Questions tagged [windows-7]
For questions specific to Windows 7. Use [windows] instead for questions involving Windows in general.
47,169
questions
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Why does Windows think that my wireless keyboard is a toaster?
I've inherited an old PC from my girlfriend's dad and when setting up the printer I got a bit of a surprise:
Two questions spring to mind here:
Why does Windows think my wireless keyboard is a ...
- 11.8k
805
votes
31
answers
993k
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Is there a built-in checksum utility on Windows 7?
Is there a built-in checksum/hash utility on Windows 7?
- 8,407
798
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8
answers
2.6m
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How can I display the contents of an environment variable from the command prompt in Windows 7?
In Windows 7, when I start the Command prompt, is there any command to display the contents of an environment variable (such as the JAVA_HOME or PATH variables)?
I have tried with echo $PATH, echo ...
- 27.8k
562
votes
13
answers
3.3m
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Windows 7 SP1 Windows Update stuck checking for updates
I installed Windows 7 fresh and installed SP1. Now, when I try to check manually for Windows Updates it just hangs on the Checking for updates screen.
I tried running the tools in How do I reset ...
- 6,123
424
votes
13
answers
520k
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How can I delete a symbolic link in Windows?
I created a symlink using mklink. Now I need to change it but I can't figure out how to delete it so I can recreate it correctly.
- 4,412
378
votes
14
answers
596k
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How do I find the location of an executable in Windows?
I remembered that I used a tool called as where to find locations for any executable programs like this in a console:
C:\Tmp\Where myTool.exe
C:\Program Files\MyApp\myTools.exe
....
Now I cannot ...
- 5,215
348
votes
7
answers
1.4m
views
Why does virtualbox only have 32-bit option, no 64-bit option on Windows 7?
I have downloaded and installed the newest virtualbox 4.3.20 for my Windows 7 (64-bit OS), but when I want to install 64-bit Linux, the New->Create Virtual Machine only displays 32-bit option, no 64-...
- 4,123
326
votes
11
answers
323k
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Menu select item stuck on screen after context or command menu has closed
Periodically when I select a menu command, the label or selected option gets "stuck" on screen and won't go away. I can close all open applications, including whichever one I was using when it got ...
- 6,842
326
votes
7
answers
263k
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How to pin either a Shortcut or a Batch file to the new Windows 7, 8 and 10 Taskbar and start menu?
We are having trouble adding our batch scripts to the Windows 7, 8 or 10 taskbar or start menu.
Our batchfiles take some arguments and just execute other application based on those arguments .
To ...
- 3,611
309
votes
9
answers
397k
views
Inverting direction of mouse scroll wheel
Is there a way to make a mouse scroll wheel invert its direction? I'd like to scroll upwards and have that action scroll downwards and vice-versa. There is no setting on the Mouse control panel that ...
- 3,221
301
votes
27
answers
118k
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How to mess up a PC running Windows 7? [closed]
Ok, so for my PC class I have to find 3 hacks that would mess up the lab's PC. Me and my partner are going to mess up the PC and then another team will try to fix it. The system on it is Windows 7. ...
296
votes
9
answers
305k
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My windows keyboard is being "clever" with the quote keys - how can I stop it?
I'm using windows 7 on a laptop. On the laptop keyboard, for some reason, the quote key (which has both double and single quote on it) is doing some "clever" annoying things:
When I press single-...
- 3,235
286
votes
14
answers
700k
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Grep equivalent for Windows 7?
Is there a command prompt grep equivalent for Windows 7? That is, I want to filter out the results of a command:
Bash use:
ls | grep root
What would it be from a Windows command prompt?
- 4,010
286
votes
10
answers
258k
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How to get SVG thumbnails in Windows Explorer?
I can open them in browser just OK, but how can I have thumbnails in the Windows Explorer?
Edit: I installed Renesis Player as suggested by this answer, but it does not work for me, probably because ...
- 3,601
262
votes
12
answers
1.2m
views
How do I get different background images on my dual monitors?
Is there a way to set two different background pictures for my two monitors in Windows 7?
By default the same background picture is used for both displays. I am looking for a solution without ...
- 2,803
253
votes
13
answers
832k
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How to search inside files on Windows 7?
In Windows XP we can search for files that contain a defined keyword (inside all files types).
