Delete Unwanted Items In The Context Menu

What is a context menu?

The menu which appears when you right click on the desktop or folder or file is the context menu. Sometimes, when we install certain applications, some extra items make an appearance in the context menu making it crowded and very difficult to use.

To delete these items and clean up your context menus, we have to edit the registry.

What is a registry?

Windows Registry is  basically a database which contains important information and configuration settings for  the operating system, installed programs and system hardware.

Registry hacking should be done carefully because incorrectly changing registry settings can cause problems in the system. 

Before we hack into the registry, we should first create a backup of the existing registry. Registry Backup is recommended every 3 months regardless of whether you edit your registry or not.

How To Backup Your Registry:

1. Type regedit in the Start Menu. Or open Run ( Windows Key + R ) and type regedit and click OK.

The following window will open.

2. Select Windows at the top of the list and right click on it. Select Export.

3.Name the file and select the location where you want to save your backup and click on save.

4. You now have a backup of your registry!

Now on to the hacking part! 

A few days back, I had installed Advanced System Care, a PC repair tool. Now, when i right click on folders and files, I have the Advanced System Care menu items in the context menu. I'm going to remove the items by editing the registry.

Open regedit by typing in the Start Menu or in Run.

For Files:

The following steps will let you delete unwanted menu items that appear when you right click on files.

1. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ ContextMenuHandlers 

Refer to the image below to identify the correct folder.

2. Create a backup of the unwanted folder just in case you want it back later. Right click on the folder and click on Export. Name it and save it the previous Registry Folder. 

3. Now right click on the folder again and click on Delete.

4. You will be asked if you're sure you want to delete the folder. Click  on Yes.

Now when you right click on files, deleted items will not appear in the context menu.

For Folders:

The following steps will let you delete unwanted items that appear when you right click on folders.

1. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shellex\contextmenuhandlers

Refer to the image below to identify the correct folder.

2. Create a backup of the folder by following the steps given above.

3. Right click on the unwanted folder and delete it.

The deleted items will not appear in the context menu when you right click on a folder now.

Be sure to restart your system after making the above changes.

The Windows right click context menus can be customized in a lot of ways about which I will be posting in the following weeks.

Tip:

For easy access, you can pin the Run command to your Start Menu. Right click on your taskbar and click on Properties. Click on Start Menu tab in the window and then click on Customize. Scroll down the list until you see Run. Check the Run box and click OK. Now you have the Run command on your Start Menu!

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Use Your Pendrive As Extra RAM For Your PC

Did you know that you can use your Pendrive as a temporary RAM for your PC? Using ReadyBoost, you can do that now. This is useful if your system has low RAM. This feature is can speed up your PC. 
ReadyBoost was first introduced in Windows Vista and is available in Windows 7 too. 
This trick can be used in Windows XP also, but you need to download a tool for that. More about that later.


First, we'll see how to use this feature in Windows Vista and Windows 7.


Windows Vista/7:

1. Plug in your Pendrive to  your PC. It is preferable that you have at least 1 GB free space on your Pendrive.


2. Right click on your Pendrive and select Properties.

3. Click on the Ready Boost tab.

4. Here, select Use This Device. If you select Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost, the system will use all the free space on your Pendrive for this purpose.


5. After selecting Use This Device, move the bar below to allot space to use as RAM. If you have 2GB free space then give it 2084 MB. If you have more, then give it 4094MB.

6. Click Apply and then OK. Now restart your system. That's it. 


You're system will now be using your Pendrive for extra RAM. This will speed up your PC. Systems with low RAM will be able to see significant changes. 
If you want to stop using it, you just have to open Properties again and select Do not use this in the ReadyBoost tab.


Windows XP:
For those of you who are using Windows XP, you can use the eboostr, a tool using which you can use your Pendrive for extra RAM.
To download, click on the below link.
Download eboostr


Now you can speed up your PC without any hardware upgrades! :)

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3 Windows Tricks That Are Useful

God Mode


Windows has a trick which gets almost all of the windows settings in one place so you don't have to search for what you want every time.


1. Create a folder on your Desktop. 

2. Rename it to the following code. GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}  Press Enter.

You can change the text 'GodMode' to anything you want like, AllSettings or something like that.


3. The Folder Icon will change to the Setting Icon. Just open it and you will see all your Windows settings in one place for easy access. GodMode can be created anywhere on your computer, not just on your desktop.

This neat little trick works on Windows 7, 32 and 64 bit versions and also on Windows Vista 32 bit. I have read that this trick crashes the 64 bit version of Vista, so be careful.

