Create Removable Media Shortcuts Automatically on Windows Desktop

Whenever you insert your USB drive into your computer, Windows shows the Autorun dialog box and asks you "What do you want Windows to do?". But the Autorun dialog box is shown only once and if you close it, you'll need to manually open the drive from My Computer.
Consider a situation when you disabled "Autorun" feature to prevent virus infection. Again you'll need to manually open the drive from My Computer.
Wouldn't it be great and easier if you can add a shortcut to your USB drive on Desktop so that you can easily and quickly open the drive?
Today we are sharing 2 FREE utilities which can add shortcuts to USB drives, CD/DVD drives, hard drives, network drives and RAM disk drives.

1. Desktop Media:

Desktop Media is small application for Windows (any flavor) that automatically adds drive icons to your desktop. It will detect USB drives, fixed drives (ie. your hard drives), CD/DVD drives, network drives, and even RAM disk drives. For removable media (such as USB drives and CD/DVD drives), it will only add the drive to your desktop if it is present. So if you have a CD/DVD drive, but no disc is present, you won't see the icon on your desktop.
Features List:

• Automatically detects new (or existing) media and adds the icons to your desktop.
• Has the ability to create soft links (shortcuts) or hard links (symbolic links).
• Supports removable, fixed, network, CD/DVD, and RAM disk drives.
• Ability to ignore user-specified drive letters.
• Has the option to save the positions of the icons.

You can access it settings using its system tray icon.
You can select which drives shortcuts you want to show on Desktop. You can even select drives to ignore so that Desktop Media doesn't create their shortcuts on Desktop.
Download Link

2. Desk Drive:

Desk Drive is another similar software which does the same job. It adds a desktop icon pointing to the drive automatically. Remove the media and the shortcut goes away.
You can access its settings using its system tray icon as usual.
Similar to Desktop Media, you can select which drives shortcuts you want to show and which you want to hide.

Download Link

Access Linux Partitions (ext2, ext3, ext4) From Windows in Dual-Boot System?

If you have a dual-boot system with Windows and Linux, you probably know that Windows and Linux both use different file systems. Windows uses FAT32 and NTFS file systems where as Linux uses ext2 and ext3 file systems.
You can access Windows partitions from Linux but on the other hand Windows doesn't allow access to Linux partitions.
Many times we might need to access files stored in Linux partitions and we realize that we can't access them from Windows. In this situation we have to reboot our system in Linux to access those files.
Wouldn't it be better if we could access Linux partitions from Windows? Today we are sharing 5 interesting FREE tools which allow access to Linux partitions from Windows:

• Explore2fs (Read-only Access)
• Ext2 IFS (Installable File System) (Read as well as Write Access)
• DiskInternals Linux reader (Read-only Access)
• Ext2 FSD (File System Driver) (Read as well as Write Access)
• Ext2Read
• LTOOLS

Explore2fs:

Explore2fs is a GUI explorer tool for accessing ext2 and ext3 file systems. It runs under all versions of Windows and can read almost any ext2 and ext3 file system.
Download Link

Ext2 IFS (Installable File System):

Ext2 IFS provides Windows NT4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista with full access to Linux Ext2 volumes (read access and write access). It installs a pure kernel mode file system driver Ext2fs.sys, which actually extends the Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista operating system to include the Ext2 file system.
Ext2 volumes get drive letters. Files, and directories of an Ext2 volume appear in file dialogs of all applications.
Download Link

DiskInternals Linux reader:

DiskInternals Linux Reader runs under Windows and allows you to browse Ext2/Ext3 Linux file systems and extract files from there. The program provides for read-only access and does not allow you to make records in Ext2/Ext3 file system partitions.
Download Link

Ext2 FSD (File System Driver):

Ext2 FSD is an open source linux ext2/ext3 file system driver for Windows systems (2K/XP/VISTA/7, X86/AMD64).
Download Link

Ext2Read:

Ext2Read is an explorer like utility to explore ext2/ext3/ext4 files. It now supports LVM2 and EXT4 extents. It can be used to view and copy files and folders. It can recursively copy entire folders. It can also be used to view and copy disk and file.
Download Link

LTOOLS:

The LTOOLS are a set of command line tools to read and write Linux ext2, ext3 and ReiserFS filesystems (Linux's standard filesystems) from DOS or Windows running on the same machine.
It also comes with GUI programs "LTOOLSgui" (Java based graphical user interface) and LTOOLSnet (.NET based user interface).
Download Link

Remove Linux Boot Loader From Startup After Deleting Linux Partition on a Dual-Boot System?

