Create a keyboard shortcut to open a folder for windows xp , windows vista and windows 7

Do you have a folder that you'd like to be able to open quickly and easily whenever you want? If you create a keyboard shortcut for that folder, you can open it anytime by pressing a key combination, no matter which other programs you have open.
To create a keyboard shortcut to open a folder
1.
Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
2.
In Windows Explorer (the program that appears when you open folders such as My Computer, My Documents, My Pictures, or My Music), right-click the folder to which you want instant access, click Send To, and then click Desktop.

3.
On your desktop, right-click the new shortcut, and then click Properties.

4.
On the Shortcut tab, click in the Shortcut key box. Now press the letter on your keyboard that you want to use to open the folder.
Note: In the Shortcut key box, Microsoft Windows XP automatically adds CTRL+ALT before the key you press, because to use the shortcut to open a folder, you have to hold down both the CTRL and ALT keys simultaneously, while pressing the letter you chose. This way, your folder won't open every time you type that letter.

5.
Click OK.

6.
Now test your shortcut. Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys, and then press the letter you chose.

Speed up menu display in windows xp

Microsoft Windows XP uses many visual effects to provide a rich, friendly interface. One of these settings allows menus to fade into view when you open them. This visual effect is so smooth that you may never have noticed it; however, the effect does cause menus to take a little longer to appear.
On a fast computer, this shouldn't be an issue. But on a computer that isn’t responding as quickly as you'd like, you can make menus display faster.
To speed up menu display
1.
Click Start. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2.
Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance area, click Settings.

3.
On the Visual Effects tab in the Performance Options dialog box, clear the Fade or slide menus into view check box.

4.
Click OK.
5.
In the System Properties dialog box, click OK.

Now when you click a menu, it will appear almost instantly.

How To Benchmark & Troubleshoot Game Performance Using Fraps

Synthetic benchmarks (like furmark is the best) are a great tool for finding out how well your computers can play games. They provide a baseline which allows you to compare how upgrades and changes to your computer have improved or degraded performance.
Synthetic benchmarks can also be used as a point of comparison to other systems with similar specifications, which lets you see if your computer is operating the way it should or if there is perhaps something holding it back.
However, synthetic benchmarks are, ultimately, synthetic. In other words, they don’t represent real world performance.

Achieving a very high 3DMark score won’t help you determine your framerate in one particular game. While some games, like first person shooters, often come with built-in benchmarks, many games do not.
Discovering Real Performance
To find out how your computer is performing during real gameplay and help increase video game performance, you can use an tool called Fraps. This tool is commonly used by professional hardware reviewers to find out how well hardware configurations are working in games which don’t have benchmark utilities included.
Fraps is something of a strange tool in that it fills a lot of different niches at once. The paid version, for example, can record video of gameplay. We’re only interested in benchmarking our games, however, so the free version of Fraps will work just fine.
The Eyeball Benchmark
Once you’ve downloaded and installed Fraps, launch the program and then launch the game that you would like to benchmark. The framerate of the game will display in yellow text in a corner of the game. Where the text displays depends on your settings – in my case, I decided to have it display in the lower left hand corner of the screen.

While you’re playing, keep an eye on the framerate number. If you see that it starts to dip lower than 30 frames per second, pay attention to what you are doing and see if you can find a correlation between that and the dip in framerate. Did you just fire a specific weapon? Did you just change your view? Did you just enter a cutscene? Did you just enter a very wide, open area?
Paying attention to these details can help you troubleshoot your framerate if your game seems to run slow from time to time. For example, if you do find that the framerate number drops signifcantly in an open area you may need to reduce the game’s draw distance so that fewer far away objects are rendered on the screen in order to increase video game performance.
Recording Benchmark Data
You can use the eyeball benchmark to troubleshoot problems with game performance, but if you want to know how a game is running overall you’ll need to record some benchmark data.

When you’ve reached the area of the game you’d like to benchmark, press F11 to begin. The game will continue to run normally – you can and should play just like you would normally play. By default the benchmark will last 60 seconds, but you can custom that to be longer or shorter as you desire.
When the benchmark has finished all data about the benchmark will be dumped into spreadsheet files located in the Fraps\Benchmarks folder. Taking a look at this data will tell you important information about how the game performed overall.
Making Sense Of Benchmark Data
The benchmark you recored will result in two spreadsheet files. The first is labeled by the game being played (yes, it usually knows what game you’re playing) the data and the time. At the end you will also find the acronym “fps.” This does not show the average of your frames per second recorded, but rather shows how many frames per second your game had every second.