In Built Administrator Account

Imagine this scenario. You have the Administrator account in your PC and one day something happens and you start having problems and the only way you can fix the problems is by using another Administrator account.

Since you are the only person with an Admin account in your PC, you may think this is impossible. 

There is a solution to this problem. Windows has an in built Administrator account which is disabled by default. Using this account, you can fix your problems. You can enable it by following these steps.

1. Open Command Prompt. Right Click on cmd and click on Run As Administrator.

2. Type net users administrator /active:yes  and press Enter. You will get a message saying The Command Completed Successfully.

Now you can see in your Log on screen that an Administrator account has been created.This account doesn't have a password by default. 

Windows has this account disabled by default due to security purposes. It is recommended that you disable the account after you use it.

To disable the Administrator account, Repeat Step 1. 

Then type net users administrator /active:no and press Enter. Now the Admin account is disabled.

Shortcut for Task Manager

If you want to get easy access to Task Manager without going the standard way i.e., Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then clicking on Task Manager, this is a little trick for you.

Just right-click on your Taskbar and click on Start Task Manager.

It's that simple. :)

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Basics Of PC Maintenance

How to Defrag Your PC:

When you have been using your computer for a long time, fragmentation happens to your hard drive because we keep modifying, saving and deleting files. Fragmentation is nothing but storing of a file in different areas of memory in a hard disk.

Frequent changes to a file, will lead to fragmentation of both the file and the hard disk. Now, the computer has to look in different locations every time you open that file. This slows down your computer.

A defragmenter is a program which helps the computer in organizing the files, so that the files can be accessed more efficiently.

This is just a minor bit of maintenance. It helps take care of small problems. The best way to Defrag your PC is by using Windows built in Disc Defragmenter.

Windows Disk Defragmenter:

1.Open your Start Menu and type in Disc Defragmenter and open it.

2. Click and open it.

3. Analyze each disc and then click on Defragment disc.

4. You can also schedule defragmentation to be done monthly or weekly. Click on Configure schedule.

5. Set Frequency, Day and Time. Click on Select Disks and make sure that the select all discs checkbox is checked.

6. Click ok and exit. Now the defragmenter will run every week or month at the time you specified, automatically.

Some other tools which are used to Defragment a PC:

Auslogics Disc Defrag

Piriform's Defraggler

If for some reason you don't want to use Windows' Defragmenter, you can download the above tools and use them.

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Access Your Removable Drive (Pen Drive) Contents Directly From Your Taskbar

When you connect a Removable device to your computer, you have to access it by going to My Computer and clicking on the Drive to view the contents. For some lazy people like me, there is an easy way to access the device contents directly from the Taskbar.

1. Right click on the desktop and create a new text document.

2. Rename the text document as 'drive letter.exe' which means if your removable drive letter is H, then name it as Drive H.exe. If your drive letter is I, then name it as Drive I.exe.

3. A message will appear asking you to confirm. Click Yes.

4. The document is now a .exe (executable) file. Now, right click on the file and select Pin To Taskbar.

5. The file will be pinned to your Taskbar. Right Click on it and Right click again on Drive I and select Properties.

6. Change the Target to I:\ and Start in to I: as shown below. Then click on the Change Icon button.

7. Change the icon of the file to whichever icon you like and click Apply and then Ok. Done!

Now to access your Removable Drive contents, you just have to click on the icon in your Taskbar. :)

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Use Facebook's Timeline to see who has deleted you

Update: Facebook has now fixed the Bug that allowed users to see which friends had deleted them. Now the people who are no longer friends have been removed from the list. Damn! :P




It's in the human nature to be paranoid about friendships. Every individual who uses Facebook, is guilty of trying to find out who has deleted them on Facebook at some point in his/her life. There are some applications that let you check who has deleted in you in Facebook, which are not always reliable. Now we have a foolproof method to stop being paranoid and clear our doubts.

Using the new timeline, that Facebook has unveiled a few days back, it is possible to see who has unfriended you over the years.

1. Select a year from the right corner of your timeline.

2. Go to your friends box which is located at the bottom. Keep scrolling through the year to find it.

3.  Click on the Made "x" New Friends on the friends box.

4. Now you will see the list of friends. Beside each friend's name, you will see a box showing you're friends.

5. If a friend has deleted you, you will see an Add Friend button beside their name.

See? Facebook Timeline does have its uses. :D

For people who are using the developer's version, you can try this out right now or you can wait for the official Facebook Timeline release on 29th September. Have fun! :)

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