Bringing up Windows Task Manager is not much of a task itself, but when a virus disables Ctrl+Alt+Del and takes it hostage, how else are you going to open task manager? Or maybe you’re just looking for some diversity in your life, so here are 6 different ways to open Windows Task Manager.

Ctrl+Alt+Del

Readers will probably be most familiar with the three-finger salute (AKA Ctrl+Alt+Del). Up until Windows Vista was released, pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del brought you directly to Windows Task Manager. Since Windows Vista, Ctrl+Alt+Del now brings you to the Windows Security screen which provides users with five different options including Windows Task Manager.

Right-Click Taskbar

Arguably the fastest way to bring up Windows Task Manager is by right-clicking the taskbar and choosing the Start Task Manager option. It’s just two clicks and voilà! You’re staring at Task Manager in no time! Of course, you could always create an AutoHotKey script to bring up Windows Task Manager even faster with a click of a button.

Run taskmgr

The Run command is a great tool for accessing shared folders, but you can also use it quickly up programs such as Registry Editor or a Command Prompt. Click the Start button then the All Programs folder. Under the Accessories folder click the Run command. You can also press they Windows Key + R on your keyboard or enable the Run command in your Start Menu. Finally, simply type “taskmgr” and hit Enter.

Ctrl+Shift+Esc

Another quick keyboard shortcut to bring up Windows Task Manager is Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Besides bringing up Windows Task Manager while using Remote Desktop, you can also use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to bring up the task manager while working locally.

Browse to taskmgr.exe

This is definitely the longest way of opening the task manager, but if it’s your only option then it’s better than nothing at all. Open up Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32. The location of taskmgr.exe should be the same in all recent versions of Windows. Scroll down (or search) for taskmgr.exe and double click it.

Create taskmgr.exe Shortcut

And last on our list is creating a nice, accessible shortcut to the Task Manager on your desktop. Right-click on your desktop and choose New then click Shortcut. A new window will pop up. Browse to the same path as above, C:\Windows\System32. Scroll down until you see taskmgr.exe, highlight it, and then click OK. Click Next, type a name for your shortcut, and finally click Finish.

That’s the end of our list! Some methods are obviously more efficient than others, but if you’re in a tough situation battling a virus, any method is a good one. You can also check out our guide on how to start Task Manager in minimized mode during startup, so it will always be open when you turn your computer on.

Every time you format and reinstall your PC, you have to activate Windows again, which can sometimes be a pain once you’ve done it too many times. Here’s how to backup and then restore the activation status.

Note: we aren’t going to cover how to reinstall Windows, since you should know how to do that already. This article just covers backing up and restoring your activation.

Introduction

Advanced Token Manager easily allows you to back up all the information that Windows uses to check the validity of you copy of Windows. Collectively called a Token, this information can be backed up to an external storage medium. Once you have formatted you can import the Token and your Windows will be genuine again.

Backing Up

Once you have grabbed your copy of Advanced Token Manager from here, you can extract the zip file and then run the executable file.

When the advanced token manager launches, you will see the BIG Backup Activation button. Click it to begin backing up your token. All the “BBB” characters are just masking the real product key, don’t worry that is not your real product key.

Once you click the Backup Activation button, we expect that 99% of you will be prompted with this message. Unless some of you are ultra geeky and using KMS at home, you will get this message. You can just click yes to continue.

Once activation is finished being backed up, you will see a folder called “Windows Activation Backup” in the same folder that you launched the token manager from, this contains the backup.

Now we have reloaded Windows on the same PC, as you can see it is not activated.

Now I can run the advanced token manager, this time it will say Restore instead of Backup.

Once you click Restore you will be prompted to make sure you want to do this, click the next button to start the restoration.

Once it has completed a success message will appear.

If you go check your validity in the System Settings, you should have the genuine badge back.

The advanced token manager can also support Office Activation and works on all versions of Windows 7.

In previous version of Windows, user had to use third-parry tools like Tune-Up-Utilities to change the logon screen background easily. Windows 7 now supports customization of Windows 7 logon screen officially. Replacing the old logon screen is just another task like changing wallpaper (Desktop background). Thanks to withinwindows for finding out this excellent feature.

Follow the procedure below to change the Windows 7 logon screen.

