Add a Sleep Timer to Windows 7 Media Center

Do you make it a habit of falling asleep at night while watching Windows Media Center? Today we are going to take a look at the MC7 Sleep Timer for Windows 7 Media Center. This simple little plugin allows you to schedule an automatic shutdown time in Media Center. 

Note: At this point MC7 Sleep Timer doesn’t work with extenders. If you’re using ClamAV or Panda it may detect this plugin as a virus, we’ve tested it and this is a false positive for these two antivirus apps.

Installation and Usage

Download and install MC7 Sleep Timer. (See download below)

After the installation is finished, you will find MC7 Sleep Timer located in the Media Center Extras Library. Click on the tile to open the timer and configure your settings. 

The MC7 Sleep Timer will open in full screen mode. You can choose to shutdown the PC after 30 or 60 minutes, create a custom length shutdown timer at any 5 minute interval, or select the exact time you want the PC to shutdown.  After setting your PC to shutdown, you’ll get an audio confirmation.

To set a custom timer length, scroll to the “Custom timer” option and click right or left on your Media Center remote or, the right or left arrow keys, to choose how many minutes before shutdown.

To schedule a shutdown for a certain time, browse to the “Shutdown at time” button, and scroll right or left with the arrow keys on the keyboard or remote. When you’ve chosen your time, hit “Enter” on the keyboard or “OK” on the remote.

Clicking the “Monitor Off” button will turn off only the monitor and “Cancel Timer” will cancel your shutdown request.

Conclusion
If you often find yourself falling asleep every night watching Media Center and then fumbling and stumbling in the middle of the night to shutdown your computer, MC7 Sleep timer might just be a perfect addition to your Media Center setup.

Download MC7 Sleep Timer

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Cool Shortcut Keys for Windows 7

ALT + P

This opens a preview pane at the right side of explorer. Next time when you have to view some picture or movie or any other file, you don’t have to open it, just select the file and press ALT+P and see the preview.

Windows Key + Up

This combination maximized the current window. You can press it to Make window maximized. It works the same as double clicking the Title Bar

Windows Key + Down

This combination of keys, when pressed, restores the windows if it is maximized or minimizes it if not maximized. This combination should be used with Windows Key + Up to minimize, restore, and maximize any window.

Windows + Shift + Up and Windows + Shift + Down

This Key Combination makes the window Vertically maximum (Up) and back to its original place(Down). In doing so, the width of the windows remains the same. Only the height is changed.

Windows Key + +(Plus) and Windows Key+-(Minus)

This combination of keys launches the built-in magnifier program and zooms in or out (depend on + or -) the screen. You can further play with this magnifier tools and use it for your own needs.

Windows Key + Left and Windows Key + Right

These are my favorite Shortcut Keys. The combination shift the opened windows to left or right of the screen. The windows then  takes exactly half of the screen. Keep pressing Windows Key + Left and your window will go to left of the screen, then right of the screen, and then back to its original place.

Windows Key + Home

There is a cool feature in Windows 7 that makes using windows easy and increase productivity by hiding all other windows and letting only one window shown. This feature is called Jitter. Using mouse you can select your windows and give it a nudge (moving mouse left and right while mouse key is pressed). This hides all other windows and keep your window opened. Repeat the same again and all other windows will appear.

Alternatively, you can use  Windows Key + Home to do the same. Press it to hide all other windows, press it again to show them.

ALT + Tab and Windows Key + Tab

Since long, windows is coming with these shortcut keys that come in very handy when switching between windows. The ALT+TAB key shows all the opened programs and you can switch between the windows. Press ALT (Keep Pressing) and press Tab until you find your desired program. Release the ALT key when your desired program is selected. The program windows will appear on the top.Since Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced another such feature that you can use by pressing (keep pressing) Windows Key and Pressing Tab. This feature is much cooler and lets your switch between open Programs.

Windows Key + T and Windows Key + [Number]

Windows + T is a wonder full shortcut key that lets you toggle between the programs listed in Taskbar. Press Windows Key (Keep Pressing) and Press T to move from one icon to another. The icons in Taskbar can be opened programs as well as Tabbed Programs. Windows Key + T toggle between all the icons on Taskbar and opens any program for you.

Similarly, Windows Key + [Number ] (1,2,3,…) can open the program listed at that number. If the program is tabbed, a new instance of it will be launched and if the program is running, its window will be minimized / maximized.

Windows Key + E

There is always a need to open Explorer window. But is one of its instance is running, and you click on it, the same windows appears on screen. To open a new instance of Explorer, you can either Press Shift + Click or Middle Key of your Mouse or you can simply use Windows Key + E.

