Posts Tagged ‘hidden’
Hide folders by making them system folders on Windows
One of the basic things one does while configuring a Windows system is to enable viewing hidden files. So basically it is impossible to hide files by making them “hidden”.
What helps against most nosy people though is to make a file a system file or folder – that way the tagged file will remain hidden even if “hidden” files are made visible (of course one can still make system files visible but few people will enable that since it’s usually not necessary).
To tag a file a system file, open a command prompt by entering cmd into your search bar. Enter following into the command line, replacing the path I use with the one to your file (+s is for systemfile and +h is for hidden):
attrib +s +h C:\Users\howtoforge\Desktop\bla
To make it visible again, just turn the plusses into minusses:
attrib -s -h C:\Users\howtoforge\Desktop\bla
Hidden menu in Windows 8
Operating systems are full of hidden features which are left to us users to explore, which is best done by right-clicking everything you see (or not see, in this case).
Windows 8 provides us with a rather hidden menu which had better been more visible, since it actually is quite useful. To get to it, point your mouse to the bottom left corner (where the Metro switcher pops up) and right-click.
The menu gives you quick access to many functions you might use frequently such as opening a new explorer window, the Task Manager, Control Panel, the Run prompt and even a direct link for an elevated Command prompt (and with it, the option for an elevated PowerShell). The menu also works from the Metro UI.
Uninstall USB Drivers on Windows 7
In the time you used your current Windows 7 system you undoubtly have plugged in a lot of different USB devices into your computer, most of them never to be used on it again. You will have notices that for every different device, Windows comes up with a message telling you that it automatically installs all drivers needed to use it.
That is perfectly alright, but what if you won’t use the device ever again? The drivers will remain on your hard disk in case you still need it. This is not optimal for two reasons – first: in no time, you will have a massive amount of drivers for different USB devices installed; second: drivers may be out of date the time you use your device again, even if you use it frequently.
Therefore, there is an option to uninstall or update your USB device drivers manually. Open a command prompt by searching for cmd and enter:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
This will set an environmental variable which can also be seen in Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings > Environment Variables…. Afterwards, enter
devmgmt.msc
to open the device manager. This can also be done by right clicking Computer and choosing Manage, the device manager will be in the left column.
In the device manager menu, click View and enable Show hidden devices. If you now expand Universal Serial Bus controllers (USB) you will most likely have a bunch of transparent entries, which are all non present and/or hidden devices.
By right-clicking them, you can remove or upgrade their drivers if you need to. This can also be done will any other driver on the device manager and is rather useful for corrupted drivers, is to be handled with care however. If you don’t precisely know if you just selected a system component for uninstallment, better don’t do it.
Detailed Control Panel Overview (Windows 7)
If you know the feeling of browsing the default Windows Control Panel for half an hour and still not having found the option settings you looked for, there is a solution that might ease your life: There is a hidden option that lets you view all of the Control Panel’s categories and more in a detailed and well structured overview, it’s just not that obvious to access. To do so, open any Windows Explorer window and enter following in the top bar, that usually shows the directory path of your current folder:
shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Upon entering the input will change into All Tasks and you will be shown a huge list of settings:
If you do not want to type in the code again and again to access the list, just drag the icon on the far left of the browser bar and drop it anywhere on the desktop to create a link.