A few weeks ago, I told you how to repair the default image file types in Windows XP. At the time, I wasn’t aware of any utilities that could help you restore file types in Vista or Windows 7. I should have guessed that Ramesh Srinivasan would make good on his word. I had seen an old post which said he’d be working on something to help out.

Why would you need to restore a default file type?

You probably already know that a file type is controlled by the last letters after the dot in a file name. When you install new applications, sometimes the new app takes over the opening of some file types automatically. If you installed a new music player, you might discover that all .MP3 files now open up in the new player. That’s fine if you like the new player, but what if you don’t? You can re-assign the MP3 file type to another player by using the Open Withmenu when you right click on an MP3.

If you want Windows to use the default player that Microsoft had originally chosen for MP3 files, you might have trouble figuring out how to do that. I have found that it’s also sometimes tricky to get the defaults back on image file types. Fortunately, there are a few scripts and utilities that can help.

Using .REG Scripts

Ramesh has a page on his site that helps you restore a few Windows 7 file types to their defaults. He also has a page that lets you restore Vista file types to their defaults. Read the instructions on those pages to use REG (registry) scripts to make the changes.

Here’s a list of the file types that can be changed there:

AUDIOCD, AVI, BAT, BMP, CHM, CMD, COM, DVR-MS, EXE, GIF, HTM, HTML, ICO, INF, IMG, JPE, JPEG, JPG, JS, LNK, MP3, MPE, MPG, MSC, MPEG, REG, SCR, TIF, TIFF, TXT, VBS, WMA, WMV, WSF, XML, XPS, ZIP, FOLDER, DIRECTORY, DRIVE

Using the Unassoc Utility

If you use a multi-monitor setup, there are chances that you might forget to move the applications windows back to main monitor before disconnecting it. In such cases, when you try to access the window you might now be able to do it as it may still assume that it is on the secondary monitor.

Windows 7 does not have a direct option to move the window back to the main monitor using the taskbar. When you right-click on the taskbar icon you will only see the jumplist and not the regular options.

However, if you want to see the other options like Move, Maximize and Minimize, just hold the Shift button while you right click, this will in turn show you the other regular right click options. Once you do that you can easily move the window from the non-existent secondary monitor back to the main monitor using either the arrow keys or your mouse.

I prefer to use a dual-monitor setup wherever possible. However, the alignment of the monitor is pretty important as I have to use the mouse on both the monitors, and having it in the wrong position is definitely a pain.

Windows Vista users had an option to change the alignment of the screen, from right to left or left to right in the Windows mobility center. However, Windows 7 does not have the same option. Quite curiously, I asked the question on Twitter, as not much info was available for it online, and thankfully @edbott replied to me with the answer.

So if anyone else is facing a problem with changing the dual monitor position on Windows 7, here is a solution for it. Please make sure that your external display is already connected and functional.

Step 1: Search for display and click on the “Connect to an external display” option in the results. Alternatively, you can also open Control Panel -> Display and click on the Adjust Resolution link in the left hand menu.

Step 2: To adjust the orientations of your monitor, just drag and drop the appropriate monitor and place it wherever you want. You could move it to the right, left, top or bottom position.

Step 3: Once you have placed the monitor in the position you want, click on the Apply button to apply the changes. It you are satisfied with the setup, click on the Ok button.

Few Notes:

• If you place the primary monitor at the bottom, you will get a bottom to top orientation.
• If you place the primary monitor on top, you will get a top to bottom orientation.
• Left will give you a left to right, and right will give you the right to left orientation.

If you find this tip helpful, you can purchase Ed Bott’s book Windows 7 Inside Out, which sells for $31.49 on Amazon.

If you already have a web server up and running, installing a FTP server along with it has many advantages. Using a FTP server, you can transfer files to and from your web server very easily.

We will show you, how you can install a FTP server in Windows 7. The FTP server installed in this way, will work perfectly fine with Windows IIS server.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Click and goto Start> Control Panel> Programs. Then click on Turn Windows features on or off.
2. Now you will get a list of many features. Each feature can be installed or uninstalled. You have to locate the option for Internet Information Services (IIS), and select FTP server. Click on Ok and wait for the installation to complete; it will take a considerable amount of time.
3. Now your FTP server will be installed. If you need to check that your FTP server is working properly or not, you can do so using a FTP client like Filezilla. To check, open your FTP client and try connecting to the server with following details:
   Hostname: localhost
   Port no: 21

If you have repeated the steps mentioned above correctly, you will have an easy and working FTP server installed in Windows 7.

For more useful How-To articles, keep checking Techie-Buzz regularly.

