Some people may be unhappy with the program they use to  surf the internet. Fortunately, there are many browsers developed by different companies, all with their positive and negative sides. So if you want to change your browser, follow these easy steps:

Download an alternative browser (for example, Opera, Firefox, Chrome or Safari)

Your newly installed browser will ask you if you want to make it a default browser at first run. Even if you refuse now, you can do it at any time.

For Opera, go to Tools->Preferences->Advanced->Programs

Tick "Check if Opera is default browser on startup" box and restart the application.

If you use Firefox, go to Tools->Options->Advanced

And click "Check Now". You can also make firefox check if it is default browser every time it starts.

If you decided to use Safari, click the cogwheel icon in top right corner, select Preferences and choose the default web browser from the drop-down list:

Finally, for Google Chrome, click the wrench icon in top right corner of the window, select options

and click "Make Google Chrome my default web browser".

NOTE: Sometimes your internet settings won't apply correctly and default browser setting won't change. In order to avoid that, reset Internet Explorer settings.

In Windows Vista you can choose the way Power Button is akting. You can set the following options: Do Nothing, Sleep, Hibernate, Shut Down. It is set to Shut Down by default.

To change Power Button action you need to do the following:

1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.

2. Click on the Hardware and Sound link.

Note: If you're viewing the Classic View of Control Panel, you won't see this link. Simply double-click on the Power Options icon and proceed to Step 4.

3. Click on the Power Options link.

4. In the Select a power plan area, click on the Change plan settings link under the preferred plan for your PC.

5. Click on the Change advanced power settings link.

6. In the Advanced settings window, click on the + next to Power buttons and lid to show the available options.

7. Under the Power buttons and lid option, click on the + next to Start menu power button.

8. Click on Setting: under the Start menu power button option to reveal a drop-down box.

9. Choose either Sleep, Hibernate, or Shut down.

10. Click OK and then close the Edit Plan Settings window.

Initial Problem:

In windows environment, the Send To command is used to transfer files from one location to different locations. By using this command, a user can quickly send his file between default destinations (default lists in Send To menu, for example Desktop, CD/DVD Drive, My Documents, Mail Recipient and Floppy Drive). These are the default Send To menu lists in windows XP. To increase the data transfer speed between different locations, you can add more new destination in Send To lists. 

Solution:

Follow the given steps to add new destinations to Send To lists.

First click on Start button and type sendto in Run option then press Ok button. For the list of all commands reachable from Windows Vista command promt, please press here

A window will appear with default Send To lists (Compressed (zipped) Folder, Desktop (create shortcut), Mail Recipient, My Documents). 

Now using drag-and-drop technique (or using copy and paste method), you can move any program, folders and drives shortcuts to this folder.

Now you can verify, your new shortcut is created in Send To menu.

But next times, if you want to delete any destination, then open the Sent To folder and remove the destination shortcut.

1. Login on the computer where you want to import your favorites.

2. Start the web browser (Internet Explorer).

3. Select 'Import and Export' on the 'File' menu:

4. The 'Import and Export' Wizard starts.

1. Select 'Next' on the first screen of the 'Import/Export Wizard'.
2. Select 'Import Favorites' on the second screen.

5. Browse to the saved bookmark file:

1. Browse > Browse to the bookmark file and highlight it > Save
2. Select 'Next'.

6. Now you can select the folder you want to import the bookmark to:

• You import relative to the folder you select
• To import your favorites into the root, select the folder 'Favorites'

Highlight the desired folder and select 'Next'.

7. Select 'Finish' to complete the Wizard.

Windows Vista’s AutoPlay options are a great improvement over Windows XP in terms of flexibility, but unfortunately there are so many options that it can be confusing, especially since there’s no specific mention of USB Flash drives in the options.

Open your Control Panel, and then click on “Play CDs or other media automatically” to open the AutoPlay dialog.

Disable AutoPlay Globally

The quickest way to disable AutoPlay entirely is to just uncheck the box for “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices”, which should usually work.

Disable for a Single Type

You can choose a setting in the drop-down menu for a single type of drive, for instance Audio CD in this example. For this to work you’ll have to make sure to keep the global autoplay option on, and then choose the specific setting in the drop-down.

Disable for just Removable (flash) Drives

The problem here is that while there are settings for Audio CDs and DVDs, there’s nothing specifically for USB flash drives. Windows will determine the drive type based on the content it finds on the flash drive itself, so that’s what we’ll need to change.

In order to disable AutoPlay for the removable drives, you should change all of the following to Take no action: Software and games, Pictures, Video files, Audio files, and Mixed content.

Initial Problem:

Despite all its quirks, Windows does do some things for a good reason. Some files need to be locked down when they are in use, otherwise you risk damaging the file or harming the Operating System. Unfortunately Windows XP seems to be plagued by files that cannot be deleted. These are frequently simple files like videos (AVI), MP3s or other seemingly harmless files. You try to delete the file, Windows waits a few seconds before announcing that access is denied, the file is currently in use and cannot be deleted. However, you know it’s not in use and you just want it deleted.

Solution:

If you have encountered this problem, here is a step-by-step process for trying to purge the files you can’t delete. It starts with the basics for Windows XP and moves on to more involved tricks. The process will work for all recent Windows releases, but Windows XP has been causing the most the problems, so we will focus on it. Please note: we are assuming that the file is not crucial to the operation of Windows – deleting important system files can cause havoc.

