Once Wireless or wired connection is setup via router we hardly need to access router settings. However, sometimes we need to access router settings page to configure settings like password etc. Following is quick procedure to know IP address of router to access router settings page.

Find Router IP address

1. Click Start > Run and in the run window type cmd and then click OK. You will see a black background window for command prompt

2. Type ipconfig and hit the Enter key. Lot of information will be displayed on the screen with this command.

3. Look for IP address next to default gateway - that is your router access IP address. Open that IP address in your web browser, enter Router username / password to access router settings page.

Youtube website has loads of videos uploaded by users. Now, Youtube also supports uploading and viewing HQ (high quality and high resolution) videos. If you have fast internet connection, it is recommended to view videos in HQ mode - they are much clear and crisp.

Watch HQ videos by default

1. Goto Youtube.com and login into your account. Then click Settings.
2. Then click Playback setup option on the left sidebar.

3. Now highlight and select 3rd option “I have a fast connection. Always play higher-quality video when it’s available” Then click on Save Changes button.

From now on, if HQ version of video is available - it will play HQ videos by default. Alternatively, if you are not logged into Youtube account and watching a Youtube video - look for HQ icon on the playback bar. Click that HQ icon to load HQ version of current video.

Newer version of Internet Explorer (version 7 and above) has tabbed interface. You can open multiple tabs in same window. However, with so many tabs one tends to lose on favorite website tabs. Most of us follow sequence of opened website as a part of daily working routine, like google should open in first tab followed by Yahoo and so on.

Drag N Drop to re-arrange

There is no setting or option clicking to re-arrange tabs in an Internet Explorer window. You can simply drag and drop any tab to different location in the opened window. So, drag drop tabs to your favorite locatio and its done!

Too simple and organized, isn’t it?

Microsoft Word has useful feature of spell check that put colored underline for words with incorrect spellings and grammar. Sometimes this feature can be annoying while working with Word documents containing words from different language written in English. This can result in too many words with underline (even though they could be correct) and distract normal reading routine.

Disable underline for incorrect words

We can easily disable this feature so that no word is shown with an underline. In MS Office 2003, goto Tools > Optios. In the options window, click Spellings and Grammar tab. Then check option “Hide spelling errors in this document”, click OK and its all done.

In MS Office 2007, click the Office Orb button (top left) and then click Word options button. Now click proofing option and then uncheck “Check spelling as you type” and “Mark grammar errors as you type”, click OK and its all done.

“Print Screen Sysrq” key comes real handy for taking screenshot of anything on the screen. At times we only need screenshot of active opened window without the background mess. Even this is possible using Print Screen in combination of another key.

Take Screenshot of active window

With so many windows opened on your computer, click and highlight the window whose screenshot you want to take. Then press Print Screen Sysrq + Alt key at the same time to capture screenshot of only active opened window on the computer.

Save the screenshot

To save the screenshot: goto Start > Run, type mspaint and click OK. Microsoft Paint will open and press Ctrl + V to paste the screenshot (alternatively, you can goto edit > paste). Then click File > Save as to save the screenshot on computer.

Sometimes we need to send or share lot of small files. It can be really difficult to manage large number of file while transferring and sharing. You can zip those files into a single ZIP file and easily share files with anyone.

Steps to create Zip File

1. Open Folder containing files.
2. Select all files by pressing Ctrl + A or some files with mouse.
3. Right click on selected files. Then point to ‘Send To’ and click on ‘Compressed (zipped) Folder’.

Windows startup sound is audio that plays when your start your computer and Windows loads up. Sometimes, this startup sound can be really annoying and many users prefer to disable it.

Disable startup sound

1. Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel.
2. Double click on Sounds & Audio devices icon.
3. In new window, click on Sounds tab.
4. Look for Start Windows option under program events.
5. Select None from dropdown box at the bottom.
6. Click Apply & OK - you will not get sound on restart.

If you open too many applications, buttons of similar application tend to group together. For example, buttons of 5 windows of Internet Explorer are grouped as one and so on. While some find this convenient, it can be annoying for other users. You can easily enable or disable grouping option for either single or grouped placement as shown in image below.

Disable grouping of similar buttons

1. Right click on taskbar & click properties option.
2. Uncheck (no tick) next to ‘Group similar taskbar buttons’.

From now on, none of the window will group and all will show individually for easy access. You can check (or tick) the group option to view similar taskbar buttons in grouped manner.

By default, we get prompt dialog box with YES or NO button options while trying to delete any file. This is very effective to prevent deletion of any important file. However, few users might find clicking YES again and again annoying while deleting files.

Disable delete dialog box

1. Right click on ‘Recycle bin’ icon on the desktop.
2. Then click on properties option.
3. In the new dialog window, uncheck option ‘Display delete confirmation dialog box’. From now on when you delete any file, it will go to recycle bin without you having to click on any confirmation dialog box.

There are times we need to start the computer in safe mode to troubleshoot and fix issues with Windows. This is called minimalistic mode, where only basic files, drivers and programs are loaded. Hence with only critical programs are active we can easily identify program causing specific issue.

What is Safe mode?

Safe mode loads Windows with only basic drivers and files. For example, startup programs do not load in safe mode. In safe mode, display is pretty bad as video drivers do not load. Also, there is no internet connection in safe mode.

Steps to start PC in Safe Mode

1. Make sure there is no dics in CD / DVD or floppy drive. Also, no additional external device like USB or pen drive should be connected to computer. Now click on start and reboot / restart the computer.

2. As the computer restarts and you see the manufacturer logo on dark screen (like Dell logo or Acer logo) continuously tap F8 key. This should be done before the Windows start logo. If you see Windows logo, repeat above steps.

3. You may get option to select operating system, make a selection, press Enter. Now you get advanced boot screen with options like Repair your computer, Safe mode, Safe mode with networking, Normal mode and many more.

4. Select Safe mode option and press the enter key. You will get desktop screen with fudged colors (video drivers don’t load in safe) and no internet connection. You will also get safe mode written at each corner of the desktop screen.

To boot out of safe mode, just restart or reboot the computer. This time, do not press any key and let the computer boot to the desktop screen. Alternatively, you can press F8 at startup screen and select normal mode.

Shortcut Icons allow you to quickly access various applicationa and features of Windows operating system. You can easily create shortcut icons as per requirement as perform various tasks more quickly and efficiently.

Create Shortcut Icon

1. Right click on empty area on desktop. Then point to the New option and click on shortcutoption in the popup menu.

2. In the new window, enter the direct shortcut link for specific application. Alternatively, you can click on browse and select EXE file of any software installed on the computer.

3. Click Next button and then type the name of your shortcut. Then click Finish button and you should see new shortcut icon on desktop.

Direct Shortcut Icon from Menu bar

Click on Start > all program and then right click on application name, then point to Send To and then click desktop (create shortcut).

Are you bored of yellow looking folder icons? Well, following steps can help you change folder icon. There is more, you can also change picture on folder containing lot of content by chaning folder picture.

Change Folder Picture

1. Single - left click to highlight any folder of your choice. Then right click and click on properties option. Folder properties window will open.

2. Click on Customize tab at the top of Folder properties window. Click on Choose picture button (as seen in image), then select any image stored on your computer.

3. After you select the image and it is looking good - click on Apply button to see it in action. You can click restore default button to revert to original folder picture.

Change Folder Icon

1. Perform above step1, then perform step2 and click on Change Icon option. A new window will open with number of icons.

2. Click and select any icon of your choice, then click on Apply button to see new icon in action. You can use restore default button to revert to original icon.