Windows 7 can look inside files for a keyword, but only for text files. (*.doc, *.txt, *.inf, ...), not (...
user8228
247
votes
11
answers
1.1m
views
Kill a process which says "Access denied"
I have a process that I can't kill with either Task Manager or Process Explorer - I get the error "Access denied". The process isn't a Windows executable.
How can I kill it? Is there some tool I ...
- 11.9k
228
votes
6
answers
155k
views
How to control Windows 7 snap feature with two monitors?
There is an Aero Snap feature in Windows 7. However, it seems to not work when dragging a window to the edge that is adjoined to the second monitor. How to make it work properly? Maybe some regedit ...
- 5,285
216
votes
2
answers
6k
views
How do I reset the time on my computer without turning it on?
Alright, so today, I did something very stupid: Do an experiment on my computer without backing it up.
So I saw that the calendar in Windows could only go up to 12/31/2999 (or something like that). ...
- 9,325
212
votes
15
answers
701k
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Can't delete folder and I am admin. "You need permission to perform this action. You require permission from..."
I can't delete a certain folder in Windows 7. It's not a system folder. It was created by an app. I get an error message "You need permission to perform this action. You require permission from Tony......
- 11.9k
212
votes
9
answers
514k
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Change default code page of Windows console to UTF-8
Currently I'm running Windows 7 x64 and usually I want all console tools to work with UTF-8 rather than with default code page 850.
Running chcp 65001 in the command prompt prior to use of any tools ...
- 2,426
207
votes
7
answers
309k
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Where can I download Windows 7 (legally from Microsoft)?
I just bought a serial for Windows 7 on-line from the Microsoft store (the most painful shopping experience EVER!). I selected that I wanted to download my version of Windows 7 after purchase. After ...
- 2,649
205
votes
8
answers
206k
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Where should the .vimrc file be located on Windows 7?
I recently installed vim on Windows 7 as a stand-alone binary.
Where should I put my .vimrc file?
- 4,039
199
votes
2
answers
318k
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How to stop Microsoft from gathering telemetry data from Windows 7, 8, and 8.1
Some of the update patches pushed to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 during this year seem to be solely for the purpose of gather data from a user's system.
Is there a way to disable the telemetry through ...
- 2,349
189
votes
8
answers
1.2m
views
Is it safe to delete AppData\Local\Temp?
I seem to have a lot of junk files in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp (also accessible via environment variables %TEMP% and %TMP%).
Is it safe to delete these?
Also, is it safe to delete the Temp folder in the ...
- 8,328
189
votes
16
answers
423k
views
How can I stop windows re-positioning after waking from sleep?
I put my multi-monitor system to sleep when it's not in use. After I wake it up, all windows are repositioned to a different screen. The closest pattern I can think of is that the windows there were ...
- 2,133
181
votes
11
answers
560k
views
How to download favicon from website?
When you browse a website, the "favicon" icon shows up in the tab or next to the URL (or next to the bookmark).
If I want that graphic, is there a way to download it directly from the site? I'd ...
- 7,093
176
votes
17
answers
292k
views
What can I do if I forgot my Windows password?
I got a brand new Windows 7 machine, installed the operating system, created one account and forgot its password. What can I do?
There is no external CD, the operating system is loaded from somewhere ...
- 4,090
175
votes
14
answers
685k
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How can I find out what motherboard is in my computer?
I want to find out the exact model of my computer's motherboard so that I can see what sort of memory chip, graphics cards and other components it supports.
I'm using Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.
- 2,022
167
votes
6
answers
118k
views
Notepad++ is unable to load langs.xml, why?
Whenever I open NotePad++ the following error message appears:
---------------------------
Configurator
---------------------------
Load langs.xml failed!
---------------------------
...
164
votes
16
answers
416k
views
How can I read my hard drive’s SMART status in Windows 7?
How can I read the S.M.A.R.T. state of my HDDs while using Windows 7, either automatically or manually?
- 1,873
164
votes
17
answers
625k
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How do I synchronise two folders in real-time in Windows 7?
I want to synchronise two folders in real time under Windows 7.
Basically, I want to monitor a folder and synchronise each change (new files, changed files, deleted files) to another drive. It has to ...
160
votes
9
answers
132k
views
Disable Alt + Arrow display flip keyboard shortcut
Whenever I click Alt + Arrow up/Arrow down my screen will do an unwanted flip. I'd like to disable this shortcut behaviour. I've already looked at Super User question How to stop my laptop's ...