Windows Key+ P and Windows Key+ shift + [Left, Right]

If you have multiple monitors attached to you system you can easily switch between them using these Keys. Windows Key + P open the Panel from where you can select different settings for your multiple Displays. Also, you can use Window Key + Shift + Left to change between multiple screens.

Windows Key+ Space

Another cool feature of Windows 7 is its Peek feature. The right most button on your Task-bar is the Show Desktop / Peek button. Just hover your mouse over it and it will show your desktop by hiding all the open windows. The peek feature can also be accessed using Windows Key + Space. Press Windows Key(keep pressing) and press space to Peek at the desktop.

Windows Key + G

Gadgets are a nice addition to windows plate form since the days of Vista. There are dozen of Gadgets out there for Weather, Calender, RSS Feeds, and much more. Unfortunately, the Show Desktop button shows the Desktop with out Gadgets. Thus there is not easy way to access gadgets in time of need. But there is a trick to peek at your gadgets even if you have a dozen windows opened. Press Windows Key + G and all your gadgets will show on the top of every thing.

Windows Key + X

Mobility Center is not new to Windows. It was there in Vista too. But it is a cool feature and many of us would like to access it. Press Windows Key + X and the mobility center will appear.

Ctrl + Alt + [Left, Right, Up, Down]

Last but not the least. This is a cool feature that changes the orientation of your screen. Just give it a try and see for your self.

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checkout some hidden features of your Window 7 PC

Microsoft Windows 7 has some really cool Hidden Perks for its users. Today we are going to explore some of these.

psr.exe – Hidden Tutorial Maker in Windows 7...............................

During testing of Windows 7, the engineers working on the Operating System wrote a program to document movements made by mouse in order to debug the Operating System. The program is still in Windows 7 but it is hidden from public. You can access it using command psr.exe.  

Just click on Start, type psr.exe and hit enter. The following Toolbar will appear.

  Press record and go on with whatever work you want to record doing. The program will  save it in a .mhtml file that you can later use for presenting, teaching, etc. This tool also allows you to add comments. With this tool, it is very easy to make presentation and show it to people who want step by step procedure to do any work.

By the way, there is another tool in windows called Snipping Tool that you can use to take snap shot of any thing on the screen(the above picture is taken using this tool). 

You can find it in Start >> Accessories >> Snipping Tool.

Hidden Themes in Windows 7...............................

There are a few beautiful themes and Wallpapers hidden in windows 7 that you can use. The idea by Microsoft was to Install only that theme which matches your location i.e. if you live in USA United States theme is installed automatically. The other themes that are there and not installed by default are Australia, South Africa, Canada, and United Kingdom. The themes contain  1920 x 1200 resolution wallpapers from the respective countries. Just open explorer and type

C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT 

in the address bar , hit enter. It will open the folders containing Wallpapers and themes.

Hope you like our set of hidden Perks. Do let us know in the comments. Stay tuned for more...

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Window 7 Sticky Notes - Features & Effective Uses

Windows 7 is one of the best products that came out from Microsoft. Along with it, came a very handy application called “Sticky Notes”.

Sticky Notes is a very handy and useful application for almost all kind of users. It allow you to take notes quickly and easily without getting into the trouble of creating a file and then saving it. Sticky Notes require just one click to start and it is auto-safe enabled which means every thing you write of paste in it is saved instantly even if you close the application, your notes are safe. 

Moreover, it serves the purpose of a reminder application where the things you wrote are in front of you always and remind you of any actions you have planned.  You can color them to distinguish between any two set of tasks and so on.

But nothing is perfect. Sticky Notes application is very easy to use but it does not allow you to change the font-style. It uses Segoe Print as default font. Though Segoe Print is a pretty neat font at first, eventually one gets tired of it and would like to change it. Moreover, there are lack of visual controls on sticky note to format text (probably dropped in favor of keeping it simple).

How to Change Font Style

There are two things you can do to change the font-style of your Stick Note from Segoe Print to any other Font you like.

1. You can copy the text into a notepad window and change the font there to whatever you like and then copy the text back into the note and the font will stick.
2. Registry Tweak:
   1. Press Start and Type “REGEDIT” then press Enter
   2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts
   3. Export that key so you have a backup (Optional)
   4. Find Segoe Print (TrueType)
   5. Change the value to the file name of any other font that you wish to use that is already installed (navigate that registry key to find others).
   6. Restart the computer.

This will change the font-settings of Segoe Print to another font and where ever Segoe Print is being use, your newly selected font shall be used.

