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Questions tagged [windows-7]

For questions specific to Windows 7. Use [windows] instead for questions involving Windows in general.

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2152 votes
3 answers
252k views

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 ...
ydaetskcoR's user avatar
  • 11.8k
805 votes
31 answers
993k views

Is there a built-in checksum utility on Windows 7?

Is there a built-in checksum/hash utility on Windows 7?
user64996's user avatar
  • 8,407
798 votes
8 answers
2.6m views

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 ...
Jonas's user avatar
  • 27.8k
562 votes
13 answers
3.3m views

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 ...
Mikey A. Leonetti's user avatar
424 votes
13 answers
520k views

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.
Ben V's user avatar
  • 4,412
378 votes
14 answers
596k views

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 ...
David.Chu.ca's user avatar
  • 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-...
Nan Xiao's user avatar
  • 4,123
326 votes
11 answers
323k views

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 ...
Sam Harwell's user avatar
  • 6,842
326 votes
7 answers
263k views

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 ...
Shaharyar's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Christian Correa's user avatar
301 votes
27 answers
118k views

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 views

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-...
Marcin's user avatar
  • 3,235
286 votes
14 answers
700k views

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?
chrisjlee's user avatar
  • 4,010
286 votes
10 answers
258k views

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 ...
zbstof's user avatar
  • 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 ...
balint's user avatar
  • 2,803
253 votes
13 answers
832k views

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 (...
user avatar
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 ...
Tony_Henrich's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Kirill V. Lyadvinsky's user avatar
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). ...
Jon's user avatar
  • 9,325
212 votes
15 answers
701k views

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......
Tony_Henrich's user avatar
  • 11.9k
212 votes
9 answers
514k views

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 ...
Regent's user avatar
  • 2,426
207 votes
7 answers
309k views

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 ...
Luke's user avatar
  • 2,649
205 votes
8 answers
206k views

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?
AJ.'s user avatar
  • 4,039
199 votes
2 answers
318k views

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 ...
x457812's user avatar
  • 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 ...
agz's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Kingamoon's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Robert Cartaino's user avatar
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 ...
flybywire's user avatar
  • 4,090
175 votes
14 answers
685k views

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.
Assaf Lavie's user avatar
  • 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?
Adrian Grigore's user avatar
164 votes
17 answers
625k views

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 ...
Warpzit's user avatar
  • 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.
Royi Namir's user avatar
  • 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?
スーパーファミコン's user avatar
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?
Abe Miessler's user avatar
  • 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?
Noah's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Vaccano's user avatar
  • 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 ...
y0mbo's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Stijn Sanders's user avatar
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 ...
qroberts's user avatar
  • 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).
Gepard's user avatar
  • 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 ...
SealedSun's user avatar
  • 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 . ...
nhinkle's user avatar
  • 37.5k
138 votes
10 answers
680k views

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" ...
Christothes's user avatar
  • 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 ...
nhinkle's user avatar
  • 37.5k
134 votes
10 answers
245k views

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...
user avatar
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 ...
EM0's user avatar
  • 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 ...
Jonas's user avatar
  • 27.8k
132 votes
9 answers
529k views

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 ...
Elmo's user avatar
  • 14.7k

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