If you have a dual-boot system with Linux and Windows, then you probably know that when you start your system first Linux boot loader appears showing Linux as well as Windows boot entries and if you select Windows from the list, it starts Windows.
Suppose a situation when you want to remove Linux from your system and want to use only Windows, then how will you do it?
Many times people delete the partitions having Linux installed from "Disk Manager" but it doesn't remove Linux completely. The Linux boot loader still appears at startup but since you deleted Linux partitions, the boot loader gets corrupted and your system becomes unusable.
So if you are also facing this problem or you faced this problem in past and could not get a working solution, then read this tutorial and you can follow it if you find yourself in a similar situation.
This tutorial will help you in completely removing Linux from a dual-boot system:
STEP 1. First you'll need to boot using Windows setup CD. You can use Windows 98 Setup CD or Windows 2000, XP, 2003  CD or Windows Vista, Server 2008, Windows 7 DVD.

Using Windows 98 CD:

Boot into Command Prompt and provide following command:
          
fdisk /MBR

Now exit from command prompt by typing Exit and press Enter.
Using Windows 2000, XP, 2003 CD:
Enter into "Recovery Console" by pressing "R", select your Windows installation and enter administrator password. Now provide following command:

fixmbr

Press "Y" to confirm and type Exit to exit from recovery console.

Using Windows Vista, Server 2008, Windows 7 DVD:
Boot using setup DVD and click on "Repair Computer" link, then click on "Command Prompt". Now navigate to your DVD drive using CD command and at last provide following command:

bootsect /nt60 SYS /mbr

Exit from Command prompt and restart your system.

STEP 2. The above commands will remove the Linux boot loader from startup and you'll be able to directly boot into Windows.
STEP 3. If you have not deleted Linux partitions, then you can delete them using "Disk Manager" tool in Windows.

[Tool] XP Classic Start Menu on Win 7

When Windows Vista was released by Microsoft, lots of people complained about new Start Menu functionality. The main complaint was the change in display of "All Programs" list in Start Menu.
In Windows XP, the "All Programs" list was used to show as a drop-out list which provided users more space to browse through Program List but Microsoft changed this behavior in Windows Vista and the "All Programs" list started showing inside the Start Menu and people found it difficult to browse through programs list in that small space of Start Menu.
The same functionality was carried forward to Windows 7 Start Menu.
Today in this article, we are going to share an excellent and popular freeware which can bring back Windows XP style cascading "All Programs" list in Windows Vista and Windows 7 Start Menu.
We all know about awesome "Classic Shell" software which is a freeware for Windows Vista, 7 and 8. The main use of Classic Shell is to bring back the Classic Start Menu and Classic Windows Explo. features in Windows Vista, 7 and 8.
But did you know this software can also bring back cascading "All Programs" list in Windows Vista and 7 Start Menu? Yes. Its a small and overlooked feature of Classic Shell.
If you don't want to get Classic Start Menu in Windows Vista and 7 using Classic Shell but want to get XP style cascading "All Programs" list, just follow these simple steps:
1. First download and install Classic Shell using following link:

Download Classic Shell

2. After installing, it'll automatically replace default Start Menu with Classic Start Menu. To get default Start Menu back, right-click on Start Button and select Settings option.

Change “Photo Viewer” Background Color in Windows 7

Windows OS comes with a built-in image viewing program which is called "Photo Viewer". Its a very basic image viewer which allows you to view images and to perform a few basic operations on images such as rotate, zoom, delete, set as Desktop background and slideshow. It also allows you to print the image, burn the image to a disc or email the image to other people.