How to Format Text

This is more fun than changing the Font Style. By using a number of Shortcut Keys, you can very easily and neatly change your Sticky Notes appearance, thus making them more user friendly. Below is a List of Shortcut Keys that you can use to format your Sticky Notes:

Shortcut Key	Function
Ctrl+B	Bold text
Ctrl+I	Italic text
Ctrl+T	Strikethrough
Ctrl+U	Underlined text
Ctrl+Shift+L	Bulleted (press once) or Numbered (press twice) list (Press more for more options)
Ctrl+Shift+>	Increased text size
Ctrl+Shift+<	Decreased text size
Ctrl+A	Select all
Ctrl+Shift+A	Toggles all caps
Ctrl+L	Left aligns text
Ctrl+R	Right aligns text
Ctrl+E	Centers text
Ctrl+Scroll Wheel	Increase/Decrease text size
Ctrl+1	Single-space lines
Ctrl+2	Double-space lines
Ctrl+5	Set 1.5-line spacing
Ctrl+=	Subscript
Ctrl+Shift++	Superscript
Ctrl+Z	Undo
Ctrl+Y	Redo
Ctrl+X	Cut
Ctrl+C	Copy
Ctrl+V	Paste
Ctrl+N	New sticky note

Hope you liked this article. Please do share with us your experience with Sticky Notes.

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Increase Your Disk Space of Window 7 PC

Disk Clean up

The most important and easiest way to free disk space is to use a built-in tool of Windows 7 called the Disk Cleanup. It cleans up your disk by deleting temporary files that are piled up over a period of time. These files include:

• Temporary Internet files
• Recycle Bin
• Downloaded Program files
• Windows temporary files

You can start Disk Cleanup, by doing the following:

1. Click Start
2. Type “Disk Cleanup” (without quotes)
3. Select the drive you want to clean. Then click “OK”
4. Select your Desired Files
5. Click OK
6. System will ask to delete files. Click Delete files

Remove Unwanted Programs

Over the period of time one has to install different programs for different needs. If there are some programs installed on your machine that are not required any more, it is recommended that you un-install those programs to save disk space. Below is the method to un-install unused programs:

1. Click Start
2. Type “Uninstall a Program“
3. Hit Enter
4. Now select the program you want to un-install and hit Uninstall

Remove Unwanted Windows Features

Your Windows 7 OS is a complete package containing more solutions than you have problems. It has a bundle of built-in programs that you might not want to use. It is better to un-install those programs to save disk space. To do so, do the following:

1. Click Start
2. Type “Uninstall a Program“
3. Hit Enter
4. Click “Turn Windows features on or off“
5. Now un-check the feature you want to disable and hit OK

Disable Page File

Although this method is not recommended but if you are low on disk space you should go for it. Windows utilizes hard disk space when it gets low on memory. If you are in dire need of hard disk space then you can disable this feature. In order to disable the page file

1. Click Start
2. Type “Advance System Setting” (without quotes)
3. Hit Enter
4. Advance System Settings Dialogue Box will appear,Click Settings under Performance 
5. In the Performance Options Dialogue box, click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button under the Virtual Memory option.
6. Now in the Virtual Memory dialogue box, un-check the  Automatically manage paging file size for all drives option, and choose No Page option.

Again, I should remind you that this is not a recommended step. Only do it if you are in dire need of disk space.

Disable System Restore

Its better to disable system restore on drives other than C: drive. It will not have an effect on the size of C drive but you can find space in Drives other than C:. If you are in dire need of space in C drive too, then disable System Restore on All Drives. To do so:

1. Right Click Computer Icon on Desktop or Start Menu
2. Click Properties
3. Click System Protection
4. Select the drive on which you want to disable System Restore and Click Configure
5. Select Turn off system protection from appearing dialogue box and Click OK.

Disable Hibernate

This is my favorite way of freeing disk space. Hibernate is a windows feature that allows you to save your pc state before you shut down your computer. Hibernate is a good feature and is very helpful but unfortunately it takes 2-8 GB of precious disk space. There are cases when you don’t need this feature so it is recommended that you disable hibernate. To disable hibernate do the following:

1. Click Start
2. Type “cmd” (without quotes)
3. A list of files will appear, Right Click cmd and select Run as administrator
4. In the command prompt type “powercfg -h off” (without quotes)and hit enter.

You can get your wasted space back.

Remove All But The Most Recent Restore Point

Windows 7 keeps a record of Restore Points in the disk in case of emergency to retrieve your settings and data back. These restore points are created at particular time intervals as well as when you install some software such as device drivers.

