With the rapid proliferation of Internet, more and more Malware attacks are being faced by us. Some of them can be detected, stopped and removed by inspecting the processes running in your system through Windows Task Manager (Use Ctrl+Alt+Del) and then click on Task Manager Processes.

Now comes the interesting part. If you know this fact, then the creators of the Malware also know this fact. And hence they try all ways and means to disguise themselves and make it difficult for you to discover them. One of the tricks used by them is to disable your Windows Task Manager so that you are not in a position to check for the malicious processes being run by the malware.

So what do you do then ?

If this happens to you, then you can easily Enable Task Manager by following these simple Registry Tweaks.

Follow these steps.

• Click Start > Click Run
• Type REGEDIT > OK to open the Registry Editor utility.
• Browse to the following key:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system
• Righ pane will show the value: DisableTaskMgr. Right click on it and select Delete.
• Repeat the above steps for the following key:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system
• Close the Registry by choosing File | Exit
• Now you should be able to use Task MAnager. If it is still not opening, try to reboot your system in Safe Mode and repeat the above mentioned steps.

The ribbon structure of commands in MS Office 2007 is liked by most for it provides you easy accessibility of most of the MS Office commands. But still there are lots of commands and features in MS Office products, which are not easy to search. I always had wished that there could have been a search feature, which would have searched the appropriate command for my requirement.

Now, at last, there is a MS Office addon, which does the job perfect for me.

Welcome to Search Command Addon, from officelabs.com. It is just a 2.4 MB download, which is free. You can download it and install it on your system. This will add a Search Command menu item on the menu bar of your MS Word, MS Excel and MS Powerpoint. If you click it, a new ribbon is opened, which has a search box on the left side.

You can type any of your query here. For instance, I was looking for the command on how to watermark an MS Word page. So, I typed a query "Watermark", and it was instantaneous to give me most of the buttons related to Watermark command on the ribbon.

This also has the capability to suggest you the appropriate command, if you are not knowing the exact name of the command / functionality you want to use.

Search Command Home Page | Download | FAQ

(Click to see full image)

Recent Document List is a useful feature in MS Office products as it allows you to access your recently opened files quickly.

But this useful feature sometimes becomes a security concern if you are working on a system which is accessible to others, while your are away from it. For instance, if you are working on an office computer, then, somebody else may spy upon you and see the files, which you have recently worked upon.

The best option is to clean the recently opened document list.

How to do that ?

A few simple steps.

• Open MS Word 2007 > Click the round Office Button on the top of the menu.
• Click on the ‘Word Options’ button at the bottom of the pop up box.
• ‘Word Option’ window will open. Click on the ‘Advanced’ Tab.
• Scroll down to find the ‘Display’ group. Look for the ‘Show this number of recent documents’ to ‘0′ or any other desired value.
• Save the settings.

Windows Internet Explorer is still the most popular Internet Browser despite the availability of much better and secured browsers like Firefox and Opera.

With the rapid increase in the bandwidths and rapid proliferation of Internet, most of the time Windows users spend a large part of their PC time on Internet. Hence small tips to increase the speed of your Internet Browsing, will actually make your windows run faster.

There are lots of tips available on this blog on how to make Windows faster and how to make your firefox run faster. Just Search. With this tip we are telling you how to make Internet Explorer run faster.

Related:Make your Windows XP Computer run faster, How to Speed Up Windows XP

How to speed up IE to run your windows faster

It is an old trick, but still useful. This is a simple Registry edit, which hardly takes you two minutes to configure. Follow these simple steps.

• Go to Start > Run.
• Type regedit and hit Enter.
• Select HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version > Internet Settings
• Increase the values (DECIMAL) from default to a higher value e.g. 10

That’s it. Simple.

This blog had earlier carried a post about how to Auto logon for Windows XP.

With many people now switching over to Windows Vista from XP, I thought it appropriate to write a tip on how to Auto logon in Windows Vista. This is also a simple trick.

Click on Start Menu > Run.

Type netplwiz in the Dialog Box and hit Enter. Following Window will open.

Uncheck “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer” check box.

Click Apply.

You will be prompted to enter the Username and Password of the account to which you want to activate Auto Logon in Windows Vista. [If no password, then simple press Enter].

Click OK.

Simple steps, but very useful. These small tips here and there save you lots of time and hassles and make your digital life more productive.

Selecting Multiple files from taskbar is often a necessary requirement.

If you are like me, you must be having many windows open in your task bar at a time. And many times, you must be requiring them to open side-by-side in order to work on both of them simultaneously.

One way is to resize them, and place them side-by-side manually.

But, there is a simple solution.

Hold down the CTRL key, and now you can select multiple windows from your task bar. Right click on any of them, and you will have many options for the placement of these windows. You can Cascade, Stack or place them side-by-side.

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Try it, it is super quick way, and saves your precious one minute.

Don’t go by the headline of this post. This is my personal thinking.

Microsoft Windows Advisor BETA is the recent system maintenance tool (Do we really need that ?) from Microsoft at MS Connect. It continuously runs in the background on your PC and claimed to be checking for potential errors and problems. Whenever it encounters such a problem, it notifies you about it and gives you some simple to do solutions for your problem.

At least, what it is meant for. Right now the service is in BETA, and you need an invitation to use that service.
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“Windows Advisor is an easy-to-use self-help tool that notifies users about problems on their PCs and helps fix them. Windows Advisor scans users’ PCs continuously, notifies them about important issues, and, when possible, suggests easy fix solutions. The program also provides users with self-help solutions, such as including a one-click checkup function that enables them to check their PCs whenever they like; tips and tutorials that teach users how to perform certain actions on their PCs; and a toolbox that concentrates the important tools that are found in the operating system into one easy-to-find location.”

Download Windows Advisor Beta for Windows XP and Vista [13MB] from here [Microsoft site]

Frankly speaking, I have not yet tested the program, so I am not in a position to speak on its pros and cons. But two quick thoughts come to my mind. One is the huge vulnerability you are exposing your system to. Although it is Microsoft, but will you take such a risk even with Microsoft. I am a bit hesitant. And secondly, the error messaging and reporting ofall Microsoft products is so pathetic, that I thought it would be better to let it go.

What do you think ?