control-panel interview questions
Top control-panel frequently asked interview questions
In an effort to reduce the likelihood that I'll get mouse-related RSI in my (dominant) right hand, I've taken to using an additional second mouse with my left.
I'd like to flip the left and right mouse buttons on just the left-hand mouse, but the Switch primary and secondary buttons option in the Mouse Properties window in Windows 7 applies to both mice.
Does anyone know of a way of achieving what I'm after?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I am attempting to clean out my dad's laptop, which is running Windows Vista. Somehow, he has managed to accrue 1,400 wireless networks in the "Manage Wireless Networks" control panel. Is there any easy way to clear this list short of reinstalling Windows?
Source: (StackOverflow)
Since there's no longer a taskbar/start menu Control Panel, how do you clear the history of the Run box in Windows 8?
Source: (StackOverflow)
We have both left-handed and right-handed users in our house. It would be handy to be able to change this setting from the keyboard rather than using the Mouse control panel. Is there a way to assign a keyboard combination to this function?
Edit: I realized after a few answers came in that some of the answers aren't working because of the Synaptics software that came with my HP Netbook. This software (or maybe something else, not sure) modifies my mouse control panel to look like this:
Source: (StackOverflow)
Is it possible to create a desktop shortcut for "Change Adapter Settings" in windows 7?
I run virtual machines, that I need to enable/disable NICs frequently.
Source: (StackOverflow)
If I need to open the Control Panel through the command prompt, it is enough to type
control
I need to open the Folder Options window through typing some command through the command prompt.
Any ideas how?
Source: (StackOverflow)
When opening the Services control panel applet it opens on the Extended tab by default. I find that tab wastes a great deal of real estate for no real value-added. All the same information is available on the Standard tab already, without the superfluous whitespace. Can anyone tell me if it's possible, and how, to tweak the UI so that the Services applet will open on the Standard tab by default. (I'm envisioning a Registry key/value, but maybe it's somewhere else, if at all?)
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a dual monitor setup, my primary and the second monitor is actually a large TV which is usually off. If windows are left open on the TV like windows explorer I have to turn the TV on to get it back on to my main monitor.
Is there any setting in Windows 7 that would let me right click an opened window in my task bar and have it sent back to my main monitor? This isn't about extending my task bar across to the other monitor. Just a simple right click option to send the windows back to this primary display, is there any way to do that?
Thanks
Source: (StackOverflow)
I own a Dell Inspiron N5050 Notebook running Windows 7 Home Premium. I am trying to permanently disable the touchpad. I installed the appropriate driver in order to manage my touchpad preferences, and successfully disabled it - but once the machine was rebooted, the touchpad was on again. I really don't care if I will need to keep disabling it each time I boot up, but does anyone know of a way to permanently disable it?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I created a new standard user account named dm500hd-ag1 on a Windows 7 Ultimate PC. The name of the host computer is ag1 so I thought I would add that in the name of the user account name.
Then I changed my mind, and i said to myself... eh what the hell, I'll just dub it dm500hd and be happy with it. So I went back to the Control Panel and I changed the user account name. All done and well, no errors reported.
I intend to use this account to share a local disk drive with my Dreambox STB. Initially, my idea was to add the "ag-1" suffix in the name to distinguish the user account name from the share name.
So in Windows Explorer, I clicked on all the right buttons and I got to the "Select Users or Groups" dialog where I'm supposed to enter the name of the user account name and click the "Check Names" button.
Except when I click the button I get the "Name Not Found" dialog.
An object named "dm500hd" cannot be found. Check the selected object
types and location for accuracy and ensure that you typed the object
name correctly, or remove this object from the selection.
Oh boy... can't find the fricking it just created. Well okay, it renamed an existing name... but what difference does it make? Doesn't the word "rename" mean the same thing in the Windows world and in all of its subsystems, as it does in the real world?
So my best guess... is that it still recognizes this account as dm500hd-ag1. What do you think? Let's try it, shall we? So I input dm500hd-ag1 and click the "Check Names" button again, and it works!
Well would you look at that... sun of a b....
Have I powered it off and on again you say? Yes, that was my first thought. I logged out of my admin account and logged in as the new dm500hd standard user. There's currently no password for this one yet. It logged me in straight away, prepped the desktop and everything. I logged out, and logged back into my admin account to try this again. It was a no go. So I rebooted the system, hoping it would fresh up its memory and its fricking mind and realize what the new user account name is. Nope! It didn't...
So the user account name titled dm500hd that is being displayed on the Control Panel is just for the show then? It's not really the name of the account, am I right? So it didn't really do anything, it didn't rename the account?
How do I get this dinosaur of a system to do what I tell it to do?... How do I REALLY change my account name?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I dual-boot between Xubuntu and Windows 10. In Xubuntu, when I press the power button, a dialog pops up with buttons for shut down, restart, etc. I frequently use this to restart the computer, but I also use it when I want to shut it down, and I'd like to have the same thing in Windows, because (1) I keep pressing the power button out of habit instead of using the menus, and (2) like pushing the power button and then pushing an option on my touchscreen a lot better than pushing Windows+X->U->U, mostly because U (Shutdown) and I (Sign Out) are right next to each other, which leads to some mistakes when I'm trying to hastily shut down at the end of class.
I know how to change what the power buttons do from the Control Panel, but is there any way I can set the power button to prompt me for what I want to do every time I push it?
Or, better yet, is there any way to override the control panel's settings and make the power button launch an arbitrary executable or script that I could design myself (to match Xubuntu's menu)?
Source: (StackOverflow)
This has really bugged me since I took the plunge and upgraded to Windows 7. I think everything is great on the whole apart from the Control Panel.
Instead of ordering from top to bottom like in normal folders, it is ordered from left to right. Whenever I go to find something in Control Panel it takes 3 times as long because I expect to find Programs and Features below Power Options yet it is to the right.
This is a screenshot to demonstrate - note the ordering goes across instead of down.
Does anyone have a cunning fix to display the Control Panel ordered in the same way that normal folders are displayed?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I would like to be able to quickly enable/disable windows defender antivirus.
If you type 'Defender' in the search box (aka Cortana) you will see see a 'Windows Defender settings' item. How can I get a desktop shortcut to that program?
Source: (StackOverflow)
On a Windows 7 (64-bit machine) if you navigate to:
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Default Programs
The programs in the program list on the left are automatically populated with the windows native ones, like Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player.
However, by default, when selecting one of these, windows will use the 32-bit version of the application instead of the 64-bit version. Is there a location this list is pulled from, or a way to change this? Initial search results have pulled up nothing.
Update
As suggested by MikeAWood, I've tried manually adjusting the settings per file type as indicated in this article
and run into similar problems as some of the users in the comments section of that article (which were never resolved), as well as some additional issues:
Update
As suggested by Louis Somers, I've updated several registry keys and still have issues 4 and 5, his answer resolved the rest of the issues though.
Links from within programs, still use 32-bit Internet Explorer The default desktop Internet Explorer icon still uses 32-bit Internet Explorer Any applications with an embedded Internet Explorer shell still use 32-bit Internet Explorer - Any applications using the WebClient service still use 32-bit Internet Explorer
- All FTP connections inside Windows Explorer still use 32-bit Internet Explorer
Any ActiveDesktop content or web content/backgrounds within a folder still use 32-bit Internet Explorer
Update
Based off this article, and this article, I can set Windows Media Player to default to the 64-bit version successfully (in Windows 7, even though the articles refers to Vista), but I've had no similar luck with Internet Explorer, any ideas?
Source: (StackOverflow)