Image Credits

Working with images is an almost daily job for me and many others. It certainly helps if you can see what image files look like before you even open them. It’s also easier to scan long lists of images if you can see a thumbnail preview of each file in the list.

Here’s what I like to see:

Windows 7 typically has a thumbnail view of images turned on by default. You’ll may see this if you open up a folder of images. However, if you’ve played with Windows settings occasionally, the thumbnail previews can get turned off by accident. This happened to me recently and I’ve had to learn how to quickly return the thumbnails to Windows Explorer.

Here’s how to turn on or turn off the image thumbnails:

(Windows 7 and Windows Vista)

•  Open up a folder or double click Computeron your desktop.

• Click the Organizemenu to pull it down. Then select the Folder and search optionsentry.

• Click on the Viewtab to open up those options.

•  Either check or uncheck the Always show icons, never thumbnailsoption.

That’s all there is to it.

If you have any ideas or questions you’d like to share, be sure to add a comment below or email me. I’d love to hear from you.

Windows 7 and Windows Vista both include Aero, which include some really good graphics. However, if you are running either of these operating systems on a low RAM, it might feel a bit sluggish.

Disabling Aero in Windows, is one of the ways to help you run your system faster. To disable Aero on either Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you need to personalize your desktop and choose the basic themes for your OS.

Think Techno has a screenshot tutorial to disable Aero on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Take a look at it to disable Aero and improve your system performance.

Quite sometime back we had told you about 10 awesome Windows 7 shortcuts that you probably didn’t know about.

I came across a video of a interesting feature in Windows 7. The feature also called as Aero shake will allow you to minimize all background windows by shaking the window you want to keep in focus.

Tip: If you don’t want to use the mouse just use the shortcut key combination of Win Key + Home. Using this hotkey will have the same effect.

Here is a video of the Aero shake feature in action.

[via Digital Inspiration]

There is no doubt that Windows 7 is one of the most feature packed OS released by Microsoft. Not only is it visually appealing, but there are so many features built into it that it eliminates the need for several software.

A interesting feature that How-to-Geek brings forth is the ability to create a system image and back it up to an external hard drive or disk.

This feature can come in pretty handy when something goes wrong with your Windows 7 install. You can use the system image to completely restore Windows 7.

In addition to that you can also create a system repair disc that can be used to repair your PC in case something goes wrong.

To create a system image go to Start and type Getting Started, click on it and select “Back up your files”. In the new window that opens up you can start creating a system image by clicking on the link in the left hand side menu.

Since I upgraded to Windows 7 I have been missing the HP Quick launch buttons feature on my HP Pavilion dv6000 special edition laptop (dv6875se).

I tweeted about it and fellow Techie buzzer Clif Sipe gave me a working solution, so here is a post that will show you how to get HP Quick Launch Buttons working in Windows 7.

Step 1: Visit HP.com in your web browser and select support & drivers from the menu.

Step 2: From the available radio buttons select Download drivers and software (and firmware) under Step 1. Under Step 2 enter the product number of your HP laptop or PC, in my case it was dv6875se (you will find this under your laptop or the serial number sticker on your desktop). Once you have entered the product number click on the Go button.

Step 3: In some cases HP will display a list of laptops/desktops that match yours select the one that you have to go to the driver page. In cases where you entered the exact product number it will take you directly to the drivers page.

Step 4: In the available list of operating systems click on Microsoft Windows Vista for 32-bit Windows 7 or Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit) for for 64-bit Windows 7.

Step 5: Scroll down till you see Driver – Keyboard, Mouse and Input Devices, in that list click on the link HP Quick Link Launch Buttons to download the drivers.

Step 6: Install the downloaded software and the quick launch buttons will become functional again.

I tested this out on my laptop and everything works perfectly fine.

Quite sometime back we had told you about Net Profiles a network utility that allow you to port your network settings and connect to multiple networks without putting in much efforts.

But the beauty of Windows 7 is not just its looks, it has tons of features which eliminates the need for additional software. One such area is the ability to backup and export your wireless settings and re-import it again on the same PC or a different one.

This feature can definitely come in handy when you use Wireless protection and use a WEP or WAP key for it.

Also Read: Retrieve your secure Wireless WEP/WAP keys

The How-to-Geek blog has a step by step tutorial that will allow you to export your wireless settings and keys and use it on another computer. In the tutorial you will learn to save your Wireless key and restore it on the same computer or on a different one.

Pretty simple and easy, one more reason to love Windows 7.

Easily Backup & Import Your Wireless Network Settings in Windows 7 [How-to-Geek]