Windows

Find The Last ShutDown Time Of Any Windows PC

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At times may be you allow somebody, take for instance your kid to use your computer but strictly warned him or her to shut it down by midnight.But you don’t really know till what time they had used your PC as you can’t figure it out easily by just looking at your desktop Smile.

Luckily you need not worry much, if your system runs Windows.If you want to know how to do that in your PC, follow the steps briefed below:

1. Open Event Viewer in your computer:

Windows 7 ot Vists users: Go to start menu and type “Event Viewer” in the search box and open the Event Viewer.

Windows XP users: Go to run command from Start> Run or by pressing Windows+R and type eventvwr.msc in the field and hit enter.

event viewer from start menu

2. In the Event Viewer, On the left side pane click on “Windows Logs” and in the right pane, click on the item “System”  [See the screenshot below].

Windows Logs in Event Viewer Windows 7

3. Now on the right pane, you will find all the system logs information basically divided into 3 tabs: Information,

Date and Time,

Source,

Event ID

Find the column corresponding to the Event ID 6006, the date and time displayed in this column is when your computer was last shuttedDown.

last shutdown time in event viewer

In the above screenshot, the time shown is 29-04-2010 12:42:00 AM, so this is the last shutdown time of the PC used here.

[How to] Pin or Unpin The Contents Of a Folder in Windows 7 Taskbar

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Have you ever thought of adding a shortcut of your favorite folder in the taskbar. Well you can do it in Windows 7. Here we will show how to pin a folder in the Windows 7 taskbar.

Any folder can be pinned to the task bar as a New Toolbar in the Task bar of Windows 7 with a small or large icon and with or without text of the folder name.

Point to be noted:

When we pin a folder, we can see only the only the contents of the folder in the task bar. It is like the folder is already opened and displayed in the taskbar. So it is not that the folder’s shortcut is pinned to the task bar, but its just that the shortcut of the contents of the folder is created in the taskbar.

Now just follow the simple steps below to pin the contents of a folder to the task bar.

Pin a folder to the taskbar.

Add a new toolbar in the task bar:

Right Click on the taskbar, go to Toolbars and select New toolbar.

Add_new_toolbar_taskbar

It will ask to select the folder. Select the parent folder which you want to add so that the contents of the folder is shown in the taskbar.

select_toolbar_folder

Now you can see the folder name in the taskbar with its content.

taskbar_toolbar_opened

Unlock the Taskbar to modify the positions and settings if its locked

Right Click on the taskbar and select lock taskbar to uncheck it.

unlock_taskbar

Changing the settings of the toolbar:

If you don’t want to name of the folder to be displayed but only the contents, then right click on the folder name in the taskbar and uncheck Show Title.

Show_Title

If you want to move the toolbar to the left side, yo have to drag the divider to extreme left to the Start menu.

Drag_divider_to_leftToolbao_divider

If you want to move it back, drag it back to right.

Now, if you want to show bigger icons of the content in the toolbar, Right click on the toolbar, go to view and select Large Icons.

View_large_icons

Now after doing all the changes you can lock the taskbar again if you wan to.

Unpin the folder from taskbar:

Now to unpin the folder, right click on the taskbar and go to Toolbars and unselect the folder name. You can also right click on the toolbar and select close Toolbar.

close_toolbar

Now you have successfully learnt how to pin and unpin a folder to the taskbar in Windows 7.

Download KB975496 Update For Windows 7

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Windows 7 LogoBitLocker Drive Encryption

Microsoft has released the new KB975496 update addressing the issue while using BitLocker for system drives.If your Windows 7 PC stops responding during shutdown if BitLocker is enabled on the system drive.

Initially this update was released for Lenovo ThinkPad W510 where the issue was first noticed.Now Microsoft has decided to release this update as “recommended” update type to all x86 Windows 7 users in April 2010.

KB975496 details:

Update for Windows 7 (KB975496)

Download size: 121 KB

File name: Windows6.1-KB975496-v2-x86.msu

published: April 26, 2010

You may need to restart your computer for this update to take effect.

