Move the Recycle Bin to the Taskbar in Windows 7

After writing last week’s blog, “Take Advantage of the Taskbar Features in Windows 7,” I found myself focusing on the taskbar to make sure that I was taking advantage of all the features it has to offer. While I was doing so, I began to think about the only icon that I had on the desktop — the Recycle Bin — and wonder if there was a way to put the Recycle Bin on the taskbar.

When the Recycle Bin first made its appearance in Windows 95, I really enjoyed dragging and dropping unneeded files on the trash can icon and watching them disappear. It was just so cool! (Keep in mind that was 15 years ago and the drag-and-drop capability was a new feature.)

However, more often than not, the desktop and the Recycle Bin icon were buried behind a bunch of open windows, and as time went by and the operating system evolved, I began using the other methods to delete files. Most often, I would select a file and click the red X Delete button on Windows Explorer’s toolbar. I also would right-click on a file and select the Delete command, or after selecting a file just press the [Delete] key on the keyboard. I still use these techniques today as I am sure that most of you do too.

However, there’s just something that is innately satisfying about dragging a file to the trash can icon and dropping it in there. My wife says that it must be a guy thing. And then she reminds me of how excited my buddies and I get throwing beer cans halfway across the room to the trash can in the corner on Poker Game nights. We raise our fists in the air and yell “Score!” when someone makes it in.

Anyway, I discovered a way to put a working copy of the Recycle Bin on the taskbar in the lower right corner adjacent to the notification area. That way it is always visible on the screen no matter how many open windows you have on the desktop.
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Take advantage of the Taskbar features in Windows 7

As you may remember, back in the Windows 3.x days, Microsoft gave the operating system the ability to run multiple programs at the same time, which was a revolutionary change. Unfortunately, taking advantage of the new capability was rather difficult because the operating system didn’t provide us with a good method for keeping track of, or switching between, all the running programs.

Fortunately, in Windows 7, Microsoft has provided us with several very cool, very graphical methods for switching between open windows or tasks. Of course, Windows Flip 3D, which uses visual depth to give you a very interesting way of switching, immediately comes to mind when speaking of new task-switching features. However, the tried-and-true taskbar has received many new and improved features in Windows 7 that not only enhance task switching but add a host of other features designed to improve the overall usability of the operating system.

However, it is all too easy to simply focus on the basic aspects of the taskbar and overlook all the other neat features. Read more.

Add the Copy To and Move To folder commands to the Windows Explorer context menu

After last week’s blog, Move and Copy files the old tried-and-true way in Windows 7, was published, several folks asked about adding the Copy To Folder and Move To Folder commands to the context menu and to Windows Explorer’s toolbar, just like back in the Windows XP days. Fortunately, adding the commands to the context menu in Windows 7 is possible with a pretty straightforward registry edit. However, adding the commands to the toolbar in Windows Explorer isn’t as easy as it was back then.

I’ll show you how to add the Copy To Folder and Move To Folder commands to Windows Explorer’s context menu. I’ll also take a closer look at the context sensitive features of the toolbar in Windows 7’s version of Windows Explorer. Read more.

Move and Copy files the old tried-and-true way in Windows 7

While I’ve become quite enamored with using Aero Snap and my simulated dual-pane file manager technique, when copying and moving files and folders from one location to another, there are times when I reach back and use one of the tried-and-true techniques from Windows days gone by. Of course, I’m talking about the good old Send To command and the Copy To Folder and Move To Folder commands.

I happened to mention these old commands to a friend of mine, and she looked at me with a surprised expression and exclaimed that she had all but forgotten about those commands. She then told me that she always uses the Copy/Cut and Paste commands when it comes to copying and moving files. I asked around and discovered that she isn’t the only one. Read more.

Unlock missing screen saver configuration settings in Windows 7

Unfortunately, none of the Windows 7 screen savers provides any configuration settings with which you could customize the display. As such, I sat down over the weekend and dug out the three HTML applications (HTA) that I created in the Vista time frame and refreshed them to provide a simple user interface for configuring Windows 7’s screen savers. Read more.

Troubleshoot a wireless connection in Windows 7 with a firmware upgrade

Like many folks out there, my father has been a Microsoft Windows XP holdout. He’s upgraded to newer and more powerful machines several times over the years to keep pace with his computerized photography hobby, but each time, he has installed Windows XP. I don’t blame him for skipping Vista as it was notoriously out of whack with several of his favorite photography programs.

This past weekend, I finally succeeded in getting him to make the move to Windows 7 on the laptop, but only as long as we set it as a Windows XP/Windows 7 dual-boot system.

Setting up the dual-boot configuration was a breeze, and soon we were booting up Windows 7 Ultimate on his laptop. Everything was going smoothly, and I was extolling the benefits of Windows 7 with a big smile on my face until the laptop attempted to connect to his wireless network.

At that moment, the whole network came tumbling down, and I was soon embroiled in one of the trickiest troubleshooting expeditions I have been involved in for some time. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending, and everything is now working fine. But, because this type of situation could easily befall and befuddle others out there, I thought that I would chronicle my trials and tribulations in an effort to save others from this fate. Read more.

Check out the Windows 7 applet replacements in Windows Live Essentials

When Microsoft was designing Windows 7, they decided to strip out some of the applets that have been a part of the Windows operating system for quite some time. The four applets that are no longer part of the operating system are Windows Mail, Windows Calendar, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker. Instead, Microsoft moved these applets to the cloud and rebranded them as Windows Live Essentials.

So, how well do the Windows 7 applet replacements work? Actually, very well! Read more.