The data here should be fairly consistent overall if the area of the game you benchmarked was also consistent. For example, you should generally receive similar framerates throughout the entire benchmark if you were just walking around a forest. However, if half-way through the benchmark you were ambushed and had to go into combat you’ll probably see that your framerates dip at that point.
The other, more useful file is labeled the same way but instead has the label “minmaxavg” affixed to the end. This spreadsheet tells you your minimum framerate, maximum framerate, and average framerate. My example benchmark probably isn’t the best – I ended up getting into combat towards the end, and framerates went down when that happened.


There are a couple important conclusion we can draw from this data. For example, the minimum framerate and maximum framerate shown above are not at all consistent. This tells me that there is something specific which is occasionally slowing down my game. The game I was playing has a lot of special effects which occur in combat, so if I turned down the settings for those effects my game wouldn’t slow down as much and the minimum wouldn’t be so low.
I can also see that my game is, on average, achieving a framerate of 44.2 frames per second. Thirty frames per second is usually considered the minimum desirable average framerate, so I’m doing well in that regard. Performance dips aside, my game is enjoyable.
Conclusion
Fraps is an amazing benchmark utility to troubleshoot and increase video game performance. It gives you the chance to see how your games really perform and it also lets you troubleshot specific performance issues so that you can figure out which graphical settings are giving your computer trouble. Fraps is a free download, so go check it out now.

SOME FEATURES AND TIPS ABOUT WINDOWS 7

You have upgraded to Windows 7, love the new taskbar, and enjoy the power of using the cool Libraries feature.
But now you want more. You want the cool tips and tricks that make Windows 7 fun!
So here are the best ones to help you get the most out of your new OS. In this article, we will focus on the Windows 7 interface to get you started on the road to becoming a Windows 7 Power User. In Part 2, we will be looking at advanced tips for usability, performance, and security.
1. Use Keyboard Shortcuts
Using the mouse, you can drag-‘n-dock windows to either side of the screen, or drag it to the top to maximize it. These keyboard shortcuts are even faster:
Win+Left Arrow and Win+Right Arrow dock the window to the left and right side of the screen
Win+Up Arrow and Win+Down Arrow maximize and restore/minimize
Win+M minimizes everything
Alt+Up, Alt+Left Arrow, Alt+Right Arrow navigate to parent folder, or browse Back and Forward through folders in Explorer
Win+Home minimizes/restores all open windows except the active window
Alt+Win+# accesses the Jump List of program number ‘#’ on the taskbar
2.Rearrange System Tray Icons

You can rearrange icons on the taskbar as you wish and start new (or switch to running) instances of the first ten taskbar programs using Win+1, Win+2, and so on. The cool thing is you can also rearrange system tray icons. Reorder them on the tray or move them outside or back in the tray. Take control of what you want to always keep an eye on, and from which apps you’ll require notifications.
3. Access Jump Lists with the Left Mouse Button
Jump Lists usually show up when you right-click on a taskbar icon. However, they can also be accessed by holding the left mouse button and dragging upwards. If you’re using a laptop touchpad or a touch screen, this is convenient because you do not have to click any button to access a context menu.
4. Add Any Folder to Favorites

You can add any library or folder to the Favorites section in Windows Explorer. To add a folder, navigate to it in Explorer, right-click Favorites in the left navigation pane, and select Add current location to Favorites. Now you get quick access to your favorite folders in all File->Save As dialogs!
5. Pin Frequently Used Folders to the Taskbar
Right-click, drag, and pin your favorite folders to Windows Explorer on the taskbar. They will now show up in the Jump List when you right click on Explorer giving you quick access to your favorite folders.
6. Pin Control Panel to the Taskbar

You cannot pin the Control Panel to the taskbar via the Start Menu or by drag and drop. Open the Control Panel and right-click its taskbar icon to pin it to the taskbar. An advantage of this is that Control Panel’s Jump List allows quick access to recently used functions.
7. Create Keyboard Shortcuts for Programs
You can create keyboard shortcuts for any program in Windows 7. Right-click the program icon and select Properties. Select the Shortcut tab, click in Shortcut key, to set the keyboard shortcut for that program.

8. Open Command Prompt in Any Folder
Like the command prompt? Miss the ‘Open Command Window Here’ Windows XP power toy? Press ‘Shift’ when right-clicking on a folder to get that option in the context menu. This also works on the desktop. No power toy required!


9. View Expanded ‘Send To’ Menu
Press Shift when right-clicking on a folder to get an expanded Send To menu.
10. Adjust Screen Text with Clear Type
Use Clear Type Tuner for the best look on your LCD monitor or laptop screen. Run ‘cttune.exe’ from the Start Menu search box, or go to the Control Panel Display applet, and select Adjust ClearType Text from the left.