Update type: Recommended

More information:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975496

Download Link (Validation required)

Direct Download Link: KB975496-v2-x86.msu (Without validation)

Fix Frequent Windows Explorer Crashes With KB980408

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Windows logo

“Windows Explorer has stopped working.

Windows is searching for a solutions

Windows Explorer is restarting “

windows explorer stopped working

The most annoying errors that keep popping up in Windows 7 too many times (I already had enough of them).Normally this error could occur possibly due to missing/corrupt files in windows explorer window.Windows 7 team has had a serious look into this mess and they have decided to release April 2010 stability and reliability update KB980408 exclusively to fix these frequent windows explorer crashes in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2.According the release the update KB980408 fixes the following issues:

  • Windows Explorer crashes and restarts while accessing a third-party Control Panel item.
  • Issue that affects the connectivity with an instance of SQL Server Analysis Services from any application in Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2
  • Windows Explorer stops responding for 30 seconds whenever a file or directory is created or renamed after installing some programs
  • Welcome screen hanging for 30 seconds while logging into the computer, if you had set the desktop background to a solid color.
  • You don’t get any warning when you try to delete more than 1000 files and all the files gets deleted permanently without moving to the Recycle bin.

    If you have experienced any of the above issues in your Windows 7 machine, you must download the update KB980408 from the download links below.

    Download Links:

    The April 2010 stability and reliability update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2- Update for Windows 7 (KB980408)

    Download size: 5.3 MB

    Update type: Important

    Released: April 26, 2010

    With validation:

    Windows 7 (x86)

    Windows 7 (x64)

    Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64)

    Without validation:

    Direct download link KB980408-x86.msu for x86 Windows 7

    Direct download link KB980408-x64.msu for x64 Windows 7

    • Link for KB980408 support

    Enable Pin To Start Menu For Folders In Windows

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    Windows-logo pin_folder_start_menu[7]

    Pinning items to the start menu is one great way for accessing them more quickly.By default Windows allows only programs to be pinned to the start menu.If you want to add folder to the start menu, follow this simple tutorial which will add “Pin to start menu” context menu option for folders.You can also pin any library to the start menu using this method.

    Steps:

    1. Open run command by pressing Windows button + R.Type regedit in the filed and click ok.

    regedit run command

    2. In the Registry editor (regedit), go to the following key:

    pin folder registry key

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

    3. Right on the right pane and select New> Key (refer to the screenshot below)

    pin folder to start menu add new key in regedit

    4. Copy and paste {a2a9545d-a0c2-42b4-9708-a0b2badd77c8} as the new key name like we did it in the following screenshot.

    pin folder to start menu new key in regedit

    5. You are done with the tweak now.Press “SHIFT” key and right-click on any folder, you’ll see a new context menu option “Pin to Start Menu”

    Pin to start menu option

    if you want to rollback and undo this new change just delete the key that you have just added {a2a9545d-a0c2-42b4-9708-a0b2badd77c8}, which will remove the Pin to Start Menu context menu option from the folders.

    If you want to automate the above whole process, just download the following reg entry file (.reg), and double click it, the corresponding registry entry will be automatically added.

    Download

    Note:

    1. You can drag any folder to the start menu, hold it until you see “Pin to start menu” and then drop it.This will automatically pin that particular folder to the start menu.

    2. The folders pinned to the start menu by this method will not expand if you hover the mouse over it.You need to pin them to the taskbar instead to see the expansion of the folders.

    IDT High Definition Audio CODEC Update #Fail In Windows 7

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    Windows logo

    Alert: IDT HD Audio Codec Windows optional update causing problems in Windows 7

    There’s a new optional Windows update showing up in Windows update from a couple of days, “IDT – Audio – IDT High Definition Audio CODEC”.But there seems to be some problems with this particular update no please do not install this update hastily.Some users who have installed this have reported there was no sound output after installing this and rebooting the system.

    Continue reading this post if you have already installed this and facing problems.

    IDT – Audio – IDT High Definition Audio CODEC

    Download size: 8.9 MB

    You may need to restart your computer for this update to take effect.

