appropriate

Windows key+Up
Maximise the current window

Windows key+Down
Minimise the current window

Windows key+Left
Snap to the left hand side of the screen

Windows key+Right
Snap to the right hand side of the screen

Windows key+Home
Minimise/ restore everything except the current window