11. Get Exact Colors On Your Screen
If you are an artist or you work with colors, use the Calibrate Color option in the Control Panel Display applet or run dccw.exe from the Start Menu search box. You can adjust gamma, brightness, contrast, and color balance, ensuring that colors are displayed correctly on your screen.
12. Customize the Power Button
If you restart your computer more often than you shut it down, change the default Shutdown power button to Restart. Right-click on Start, select Properties, and choose the Power button action that you use the most.

13. Customize Number of Items in Jump Lists & Start Menu
Right-click Start, select Properties, click Customize and choose the number of recent programs to be shown in the Start Menu and the number of items displayed in Jump Lists from the Start Menu Size section below.
14. Search Internet from the Start Menu

Enable Internet search from the Start Menu using your default browser. Run GPEDIT.MSC from the Start Menu search box to start the Group Policy Editor. In the left pane, go to User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane, right-click to Edit and Enable Add Search Internet link to Start Menu.

15. Add Videos to Start Menu
Windows 7 does not place a link to your videos on the Start Menu by default. To add a link to your videos on the Start Menu, right-click Start, select Properties, click on Customize. In the Videos section at the bottom, choose Display as a link.

List of Anti-Virus Software Compatible with Windows 7

Within a few hours of Windows 7 being released my inbox started filling up with readers asking what Anti-Virus software they should install in Windows 7. Since this seems like such an important topic, I decided to make a list of packages that work.

If this is your first time here, you should check out our list of 175 Windows 7 Tweaks, Tips, and How-To Articles

Our Recommendation

If you want something that’s going to work really well, and is totally free, you should check out the free Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus solution, which isn’t going to slow down your PC.



Week in Geek: The Microsoft Security Essentials is Excellent Edition
Microsoft Security Essentials is a Free Antivirus Utility
Note: as a general rule, software that works on Windows Vista should work just fine on Windows 7, with the exception of software that installs low-level system components like an Anti-Virus, firewalls, or similar. These packages often are designed to only run on specific versions of Windows.

Windows AntiVirus Detection

When you first install Windows 7, you’ll get a popup balloon message telling you that you need to find an antivirus program online… notice the wrench on the balloons that will let you turn them off easily.



Once you’ve installed a compatible package, the message will go away and you’ll see a message in the Action Center telling you that “Virus protection” is On:



The packages should also hook into the Windows 7 update mechanism and let you know when your virus definitions are out of date.



And now, on to the list… I took a screenshot of the Action Center screen proving that each package installs and is recognized properly by Windows 7, but I also ran through a couple of quick tests for each package.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Free is the most popular anti-virus software out there, and not only does it work just perfectly under Windows 7, but it’s on the list of a small number of software packages that are officially compatible per Microsoft.

You’ll notice that it also offers Anti-Spyware protection, and Windows recommends that you only run a single Anti-Spyware application:



For more on this package, see Mysticgeek’s review of AVG Free.

Avira AntiVir Personal Edition

Avira is a popular freeware antivirus solution that seems to be a hit on our forum, with a number of the regulars in favor of it. This software works without any issues that I could find during my quick testing.



For more on this package, see Mysticgeek’s review of AntiVir Personal Edition.

Norton AntiVirus 2009

Hardly needing an introduction, Norton AntiVirus 2009 works just fine. They are also on Microsoft’s list of compatible software for Windows 7.



You’ll notice that this provides anti-spyware protection, so you’d likely want to disable Windows Defender for performance reasons.

Avast! AntiVirus Home

Another popular Anti-Virus package that we’ve previously reviewed, this one works just fine. You’ll notice that this package provides Anti-Spyware protection as well.



Kapersky Anti-Virus 2009

This antivirus software package is also on the Microsoft official list of Windows 7 compatible software. We’ve not reviewed it here because we tend to focus on free alternatives, but it’s well-known and preferred by a few of our forum members.



You’ll note that my virus database is out of date in the screenshot above. The Action Center consolidates all of these messages together into one place – rather useful.

McAfee VirusScan: FAIL

Reported to be not working by multiple readers including Daniel in the comments.

Also Working Per Reader Comments

These packages are reported to be working by the readers in the comments below:

PCGuard Anti-Virus from Virgina Media Broadband
ESET Nod32 Anti-Virus
Microsoft Forefront Client Security (Enterprise)
Thanks, keep them coming!

Important Note

Just because all of these packages install and run doesn’t mean they are necessarily “supported” by the vendors.

Ask the Readers: What Did We Miss?

Obviously if you are looking for an Anti-Virus package this list should help you out… but I would like to complete the list. If you’ve tested out any other packages, or had any issues with the ones on this list, leave a comment and I’ll update the article.