"Photo Viewer"program comes preinstalled in almost all Windows versions such as Windows 7 or Windows 8. If you want a more advanced image viewer, Microsoft provides a better program "Photo Gallery" which is a part of Windows Essentials Live suite.
Both programs "Photo Viewer" and "Photo Gallery" display the images using a very light Background Color and there is no option provided to change this default color. There are many people who prefer a dark background color for such kind of applications.

If you always wanted to change this light background color to some other color in Photo Viewer or Photo Gallery program but never found a way to do this, here is something interesting for you.
Today in this article, we are going to share a Registry tweak and a free software which will allow you to change default background color in Windows Pgoto Viewer and Windows Live Photo Gallery programs.

METHOD 1: Using Registry Editor

You can change the default background color to any of your desired color using following simple steps:
1. Press "WIN+R" key combination to launch RUN dialog box then type regedit and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following keys:

For Windows Photo Viewer:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Photo Viewer\Viewer
For Windows Live Photo Gallery:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\Viewer

3. In right-side pane, look for a DWORD BackgroundColor. If it doesn't exist, create it manually. Once you find or create the DWORD, double-click on it and set its value to the 6-digit hex code of your desired color prefixed by ff
For example, if you want to set the background color to black, set the value of BackgroundColor to ff000000 where 000000 is the 6-digit hex code of black color and ff is the prefix value which is required by the Registry key.

METHOD 2: Using Free Software
  
If you don't want to modify Registry or if the above mentioned method doesn't work for you, you can try following free Software to do the same task easily and automatically:
Our friend "hb860" has provided a free software "Photo Viewer Background Changer" which allows you to change the default background color of Photo Viewer and Photo Gallery programs.

You just need to run the software, select the correct program (Photo Viewer or Photo Gallery) and then click on "Change a Color" button. It'll allow you to select your desired color, select the color and click on OK button. That's it, it'll immediately change the background color.
If you want to restore default background color, you can click on "Reset to Defaults" button.
This software is portable so you don't need to install it. Just download the zip file, extract it and you'll find 2 folders:

• Windows 8
• Windows 7 and before

If you are using Windows 8, run the program's exe file present in "Windows 8" folder. If you are using Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, run the program present in "Windows 7 and before" folder.
This free tool can be used in Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows editions are supported.
You can download the freeware using following link:
 
DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE
 

[Tip] Customize Hidden “Extended Send To” Menu in Windows, Add or Remove Shortcuts

When Windows Vista was released, Microsoft added a new feature to the OS which is called "Extended Context Menu". Context Menu is the menu which is shown when you right-click on an item and extended context menu is an advanced form of it. Extended context menu can be accessed by press and hold SHIFT key and then right-click on an item.
Extended context menu adds a few extra options to normal context menu which are only shown when you press and hold Shift key while right-clicking otherwise you'll get normal context menu.
You can check these extended context menus anywhere in Windows such as Desktop,Windows Explo., etc. Just press and hold Shift key and right-click and you'll see some new options in the context menu such as open command prompt here, copy as path, etc.
Extended context menu feature is not only present in Windows Vista but also present in all Windows OS which were released after Windows Vista such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.
The same extended context menu concept applies to good old "Send to" menu. Almost all Windows users use "Send To" feature, its one of the most useful and widely used feature of Windows OS. It allows you to quickly copy files, folder, etc to other places such as Bluetooth device, Desktop, DVD drive, etc.
When you right-click on an item and select "Send To" menu, it shows following items by default:

• Bluetooth device
• Compressed (zipped) folder
• Desktop (create shortcut)
• Documents
• Fax recipient
• Mail recipient
• DVD Drive 
  Number of items might be different for different systems.
  Have you ever tried to access "Extended Send To" menu in Windows? Press and hold SHIFT key and then right-click on an item and select "Send To" menu. Now you'll get many other shortcuts present in the menu as shown in following screenshot:
  
  To access "SendTo" folder, type shell:sendto in RUN or Explorer addressbar and press Enter. It'll open "SendTo" folder: 

   "SendTo" folder. You can delete an item to immediately remove it from "Send To" menu or you can copy any desired shortcut in the folder to add it in "Send To" menu.

You can also add any Folder on this folder.