Tweak UI For The Uninitiated

As mentioned in my last missive, before moving on to further Housekeeping, I wanted to say a few things about the Power Tool, Tweak UI. This can be downloaded from Microsoft, however it does not support the program officially. Not to worry; it has worked well for millions and you will find it on almost all computers.

You can get Tweak UI for XP from the Microsoft Power Toys site. It is listed on the right hand side of the page. There are also versions of this tool for other Windows versions; simply Google to find these.

Once you have installed the program and open it, you will see a list on the left hand side and descriptions and opportunities to customize settings on the right hand side.

You can change such things as mouse features, Internet Explorer settings, and just about anything else you can think of. If you have broken icons on your desktop, there is a tab that will repair them.

The General tab has check boxes mainly for changing the behavior of menu items and some mouse functions. The mouse tab allows you to change the speed of your cursor and double click functions along with wheel functions.
One of my favorite items is under the Explorer title. I dislike the small errors that Windows puts on desktop shortcut icons. In the Explorer section you can check a box that will eliminate these arrows. I would get the program if only for that feature alone.

You know how sometimes you can become brain dead and forget whether you need to put a forward or backward slash? Well, this even has a setting that will do that for you. Under the Internet Explorer section, it has a box that you can check to autocorrect backslashes to slashes. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life…

You can determine how your drives are displayed in My Computer and a myriad of other settings. One could go on and on, even down to whether or not you wish your name to be displayed on the welcome screen.

Some of you may be wondering “why is she bringing up Tweak UI, everybody knows about it?” It’s kind of like watching television around Thanksgiving and seeing all of the instructions on how to cook a turkey. I used to think “why do they do that every year?” I thought that by now everyone would know how to cook a turkey. But you need to remember that, every day, there are new computer users and new turkey cookers added to the pile. Just because I know how to cook a turkey doesn’t mean my daughter does, and just because you have Tweak UI doesn’t mean that Mr. Smith down the street, who just got his first computer, has any idea that it even exists.

There is much more in this small program that is of value and I suggest that you experiment and play with it. Make sure you read the installation instructions carefully and install as instructed. I promise you will not be sorry to have this little gem on your computer.

Next article I will return to give you a bit more housecleaning tips and tricks, so stay tuned!