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Category: technical support

  • Change the Time to Change Password

    How to Change the Time to Warn a User to Change Password Before Expiration
    Information
    If you have password expiration enabled, then this will show you how to change how far in advance (in days) users are warned that their password is about to expire.

    Warning
    You can only do this while logged in as an administrator.
    OPTION ONE
    Through Local Security Policy Manager
    NOTE:
    This option is only available for the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.
    1. If you have not already, you must enable password expiration for each user account that you want to have their password expire for that user to be able to get a warning that their password will expire before the maximum password age has been reached.
    2. Open the Local Security Policy editor.
    3. In the left pane, expand Local Policies, and click on Security Options. (see screenshot below)
    4. In the right pane, double click on Interactive logon: Prompt user to change password before expiration. (see screenshot above)
    5. Type in how many days you want Windows 7 to begin prompting users to change their password before it expires, then click on OK. (see screenshot below)
    6. Close the Local Security Policy editor.
    OPTION TWO
    Through Registry Editor
    NOTE:
    This option is available for all Windows 7 editions.
    1. If you have not already, you must enable password expiration for each user account that you want to have their password expire for that user to be able to get a warning that their password will expire before the maximum password age has been reached.
    2. Open the Start Menu, then type regedit in the search box and press enter.
    3. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.
    4. In regedit, navigate to the location below: (see screenshot below)
    Code:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
    5. In the right pane of Winlogon, double click on PasswordExpiryWarning. (see screenshot above)
    6. Select (dot) Decimal, then type in how many days you want Windows 7 to begin prompting users to change their password before it expires and click on OK. (see screenshot below)
    7. Close regedit.
    8. Restart the computer to fully apply.

  • Missing USB Drive in Windows 7

    Sometimes when you plug a USB drive into your machine you won’t see it in Computer or AutoPlay in Windows 7.Now we would take a look at how to change the drive letter so you can can access it.

    The problem with not being able to see your USB drive happens quite often in XP. Our Texperts have pointed out instances, where the same problem can occur in Windows 7 as well. 

    Locate and Access the USB Drive in Windows 7 

    The problem is when you plug in a thumb drive or external USB hard drive…nothing happens. You hear the USB sound but AutoPlay doesn’t run, and when you look in Computer you don’t see the drive. More than likely Windows named the drive to a letter that is already in use.

    To fix the problem right-click on Computer from the Start Menu or Desktop Icon, and select Manage.



    In the Computer Management window, under Storage, click on Disk Management to see a list of drives connected to your machine.



    You should be able to determine which one is the drive you’re trying to access by its size and format type. Here we’re trying to find a 4GB thumb drive. Right-click on the drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.



    Now click on the Change button…



    You can select from a list of drive letters to rename it. Make sure it’s not one already in use or could be in use at some point. Pick a letter toward the end of the alphabet for best results.



    You will be prompted with a warning dialog making sure you want to change the drive letter…click Yes.



    Here you can see we changed the drive from the letter “J” to “U”…





    If you have AutoPlay enabled, you’ll see the familiar screen asking what you want to do with the drive.



    You will also see it in Computer now and be able to access the files and programs from it.





    That’s all there is to it! It’s definitely annoying when you plug in an external USB drive and Windows doesn’t give you access to it right away, but following these steps solves the issue.

  • Install Themes From Windows 7


    How To Download And Install Themes From Windows Website
    Windows 7 Personalization allows you to change the wallpapers and also the themes. Setting different wallpaper is quite easy and just takes a couple of clicks as we know.
    But how can we change the theme?
    Microsoft Windows has a personalization gallery for users who would like to try different themes.

    Note:
    This article does not apply to Windows XP or Windows Vista
    Here’s how to download and set a new theme:
    Open your internet browser and Visit Windows Personalization Gallery at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows/downloads/personalize/themes
    Choose from different categories of themes like Animals, Automotive, and Nature etc.
    Just click on the theme you want to set and click on open.

    The theme gets downloaded and gets set automatically. Downloading of these themes is free and is unlimited.

    To change the theme, Right click on the desktop and go to “Personalize”
    You would find the newly installed themes in the list of “My Themes”. Just click on the theme once to set that theme!

  • Add or Remove Windows 7 Index Locations

    Information
    Windows 7 uses the index to perform very fast searches on your computer. This will show you how to add or remove folder locations to be included in the index search results.
    Note
    You will not be able to add removable locations to be included in the index. For example, USB flash drives or memory cards.
    Warning
    If you make the index too large by including the entire hard drive, or to many folders, then your searches will slow down and take longer for the search results to display. You will also find your hard drive running longer and more often in the background while the index updates itself for changes made to the included folder locations. For the best results, it is recommended that you only add folders that you search frequently to be included in the index.
    Here’s How:
    1. Open the Control Panel (All Items view), and double click on the Indexing Options icon.
    2. Click on the Modify button.
    NOTE:
    You will notice a quick preview of included folder locations in the index here. These are the default locations.
    3. If You Don’t See All Locations on Your Computer in the List
    A) Click on the Show all locations button.
    B) If prompted by UAC, then either click on Yes or provide the Administrator password.
    4. To Add Folder Location to be Included in Index Search Results
    A) Continue to click on the arrows to the right of the check box to expand the folder tree until you reach the location of the folder you want to add, and select it.
    B) Check the selected folder’s box.
    5. To Remove Folder Location from being Included in Index Search Results
    A) Continue to click on the arrows to the right of the check box to expand the folder tree until you reach the location of the folder you want to remove, and select it.
    B) Uncheck the selected folder’s box.
    6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have finished adding or removing folder locations to be included in the index.
    7. When finished, click on OK.
    8. Click on the Close button.  

