Tips & Tricks

By Sandra Rosenzweig
     
      Microsoft Tweak UI PowerToys are programs that Microsoft developers work on after a product has been released. Microsoft disavows any responsibility for these little programs and doesn't even provide online help for them. There are PowerToys for Windows Mobile (Pocket PC) gadgets. There are PowerToys for Microsoft Office OneNote, and Windows 2000, and Windows XP, and ... today, we are praising the Windows XP Tweak UI PowerToy. Install this tiny program and you'll have the power to change the folders and hard drives listed vertically along the sides of Open and Save dialog boxes. (For example, my My Documents folder is on my H:\ drive, not on C:\ where Windows XP expects it. With Tweak UI, I changed the official location of this folder.) Having trouble finding your cursor? I often do when I'm using laptops. After going into the Mouse element in the Control Panel and picking Extra-large cursors, tell Tweak UI to add shadows to the cursor for greater visibility. Want to change the way the shortcut icons look on your desktop? Choose among three styles in Tweak UI. You could easily live without Tweak UI, but life's too short to try.
     

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