1. Click Start
2. Type “Disk Cleanup” (without quotes)
3. Select the drive you want to clean. Then click “OK”
4. Click on “Cleanup System Files” button.
5. Select the drive in which you have installed Windows. Then click “OK”



Add caption

6. Click on “More Options” tab.
7. In the “System Restore and Shadow Copies” section, click on “Clean up..” button.
8. Click on “Delete” button.
9. Click “OK”.
10. Windows will now ask for confirmation to delete files. Click “Delete Files”.

You are done. Now only the latest restore point will be saved in your PC. All the old System Restore points will be deleted.

Delete %TEMP% Files

Although Disk Clean up is suppose to clean up TEMP folder, sometimes it just doesn’t work. To overcome this, you can delete these files yourself. The method is easy, just do the following

1. Click Start
2. Type %TEMP%
3. Hit Enter
4. A folder will appear, select all files by pressing CTRL + A
5. Now Hit the delete button. All the temp files will be deleted.
6. To ignore Recycle Bin press SHIFT + DEL

You might get a warning that a file cannot be deleted. It is because some programs are using those file. You should simply ignore those file and continue with the deletion.

NTFS Compression

The NTFS file compression option can compress files on your hard disk. This allows you to get more space on the disk. This is an effective option and can save a lot of disk space. To do so, just do the following:

1. Just right click a folder, hit Properties
2. Click the Advanced Button
3. Select Compress <pic>
4. Click OK

Cookies and Caches

Normally, the websites you visit keep some data on your  hard disk in form of Cookies. Cookies increase the website performance but in most cases these are useless and should be deleted to avoid becoming a victim of some hacker. Similarly, Caches are also maintained by web browsers to increase website performance. You can get rid of both of these to get some disk space back. To do so:

1. Click Start
2. Type “inetcpl.cpl” (without quotes) in the Start Search box
3. Press ENTER
4. On the General tab, click Delete under Browsing History in the Internet Properties dialog box.
5. In the Delete Browsing History dialog box, un-check all check boxes and check only Cookies
6. Click Delete

That’s it for today, hope you like it. If you want more, keep coming. Do let us know about these tips and how did they work out for you. Your comments are most appreciated.

Source: TecRux

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Microsoft launched Research Social Network So.cl

Microsoft’s famous FUSE labs launched its most hyped product So.cl (pronounced as social) last week. Contradictory to the previous statements, So.cl won’t be a rival to the Facebook or Google+.

According to Microsoft, So.cl will be an experimental social search project, focused on social search for the purpose of learning. The primary target will be students since it will give them a chance to share and collaborate the ideas from various web pages and other resources.

The main features of So.cl include social search, which is usually public and can be made private on demand. The search interface is made with the help of Bing. Users can create communities with like minded people around them and post pictures or data. The video chat room facility helps the community members to watch a video together.  It also offers public file sharing, with the most searched topic having the high priority. The interesting feature is that users with a Facebook or twitter account can collaborate their account with So.cl and start Searching! But for the time being, new users trying to login to the So.cl are greeted back with the message that the site is overcrowded.

Even though Microsoft says that So.cl won’t be a rival to Facebook, we cannot forget the fact that Facebook also began its journey as a small community search for a college.

What is So.cl?

So.cl (pronounced "social") is an experimental research project, developed by Microsoft’s FUSE Labs, focused on exploring the possibilities of social search for the purpose of learning.

• So.cl combines social networking and search, to help people find and share interesting web pages in the way students do when they work together.
• So.cl helps you create rich posts, by assembling montages of visual web content.
• To encourage interaction and collaboration, So.cl provides rich media sharing, and real time sharing of videos via "video parties."

We expect students to continue using products such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other existing social networks, as well as Bing, Google and other search tools. We hope to encourage students to re-imagine how our everyday communication and learning tools can be improved, by researching, learning and sharing in their everyday lives.

Who can join?

We are formally partnering with selected schools (including University of Washington, Syracuse University, and New York University).

However, anyone can participate in the FUSE Labs research community as several of our experiments are available for use on the web. For those who wish to be more involved with FUSE, please e-mail Socl@microsoft.com.

More Projects of Fuse Lab

So.cl

So.cl combines social networking with web browsing and search, for the purpose of learning.

CompanyCrowd

CompanyCrowd collects stories, media and content to create a living newspaper about the companies that are most important to you.

Montage

Explore Montage, a flexible web-based service. http://getmontage.net

Kodu

Kodu lets kids create creating games on the PC and XBOX via a simple visual programming language.

Spindex

Your entire social world in one page - find what's new, search, see your friends' trending topics.

Docs for Facebook

Discover, create, and share Microsoft Office documents with your Facebook friends.

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