1. Fire up registry editor (Win Key + R and then type regedit, hit enter)
2. Browse to HKYE_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background , double click on key named OEMBackground and change its value to 1 (If you cannot find the path or the key go ahead and create it, remember OEMBackground is a Dword)

   
   

3. You just enabled the OEM Background functionality. Now browse to the folder %windir%system32oobeinfobackgrounds within Windows explorer. %windir% refers to your Windows install directory C:Windows in most systems. Again the folder path may not exist already, so you can go ahead and create required folders (info and backgrounds are generally not present)

   
   

Now put in any JPG file with size less than 256 kb in this folder and rename it to backgroundDefault.jpg. This file will be stretched to fit the screen, so you would want it to match the resolution of your screen so that image doesn’t look bad.

Let’s face it: some applications just have really ugly icons. We can do something about that and change the ugly icons into something more pleasing and amp up your geek skills at the same time. Here’s how.

Editor’s Note: You should make sure to backup the application .exe file before you modify the icon, just in case.

Changing the Icon for an Application

The first thing that you will have to do is download yourself a free copy of Resource Hacker. Once installed it adds an option to the context menu. So lets get hacking!

Now you need to locate the executable of the program that you want to change the icon for. If you have a shortcut in the start menu, you can right click on it and select the Open file location… option.

Once you have located the executable, right click on it, and choose the “Open using Resource Hacker” option.

Click on the Action menu and click on the Replace Icon link.

When the dialog pops-up click on the button to locate a new icon, this can either be a *.exe, *.dll, *.res or *.ico file.

Once you have selected your icon, hit the replace button in the bottom right hand corner. Now select the File menu, and save the file.

And that’s its folks, all done.

If you have any problems opening the application after, you can restore it from the original file – or that backup you created, right?

We’re taking a look at an easy way to switch between the desktop and Metro UI in Windows 8, enabling God Mode in Windows 8, and changing the color scheme in the Windows 7 Task Manager.

Easily Switch between Windows 8′s Metro UI and Desktop View

Windows 8 interface tip:

If you click on the right side of the screen and drag or if you just let your mouse hover at the right side of the screen you can switch between the Metro functionality and the regular desktop.

It also allows for having both Metro and the desktop shown at the same time with a larger size for what you are using at the moment and a smaller for what you are not. (see screen shots)

God Mode Still Works in Windows 8

It was a popular week for Windows 8 tips.

God Mode still works on Windows 8 Developer Preview!

To turn on God Mode, create a new folder on your desktop—or anywhere you’d like—and name it:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}.

God Mode was a handy little trick in Windows 7. It’s nice to know it hasn’t sneaked away from us.

Change the Graph Colors in the Windows 7 Task Manager

Task Manager Modder, a little portable app, to change the colors. You can adjust the color of the grids, CPU line, memory line, numerical readout, and more. It’s a little thing but it makes it a lot easier for me to read it.

You may not think that a spell-checker is useful in a browser, but if you use a lot of forms online (for comments, forums, etc.), and you use Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), you may want to install Speckie.

Speckie is a free, add-on for IE9 that provides a real-time spell-checker that looks just like the one available in Chrome or Firefox. It underlines misspelled words you type in a form in your browser, just like Microsoft Word does.

There are other options for adding spell-checking to IE9, such as ieSpell. However, there are a few features unique to Speckie. It is the first and only real-time, dedicated spell checking solution for IE. Speckie can use one or more dictionaries simultaneously (it supports more than 30 different languages) and it is the only spell checker that works with the 64-bit version of IE. You can run Speckie in Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8, or 9 on Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (32 and 64 bit).

NOTE: IE doesn’t work with browser windows that are pinned to the start menu or taskbar as web apps. This is by design. IE does not load toolbars or extensions like Speckie on pinned sites for security reasons.

Installing Speckie is simple. Simply double-click on the .exe file you downloaded (see download link at the end of this article) and follow the instructions in the setup wizard, clicking Yes on the User Account Control dialog box, if needed.

As you type text into a form in your browser, Speckie checks your spelling in real-time, underlining misspelled words like you see in Microsoft Word.

To correct a word, right-click on the word and select the correct spelling from the popup menu. The misspelled word is automatically replaced with the selected word.

If a word is marked as misspelled, and you use the word often, you can add it to the dictionary. To do this, right-click on the misspelled word and select Add to Dictionary from the popup menu.

There are several settings you can customize in Speckie. To access the Speckie Settings, right-click on any word in a form in the browser (the word does not need to be misspelled) and select Speckie Settings from the popup menu.

The Speckie Settings screen displays on a new tab in IE. Change the desired settings by selecting options from drop-down lists and turning on and off check boxes.

If you want to use dictionaries for other languages, click Get more dictionaries in the Installed Dictionaries box. A web page containing additional language dictionaries displays. Select a dictionary from the drop-down list and click Download. There are instructions for installing the dictionaries on the web page.