    Update type: Optional

    IDT Audio software update released in March, 2010

    More information:
    http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20347177

    Help and Support:
    http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub

    IDT High definition audio codec in windows update

    Update failed: error 80070103 (see the below screen shot)

    IDT audio codec update fail

    Solutions:

    1. The easy way- All laptops :

    The easiest and the most worked solution for this is to rollback the default windows driver (“High definition audio device”) which was released in 2008 (12/12/08 or 06/27/08).This almost solves the problem.But if you are still getting the same problem, try downloading the latest update by following these steps:

    2. Specific Notebooks:

    HP Notebook users:

    HP IDI audio codec driver download

    Go to this HP support site, enter your product name and search for drivers and download the latest

    Dell Notebook Users:

    Go to Dell.com and search for “IDT High Definition Audio Codec” in the search field and look for the latest update in the drivers section, choose and download the right update for your Windows.

    Dell IDT update

    Alternatively, Dell users can first uninstall the IDT driver from the control panel and then download “SIGMATEL driver” from the Dell.com- drivers and downloads section.Let the program automatically detect your hardware and install the right audio driver for you.

    Have you faced the same problem while installing IDT HD audio codec update? If so, how did you solve it? Tell us through comments..

    Note: The solutions listed here are the probable solutions that may work based on the opinion of a small numbers of users who faced this issue.There is no guarantee that it will work 100% even after you try all the above steps.

    How To Create A System Repair Disc In Windows 7 & Vista

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    Windows logo

    Creating a System Repair disc in windows vista and Windows 7 is very simple and straight forward process.System repair disc would be very much useful when in situations like your Windows encounters a serious problem and unable to start properly.

    A system repair disc can be used to boot your computer.It also contains Windows system recovery tools that can help you recover Windows from a serious error or restore your computer from a system image

    Let’s see how to create a Windows System repair disc in simple steps.

    Steps:

    1. Go to Control panel> System And Security> Backup and Restore, click “Create a system repair disc”

    backup or restore

    2. Now it’ll ask you to select the CD/DVD drive and insert the blank CD into it. Select the drive and click “Create disc’ once you have inserted the blank disc into the drive.

    create system repair disc

    3. Let the DVD/CD (we need a DVD for Windows 7 backup) burn.

    4. Now you have successfully created a system repair disc.

    Using the system repair disc:

    1. Insert the system repair disc into your CD/DVD drive.

    2. Restart the computer

    3. Windows will automatically discover the system  recovery disc.You will be prompted “press any key to start the computer from the system repair disc”

    4. If your computer primary boot device isn’t set to “CD/DVD" drive”, go to BIOS settings and change the boot order to configure your computer to start from a CD or DVD.

    5. Choose your language settings and click “Next”.

    6. Select a recovery option from the following:

    # Startup Repaid

    # System Restore

    # System Image Recovery

    # Windows Memory Diagnostic

    # Command Prompt

    System_recovery _options

    You may also refer to our earlier Windows 7 guides like Install Windows 7 using Microsoft USB/DVD tool, Install Windows 7 using bootable USB

    You can also our exclusive posts about Windows 7

    Delete Hiberfil.sys from Windows 7, Vista & XP By Disabling Hiberation

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    hibernate

    Running out of space in C Drive?

    If you are running out of space in C drive and if you don’t want to delete or move any data from it, you can probably try these two things:

    1. Disable System restore or delete the restore points.

    2. Delete hiberfil.sys file from your hard disk.

    HIBERFIL.SYS is a Windows system file managed by Windows for the purpose of Hibernating the system. Hibernation mode of Windows allows you to completely save the current process and power off your computer where the system will not require any power. During Hibernation the system will write the complete status and process of your computer and save it in the hard disk which is the hiberfil.sys.

    While you start your computer, the system loads the status from the hard disk which was written in hiberfil.sys file.

    HIBERFIL.SYS reserves around 2.5 GB in Windows 7 and Vista. And it takes 512 MB in Windows XP.

    Important Note: You can delete hiberfil.sys only if you do not want to use the hibernation feature. Even if you delete the file you can still use the sleep mode. If you want to see the hiberfil.sys file in your C drive then you need to show system hidden files.

    hiberfil_sys

    How to delete HIBERFIl.SYS file from the your drive?