- 1,925
160
votes
16
answers
734k
views
How can I find out when Windows was last restarted?
How can I know when my computer running Windows 7 was last restarted?
I prefer a solution that doesn't involve searching the event log, but something like wmic or maybe cmd commands.
- 5,788
156
votes
5
answers
54k
views
How do I disable Aero Shake in Windows 7?
I'm always accidentally minimizing most of my windows. This is really annoying. How do I disable Aero Shake?
- 4,999
154
votes
21
answers
207k
views
Possible to "snap" top/bottom instead of just left/right in Windows 7?
In Windows 7, I know you can do Windows + Left to put a window in the left half of the screen. Is there a feature that will do top and bottom?
- 2,163
153
votes
11
answers
312k
views
Where is the list of pinned start menu and taskbar items stored in Windows 7
What is the location of pinned start menu and taskbar items?
Is this list a registry, or a folder somewhere?
- 2,647
152
votes
14
answers
209k
views
Keyboard shortcut to minimize Remote Desktop
Is there a way, using the keyboard, to switch from a maximized (full screen) Remote Desktop Connection back to the main computer?
I have about 4 Remote Desktop connections that I am switching between ...
- 6,726
150
votes
2
answers
269k
views
What do green folders mean in Windows 7 Explorer?
I downloaded a ZIP file and dragged the files out of the ZIP into a directory. The subdirectories I copied displayed in Windows Explorer in green instead of the default black.
What does the green ...
- 1,773
144
votes
9
answers
202k
views
Is it safe to delete from C:\Windows\Installer?
I've been looking on an XP machine what is using all that diskspace, and it turns out C:\Windows\Installer is high up there on the list of directories that use the most diskspace.
It seems to contain ...
- 2,456
140
votes
12
answers
739k
views
How do I remove the same part of a file name for many files in Windows 7?
Basically, I have an album of music and I want to remove the authors name from all of the mp3 files instead of having to manually do it myself. Is there a function in Windows 7 Ultimate that can do ...
- 5,249
140
votes
8
answers
234k
views
How do I find out command line arguments of a running program?
I'm looking for a tool or method to find out what command line parameters have been passed to a program, for example when it was run by another program (launcher-application scenario).
- 1,807
140
votes
4
answers
188k
views
Change environment variables as standard user
When clicking on "Advanced system settings", I need to login as the administrator and hence only edit the administrators environment variables (in addition to the machine wide ones). How do I edit the ...
- 2,179
140
votes
4
answers
66k
views
How does Windows know whether it has internet access or if a Wi-Fi connection requires in-browser authentication?
In Windows 7, the notification area networking icon will show an error indicator if there is no internet access , and the error icon goes away once there is a successful connection to the internet . ...
- 37.5k
138
votes
10
answers
680k
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How do you remove a default program association for file types in Windows 7?
I somehow have set the default file type association for a file type in Windows 7. It doesn't appear to be possible to delete it from the "Change the file type associated with a file extension" ...
- 4,267
136
votes
4
answers
462k
views
What does the "Maximum Frequency" number mean in the Windows Resource Monitor?
In the Windows Resource Monitor's CPU tab, there is a status box and graph for the "Maximum Frequency", right next to the "CPU Usage" values. What does this mean? The value is sometimes over 100% on ...
- 37.5k
134
votes
10
answers
245k
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Using Windows 7, how can you use multiple mice (to get multiple cursors)?
Is it somehow possible to use two mice in Windows 7? I think this could be useful; like using two fingers on a multi touch display...
Corne
133
votes
9
answers
12k
views
What is the danger of inserting and browsing an untrusted USB drive?
Suppose someone wants me to copy some files to their USB stick. I'm running fully-patched Windows 7 x64 with AutoRun disabled (via Group Policy). I insert the USB drive, open it in Windows Explorer ...
- 1,852
132
votes
10
answers
629k
views
How to open a .tar.gz file in Windows?
I need to open a file that sadly is only available in the .tar.gz file format and I am using Windows 7. I can unzip the file using 7-zip but after that I still have a .tar file that I can't open in ...
- 27.8k
132
votes
9
answers
529k
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How can I repair the Windows 8 EFI Bootloader?
I installed Windows 7 and Windows 8 in EFI mode on a hard disk some days ago. Today, the bootloader got missing/corrupted.
I currently have the Windows 8 installer on a flash drive and tried using ...
- 14.7k