Click Apply at the bottom of the Speckie Settings tab to apply your changes. These changes only apply to any new tabs you open in IE9.

If you have added any words to the dictionary, you can edit these entries in the User Dictionaries box on the Speckie Settings tab. Select the dictionary to which you added the word and click Edit. The words you added are listed in the box. To remove any unwanted entries, select an entry and click Remove. Again, be sure to click Apply at the bottom of the tab to apply your changes.

To close the Speckie Settings, click the close (X) button on the Speckie Settings tab, or press Ctrl + W when the tab is active.

Now, you have no excuse for entering typos and misspellings when adding comments on Facebook, Twitter, or your favorite blogs, or in forums!

Download Speckie from http://www.speckie.com/dload/

Connect Two Computers Directly

There are two options – you can either buy a router or, if you are looking for something more simple and don’t want to spend money on new networking hardware, you can connect the two computers using a commonly-available cable. The latter method doesn’t involve any complicated network settings and you will still be able to share files, internet connection, and even printers between computers.

Things you need:

To set up this basic wired home network, all you need is an inexpensive Ethernet crossover cable and the other requirement is that network cards* (also known as LAN or Ethernet cards) should be installed on each of you computers.

[*] This should not be an issue because network cards are available on most newer machines by default but if you are working with a very old computer, you can either attach an internal LAN card to your computer’s motherboard or go for a USB Network adapter that will turn a USB port into an Ethernet (RJ45) port.

Ethernet Cables for Connecting Computers

An Ethernet crossover cable looks like a standard Ethernet cable but the internal wiring is a little different. You can purchase crossover cables at Amazon.com or from your local computer store. If you have trouble finding them, you can purchase an inexpensive crossover adaptor and that will let you use any standard Ethernet cable as a crossover cable.

Connect Computers with an Ethernet Crossover Cable

Before connecting the two computers with a physical cable, make sure that both machine are using the same workgroup*. Here is step-by-step guide that explains how you can change the workgroup of your computers.

Changing workgroup in Windows XP – From the Start menu, right-click “My Computer.” Select Properties in the drop-down menu, and then select the second tab that says “Computer Name” from the System Properties window. Now click the “Change…” button, enter a unique Workgroup name and reboot your computer.

1. My Computer – Properties
2. Change Workgroup Name
3. Save Workgroup Name and Reboot

Changing workgroup in Windows 7 or Vista – Open the Control Panel, type “Workgroup” in the search box, and select the entry that says “Change Workgroup Name.” Click the “Change…” button, enter a Workgroup name and restart the computer. Windows 7 users can skip one step; simply type “Workgroup” in the search box in the start menu, and select the first entry, then proceed as above.

1. Search Workgroup from Control Panel
2. Change Workgroup – Vista or Windows 7.
3. Assign Workgroup Name

Now that the workgroups are same for both computers, connect the two computers together using the Ethernet crossover cable. Simply plug-in one end of the crossover cable into the network adapter of Computer A and connect the other end of the cable to the network adapter of Computer B.

Windows will automatically recognize the new network, and you can now easily view files and folder that the other computer has shared. Simply open Networks from the Start Menu (or the Control Panel), and you should see the other computer by its name. You can then browse any shared files on the other computer, and can even utilize shared printers.

Troubleshooting - If you do not see the other computer under Networks, you probably have a prompt at the top of your Network window saying that Network discovery is turned off (screenshots below). Select “Turn on Network Discovery and File Sharing.” In the next prompt, select “No, make the network I am connected to a private network.” Now you should see the other computer on the home network.

1. Turn on network discovery
2. Turn Off File Sharing for Public Networks

[*] While it is possible to share files between two computers connected with a crossover cable without making them part of the same workgroup, the method will only work if both computers have this network set as a private network, and may still cause problems. It is therefore advisable to have both computers on the same workgroup before sharing files and printers.

Share an Internet Connection between Two Computers

There are scenarios where you may want to share the same internet connection between two computers. For instance:

Situation A – You have setup a Wi-Fi network at home but your old desktop computer doesn’t have a wireless network card. In that case, you can use the laptop to connect to the internet wirelessly and then share that same connection with the desktop over a crossover Ethernet cable.

Situation B – You have a netbook with a built-in cellular data connection. You can share that connection with any another computer at home through the crossover Ethernet cable.

