Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Note: To get a better understanding of Windows Registry basics, read this guide.

If you’re somewhat familiar with the Windows Registry, you’ve no doubt seen references to HKCR, HKCU, HKLM, HKU, and HKCC. These abbreviations represent the five root keys in the Windows Registry:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR)
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)
• HKEY_USERS (HKU)
• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (HKCC)

This guide explains the basics on what each root key represents and what settings you can expect to find under each. I wrote this guide to help clarify the fundamentals of the registry and provide insight into what each root key does.

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, we encouraged you to set (or change) a password for your Windows account. If you lose your password, you face the reality of losing access to your files and settings. In this guide, we show you how to create a password reset disk for your PC so, in a bind, you have an easy backdoor into your PC.

Note: you can also reset or crack the password; however, a little preparation will save you the hassle of doing this.

Before you begin this guide, you’ll need the following:

• A USB drive (does not have to be empty)
• A current password set for your account (how to)

Read the rest of this entry »

If the On-screen Keyboard pops up every time you log in to Windows and you want to disable this behavior, this guide is for you. I’ve had this question emailed to me a couple of times before; it wasn’t until it started to happen to me, that I thought it might be useful to put up a guide for the fix.

It’s likely that you brought up the on-screen keyboard on the Windows log-on screen at some point. When you do this, Windows changes its settings to enable the on-screen keyboard each time you log on to your computer (after a restart or log off.) It’s not really much hassle to close the keyboard but, after a number of times, it can be tedious. Luckily, there’s a simple “fix” to get the setting back to default.

Read the rest of this entry »

While it may be relatively easy to crack a Windows account password, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use one. If your PC is mobile, you have even more reason to use this basic level of protection. This guide will show you how to set a Windows password or change your current password.
Read the rest of this entry »

Update 1/31/2012: As MegaUpload was taken down, I moved the font zip to mintywhite servers (and got by the 20 MB file limit.) Please only download if you want a ton of fonts. The file is quite large (79.3 MB) but hopefully it’s quite convenient (plus, all the applicable licenses and credit is included for the authors that worked so hard on these fonts.)

Many readers have asked me to compile all the fonts, from this website, into one megapack. Today, James, a reader of Windows Guides gave me the push I’ve needed and I put them all together.

Download the Megapack

Download Font Mega Pack

Read the rest of this entry »

If you use online banking, you may have noticed when you get your password wrong that the error in response is pretty generic i.e. “Wrong user name or password.” These error messages are pretty unhelpful; however, this is by design. If someone tries to compromise your account, do you really want them knowing they got the user name right and now just need to tackle the password? Probably not. The harder we make it to get in to our accounts, the less chance we have of opportunists getting to places we don’t want them to be. With that said, this guide will show you how to disable user name display on the Windows logon screen, for additional security.

Read the rest of this entry »