    As hiberfile.sys is a system file we cannot delete it directly. So in order to delete it we need to disable the Hibernate feature in Windows.

    Disable hibernation mode in Windows 7 and Vista:

    Open Command Prompt. Press Start + R. Type CMD and press Enter.

    Type the following commands and Press Enter after each command:

    cd/
cd Windows
cd System32
powercfg -h off

    It will look like:

    cmd_disable_hibernate

    To turn on the Hibernate feature Type:

    powercfg –h on

    Disable hibernation mode in Windows XP:

    In Windows XP it is easy. Follow the instruction below:

    Open Start menu, Go to Control Panel. In control Panel, go to Performance and maintenance. Then Click Power Options

    In power options windows, go to Hibernate Tab. Uncheck Enable hibernation and press OK.

    disable_hibernate_xp

    If you want to re enable hibernation, then check the check box and press OK.

    Now after performing the steps, if you check your C drive, you will find that the hiberfil.sys file is gone.

    Hope you have got some free space at least for now 🙂

    Create Keyboard Shortcuts For Programs in Windows

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    Windows logo

    At Techrena, we always strive bring the best available tricks for making your life easier.We have been updating our blog off late with lot of interesting windows and internet tips and more.

    Today we are coming up with a very easy but effective feature in Windows, adding keyboard shortcuts to the windows programs.This saves a bit of time particularly if you need to open that program too frequently.Just like our last week’s tutorial about adding keyword shortcuts to Firefox bookmarks.

    Follow these steps to add Keyboard shortcuts to your favorite programs.

    1. Right click on the program icon and select “Properties”.

    2. Find the “Shortcut” tab under the properties.Look for “Shortcut key” under the tab.

    keyboard shortcut for programs in windows

    3. Use your keyboard to assign a shortcut key for this program.

    4. Click “Apply” and press “Ok”.

    Now you use the shortcut that you have set to launch the applications directly.In the above case, I have added “Ctrl + Alt + N” to launch notepad.

    Display Your Custom Text On Windows Desktop

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    Windows logo

    Few days ago we have written a brief tutorial about how to display Windows 7 current version and build number on your desktop (right above the system task tray).The natural question that comes to our mind after performing this trick successfully is :”Can we customize this text so as to display our name for instance?”.

    Well, if you have been thinking that way, just stop thinking and read this tutorial and implement it to display your own name on desktop instead of Windows 7 watermark.Follow these steps carefully.

    Requirements:

    1. You need to know how to take ownership of a file in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

    2. You need to download a small software called “Resource Hacker”.

    Download

    Steps:

    1. Refer to display Windows 7 current version and build number set the settings to display Windows 7 version and build number on your desktop.This is the first step that you need to do.You need to restart your system after this step.

    windows 7 build info

    2. Once you have completed the above, the remaining task is to change or customise this text.To do this we need to edit the system file called “user32.dll.mui” in  Resource Hacker.
    Open windows explorer and copy and paste this in your address bar.

    %windir%\System32\en-US

    3. If you are using Windows 7 & Vista, the above command will open

    “C:\Windows\System32\en-US”

    folder for you.

    Find the system file called “user32.dll.mui” and take ownership of the files.

    user32.dll.mui windows 7

    4. Now that you have the ownership of the file with you, you can go ahead and open and edit it in Resource Hacker.Just drag this file into the Resource Hacker window.

    5. In the resource hacker, navigate to “String Table>45>1033”.In the right side of the window, you can see all the values running from 705 to 719.We don’t need to worry about the rest of the values, we just need to edit the values “715” and “716”.As you can see 715 (“%wsWindows %ws”) is responsible for displaying Windows version and 716 (“%ws Build %ws”) is responsible for displaying the build number if your Windows 7.

    resource hacker user32.dll.mui edit

    6.Now replace the text inside the quotes(“) in 715 and 716 with whatever text that you want to display on your desktop.

    change string table values of user32.dll.miu in resource hacker

    Once you have edited it, click “Compile Script” and then save the file (If you don’t have ownership of the file, here you will not be able to save it).

    7. You are done, just restart the computer and you can see your own text being displayed instead of Windows version info.