Situation C – You use a (slow) Wireless USB modem with your laptop computer while your desktop is connected to an ADSL Broadband line and there’s no router at home. For any bandwidth intensive tasks, like when you want to backup photos from your laptop to an online service, you can connect the laptop to the desktop and things will happen much faster.

OK, let’s look at the steps required for sharing an Internet connection.

First, if you only wish to share internet connection and not files, both computers need not belong to the same workgroup. All you need to do is to connect the two computers with the Ethernet crossover cable, and then turn on Internet connection sharing in the computer that already has an Internet connection. The instructions vary for different versions of Windows:

For Windows XP – Select “Network and Internet Connections” from the Control Panel and click “Network Connections.”

1. Network and Internet Connections 2. Change Network Connection Properties 3. Allow Internet Connection Sharing

Right-click on the network connection you wish to share (the one connected to the internet), select Properties, click on the “Advanced” tab, and then check the box that says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.” Click OK, and the second computer that you have connected to this computer with the Crossover Cable should have internet access now.

For Windows 7 and Vista – Open Control Panel, enter “network connections” in the search box on the top right and select “View Network Connections.”

Vista – Share internet connection 1 Vista-7 – Share Internet Connection 2 Vista-7 – Share Internet connection 3

Right-click on the network connection you wish to share (this must be the one connected to the internet) and select Properties. Select the “Sharing” tab and then check the option that says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.” Click OK, and the other computer you have connected to this Windows 7 or Vista computer should have internet access now.

Windows 7 adds functionality to your login screen to give you additional logon options. If you want to lose the clutter, here is how to disable some or all of your credential providers.

Whether it was installed from the factory or add-on software you installed, these registry settings will disable the unwanted credential providers at your login screen.

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\Credential Providers

It will not be obvious what some of the providers are but you should be able to determine which one goes to which provider by looking at the value of the (Default) DWORD inside each key.

The screenshot below references the fingerprint scanner on my system but yours may be different.

To disable each of the items, create a DWORD value named “Disable” with a value of 1. For each key you disable it will be removed from your login screen.

Be careful which items you disable or you may not be able to log in with your password either. Only disable the items you know you won’t need and disable them one at a time. This should stop you from disabling too many items and not allowing you to login to your computer.

If you accidentally disable too many items, restart your machine in safe mode and set the disable key to 0 for the providers you need.

Once you have found all the correct keys your new login screen should show only the items you want.

Motherboards are the most complex component in your computer. Fitted with hundreds of components and dozens of options it can be difficult to choose. Let’s look at the most important factors to help you decide before building your next computer.

Motherboards are the central nervous system of your computer. They are responsible for connecting and communicating between all of the important components inside. Knowing what to look for is key when comparing boards.

Motherboard Sizes

Motherboards come in different shapes and sizes, but luckily there are some standards set in place so that a lot of motherboards and cases can work together.

For the most part these sizes apply to all desktop computers but some computers you buy from manufacturers don’t follow all the rules. This is usually fine when you buy the whole computer as a unit, but it becomes tricky if you want to swap a new motherboard into the case or build one from scratch.

The most common motherboard size is Intel’s Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) and its derivatives. The chart below has some of the most common ATX sizes, but there are plenty more options than just the few shown here.

Motherboard sizes not only indicate the size of the board and placement of mounting screws, but it also dictates the general layout of the major components on the board. Have you ever noticed that almost all motherboards have the CPU, RAM, and I/O ports in the same place? That is because they are determined by the board standard. The components have to be in the same place otherwise case and power supply manufacturers wouldn’t easily be able to sell you something that works with with your motherboard no matter who makes it.

For ATX motherboards the general layout of the board is shown in the picture below.

Intel’s second attempt at standardizing motherboards was with Balanced Technology Extended (BTX). The main focus of BTX was to solve airflow and component placement limitations of ATX. Although BTX was supposed to be the successor to the ATX form factor, it didn’t gain enough traction to take off in the consumer market. Some large computer manufacturers such as HP, Dell, and Apple still use BTX, or proprietary variations of it. The main layout differences can be seen in the picture below.

Because BTX has been abandoned by Intel since 2007, you will just need to focus on which ATX size best suits your needs. Typically the main difference between small ATX boards and larger boards are expansion slots and CPU support.

Processor Sockets

The processor socket you choose is the deciding factor in what CPU you can use in your computer. If the processor doesn’t fit, you can’t use it. Intel and AMD both have their own series of processors and sockets that are compatible with only their chips. The first thing you will need to decide is which processor you want and then you can decide further on which socket you need.