1. Is the file in use? It sounds obvious but it happens.

If it is being used or open, close the file and the application that opened it. For example, if it is a Word document, close Microsoft Word.

2. If the file was opened in an application (and subsequently closed), but the program is still running, try quitting the program. Windows will lock a file because the application hasn’t yet released it. This is not always Windows fault and can be the fault of the program.

3. If the file is an AVI, in particular a DivX AVI, try renaming it and then deleting it. DivX files don’t get on very well with Windows XP and sometimes renaming the file can trick Windows into releasing it.

4. Reboot your PC and don’t start any programs. Go directly to the file and delete it.

5. In Windows Explorer, switch to View-Details a

nd then select View-Choose Details. Uncheck everything except the file name. This stops Windows XP trying to read the file – this problem affects many video, audio and graphics files.

6. Still no luck? OK, here is the best trick of all. Most sites give you cryptic Windows registry and DOS commands to remove a file, but the answer is so much simpler. Get a copy of MoveOnBoot. It’s free and this simple tool allows you to Move, Copy or Delete files before Windows can lock or alter the files. The changes are made to your hard drive before Windows starts, hence it requires a restart of your system after you give MoveOnBoot its instructions. There are no messy boot or DOS commands, just a simple 3-step process.

Step 1: Locate the name of the file that is causing your problems.

Step 2: Decide if you want to copy, move or delete the file.

Step 3: Choose a destination for moving the file, or a new file name for the rename option (this option won’t appear if you are deleting a file).

Click OK to confirm you want to process. The nice thing is that the program doesn’t make you reboot straight away. It’s a good idea to reboot ASAP, but if you are in the middle of something and want to wait, the program will simply run next time you start Windows.

7. If the file reappears again (check its creation date to ensure it is being recreated) and you can’t make it budge, you may have trouble with spyware or a virus on your system (don’t overlook the possibility it may also be an important system file). In this case you should get a good spyware removal program to scan your system.

Recovery console is a command line-based tool provided by Microsoft that can be installed as a startup option or run form Windows installation CD. It can be used for troubleshooting different boot up problems that are related to corrupt system files or boot sector.

To start the computer and use the Recovery Console:

1. 
   Insert the Setup CD and restart the computer from the CD drive.
2. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts; choose the repair or recover option by pressing R.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access from the Recovery Console.
4. When prompted, type the password for the local administrator account.
5. To exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer, type exit.

Common problems that can be solved using Recovery console:

1. NTLDR is missing.

Possible cause 1: Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file. 

Solution:

Copy the below files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is "e."

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
 

If you  have only one partition ("local drive"), then the CD-ROM letter should be "d", for example.

Possible cause 2: Corrupt boot sector or master boot record.

Solution:

fixboot drive name

where "drive name" is the letter of system drive followed by colon. For example:

fixboot c:

fixmbr device name

device name can be found by running map  command

Sometimes you may need to convert an existing volume from FAT32 to NTFS file system, which provides better security, faster performance allows file compression et cetera.

There is a simple command-line tool that exists for such purpose called convert.

In order to convert one of your drives, click Start, then Run and type:

convert volume /fs:ntfs

where "volume" is a drive letter followed by colon, for example:

convert c: /fs:ntfs

If you are trying to convert a system drive, some files of which are being used by Windows, you may get the following message:

 Convert cannot  run because the volume is in use by another process

In this case, press Y and let your PC reboot. Conversion will take place at next startup.

If you are converting a volume, that is not currently used by any processes, you'll see it converted to NTFS file system.

Initial problem:

After installing a device driver, the device or the whole computer doesn't function properly.

Possible solutions:

 1. Driver rollback.

This cancels the last device driver installation. Use this if you run into small annoyances, or problems, that are related to a specific device functionality that doesn't prevent computer from working.

For example: after installing a new webcam driver, the picture became blurred or unrecognizable. Or, after installing a graphic card driver you are unable to change screen resolution or frequency.

You can roll back driver for a specific device by opening Device Manager:

Locating Device manager in management console:

Selecting a device, which you suspect to have problems with:

And clicking "Roll back driver" in drivers tab:

2. Last known good configuration/safe mode .

If you are not able to start Windows normally after installing a device driver,  you may need to start your computer in Safe Mode to follow instructions described in part 1. Or, you can use Last Known Good Configuration to boot up.

In order to access these functions, you have to push F8 key several times to get a boot menu. It will look like this:

3. System Restore.

While not being the best solution for solving driver problems, it may help if you installed some software package that came with drivers. Usually, printer/scanner manufacturers, as well as graphic card vendors provide additional software together with drivers. If you believe that these managers are causing the problem, system restore is the way to go.

System restore in Windows XP OS

System restore in Windows Vista OS 

Initial Problem:

Vista has a great tool to make screenshots very easily. This tool is called the 'Snipping tool'.
Using this tool you can make screenshots of your screen or a selection of it very easily.

Solution:

This tool can be found at:

• Start
• Programs
• Accessories
• Snipping Tool

Using this tool you can make screenshots in several ways, for example you can make a:

• Free-form snip
• Rectangular snip
• Window snip
• Full screen snip

Below you find a screenshot I made using the 'free-form snip'. So if you need to make a screenshot of something on your screen you can use this tool for it.

You can save your screenshot by using the Save As... option.