  • Home group password recovery in Windows 7

                So you’re about to setup your new Windows 7 PC into your Homegroup when you realized that you have no idea what the password is. How do you find it? It’s actually pretty simple, if you know where to look.


    Finding Your Homegroup Password

    Open up Windows Explorer, and then find the Homegroup option in the left-hand navigation pane. Right-click on Homegroup and choose “View the HomeGroup password”


    And there you go, your password in nice bold text—and there’s even a print button.


    Now you have the password and you are all set to setup your home group network

  • Change Wallpaper In Win 7 Starter Edition

      HOW TO CHANGE THE WALLPAPER IN WINDOWS 7 STARTER EDITION
    Tired of the Windows 7 Wallpaper that comes by default and couldn’t change the wallpaper?
    Here’s a workaround to get the wallpaper changed:
    Click on “Start” and type in “%windir%\Web\Wallpaper\Windows\” and hit “Enter”
    You will find a folder open with an image img0.jpg
    Now right click on the image and go to “Properties”
    Go to the “Security” tab
    Click on “Edit”
    “Permissions for img0.jpg” will open up
    In the new window that appears click on “Add”
    Add the name “Everyone” and then click on “OK”
    In the “Permissions for img0.jpg” window, highlight everyone and make a check mark on “Full Control” and then “Apply”
    Click on “OK” on the other open Windows.
    Now delete the image img0.jpg and copy the desired image in the same folder that you want to set as wallpaper with the name img0.jpg
    Whatever image here you place here with the name img0.jpg becomes the wallpaper of your desktop!!

  • How to Import and Export Internet Explorer Cookies Per Site Privacy Actions

    Information
    With Internet Explorer Per Site Privacy Actions, you can specify which websites are always or never allowed to use cookies, regardless of their privacy setting.
    This will show you how to import and export all of your personal Per Site Privacy Actions for cookies in Internet Explorer in Windows 7 and Vista.
    Note
    It can be handy to backup your Internet Explorer Per Site Privacy Actions by exporting them to a REG file so that you can use it to easily import your settings back, say after a clean install of Windows 7 or after resetting Internet Explorer.
    EXAMPLE: 
    Internet Explorer Per Site Privacy Actions
    OPTION ONE
    To Export Internet Explorer Cookies Per Site Privacy Actions
    1. Open the Start Menu, then type regedit in the search box and press Enter.
    2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes (Windows 7) or Continue (Vista).
    3. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
    Code:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\P3P
    4. In the left pane, right click on P3P and click on Export. (see screenshot above)
    5. Navigate to your Desktop, then type in a name (ex: IE_Per_Site_Privacy_Actions) for this REG file and click on the Save button.
    6. Now move this exported REG file to where you like to keep it at as a backup of all of your personal Internet Explorer cookies Per Site Privacy Actions.
    OPTION TWO
    To Import Internet Explorer Cookies Per Site Privacy Actions
    1. Double click on the exported REG file (ex: IE_Per_Site_Privacy_Actions.reg) that was exported from OPTION ONE above.
    2. If prompted, click on Run, Yes (Windows 7) or Continue (Vista), Yes, and OK.
    3. If open, close and reopen all instances of Internet Explorer to apply.

  • How to do Disk clean up in Windows 7


            If you want to reduce the number of unnecessary files on your hard disk to free up disk space and help your computer run faster, use Disk Cleanup. It removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need


    Click on Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools. Then click on Disk Cleanup. Alternatively you can open Start Menu and search for Disk Cleanup.



    Once open, select the drive you want to clean up. Mostly this will be the drive where you have Windows installed. Select C:\ drive.




    Let Disk Cleanup determine which files can be cleaned up.




    You will then see a dialog with the files that can be cleaned without any harm to the system. Select the files that you do not need and click OK.





    If you have admin access, you might want to clean up system files as well. Click on System Files in the above dialog. You will then see a More Options tab which you can use to remove old system restore points and shadow copies.


    These is applicable for Windows XP and Windows 7 

  • HOW TO GET UPDATES FOR ALL MICROSOFT PROGRAMS AND DRIVERS ALONG WITH WINDOWS UPDATES

    Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer.
    Along with the version of Windows that you are using and the internet explorer, you can also receive updates for other Microsoft products installed on the computer through Windows updates.
    For instance, if you are using Microsoft Office or Microsoft Money software, you can get updates for those software using Windows Updates.
    Here’s how:
    Open Windows Update from the “Start Search” option
    In the Windows Update screen that appears, look for the option “Find Out More”
    Internet Explorer would open up with a title “Install updates, Office and More”
    Agree to the Terms and Conditions by making a check mark and then clicking on “Install”
    The next time, you use Windows Update; you would get the updates for all the Microsoft programs installed on the computer.

  • Disable Thumbnail Previews in Windows 7

    Disable Thumbnail Previews in Windows 7
    Speed up browsing in windows explorer by disabling thumbnail previews in folders. 
    Note: This article works only for Windows 7 or Vista but not on Windows XP.
    1. To make this change–> click the Organize button on any folder–> and choose Folder and Search Options from the menu.
    2. Click the View tab–> and then check the Always show icons, never thumbnails checkbox.
    3. Click OK–> and exit the windows.

    This article works only for Windows 7 or Vista but not on Windows XP.