Intel’s sockets usually have a friendly name, like Socket H, and a technical name like LGA 1156. The friendly name is easier to remember while the technical name will tell you about the socket. LGA 1156, for example, stands for Land Grid Array and it has 1156 pins. Because CPUs and motherboards change so often it probably isn’t worth it to describe what processors work in which sockets. Instead you can get that information on which CPU series work with which motherboards from your manufacturer.

For Intel’s consumer sockets they typically have a low power, e.g. Socket 441 for Atom processors, a midrange, e.g. Socket H for Celeron, Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 800 series processors, and a high end, e.g. Socket B for Core i7 900 series processors. If you are looking to use an Intel processor you will need to find which socket supports the processor you want.

AMD hasn’t been changing quite as frequently as Intel and in the past 5 years they have only had 3 major consumer sockets. The AM2, AM2+, and AM3 sockets support almost all of AMD’s consumer processors currently. The AM2 and AM2+ were mostly interchangeable and the AM3 was introduced to support DDR3 memory.

In either case, it is a good idea to pick your processor first, and your motherboard second. If you buy a socket with no processor support, it isn’t going to do you much good.

Chipsets

The chipset is how your CPU, RAM, video card, and peripherals communicate. It is a combination of your northbridge and southbridge and can add some very nice features depending on your needs.

The northbridge is typically responsible for the very fast communication between your CPU, RAM, and video card. It is where you will get features like SLI/CrossFire and DDR3. With the current Intel and AMD processors the northbridge functions are all included in the processor. This means less complexity for your motherboard and typically less latency for the processor to access the high speed components like RAM.

Integration is great news for performance but sometimes bad news for options. For instance, because AMD owns ATI they could have the ability to lock their latest gaming graphics cards to only having specific features if you are using an AMD processor. This also put companies like Nvidia out of the northbridge market who use to make one of the best northbridge chips back in the Pentium 4 processor days.

The southbridge will give you features like support for the latest PCI-E, SATA, USB 3, and many more future technologies. It is also essential to know what options you need because some southbridges may not support every feature you might expect like RAID and surround sound. With most manufacturers they will clearly state the features available without needing to dive deep into the southbridge chipset features.

Because this combination of features + processors + options is so big and changes multiple times per year it would be impossible for us to list every option here. Instead, just be aware when you are picking your motherboard of what features you need and then look for those options in your boards chipset.

Other options

A lot of manufacturers will try to sell you on a motherboard based on extra features like the amount of on board I/O ports, amount of expansion slots, or the reliability of their motherboards. These can all be requirements depending on the purpose of the computer you are building. Once you figure out the processor and size of motherboard you want, these added features will probably become the next most important thing, especially with smaller form factor motherboards when space is limited.

It is typically easier to use onboard features if they are available than try and expand the computer to have all of the options you need. If you know you are going to need two network cards or HDMI with audio pass-through, make sure your motherboard supports it before buying.

The manufacture’s description may not be 100% clear on if the feature is supported or not. Other places to look for clarification on specific features are device reviews, forums, and wikipedia. You may also want to download the PDF user guide for the motherboard just to see if it is documented on how to enable the features you need.

If you have clear decision for what you need in each category you can quickly narrow down the endless sea of options available. This can greatly ease the stress when trying to decide on a motherboard just by price or maximum memory supported.

Here’s How:

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the search line, type netplwiz and press Enter. (See screenshots below)

3

. To Turn On Automatic Log On for a User Account

A) Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box. (See screenshot below)

B) Click on the user account name, that you want to have automatically log on at startup, to highlight it. (See screenshot above)

C) Uncheck the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box. (See screenshot below)

D) Click on OK. (See screenshot above)

E) Go to step 6.

4

. To Turn Off Automatic Log On

A) Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box. (See screenshot below step 3A)

B) Click on OK. (See screenshot below step 3A)

C) Your done.

5

. To Change the User Account to Automatically Log On to

NOTE: For this step, you would have already had a user account selected to log on to automatically in step 3.

A) Check the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box, and click on the Apply button. (See screenshot below step 3A)

B) Select the other user account name, that you want to have automatically log on at startup instead, to highlight it.

C) Uncheck the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer box. (See screenshot below step 3C)

D) Click on OK. (See screenshot below step 3C)

6.

Enter the User Account Password

A) In the Password field, enter the selected user account’s password. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: If the user account does not have a password, then leave this field empty. See the WARNING at the top of the tutorial.

B) In the Confirm Password field, enter the selected user account’s password again to confirm that it is the same as in step 6A above.

C) Click on OK.