One of the Best Windows Customisation Tools
May 15, 2011 at 12:50 pm
You’ve probably got your operating system set up exactly as you like it; the file explorer shows the bits you care about, the desktop is a haven of organisation (or chaos, depending on how you like it) and the computer, over time, has become unique to you. But here’s the thing: if, like the majority of computer users, you’re a Windows-person, there is so much more you could fine tune to make that OS your own.
We won’t lie: we like everything to be just right, down to the last detail. Whether it’s a new website design, the latest poster we designed or even the office PC we just OC’ed.
That’s the reason we started using Ultimate Windows Tweaker a while back and absolutely loved it.
UWT works in Windows Vista (ugh…) and Windows 7 – Sorry XP fans! The software comes as a 300-and-something KB executable that requires no installing. Despite the tiny file size, this suite packs a powerful punch. Boasting over 150 tweaking, tuning and modification options, this tool can massively improve your experience of the Windows platform.
Tuning options are categorised into Personalisation, User Accounts & UAC, System Performance, Security Settings, Network Tweaks, Internet Explorer and Additional Tweaks. Each category has more checkboxes than you can wave a cursor at – plenty to keep even the hardest-to-please tweakers busy for a while.
Get Tweaking
UWT is completely free and available from several sources:
- Direct from The Windows Club:
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultim…indows-7-vista - Mirrored on CNET Downloads:
http://download.cnet.com/Ultimate-…4-10915128.html - PCWorld Utility Downloads:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/f…escription.html
Recommended Tweaks
We’ve been playing with UWT for a while now and have found some tweaks that we’d suggest to anyone on Windows:
- Personalisation » Enable check boxes to select items
This miniscule add-on alters Windows Explorer to show a check box next to each file or item. These can then be used to make multiple selections with great ease, requiring just the mouse. - User Accounts & UAC » Enable built-in Administrator account
Although switching between user accounts can be a somewhat clunky operation, if you were able to migrate into the account created by this option you could completely bypass the extremely irritating UAC, as well as unlocking a few other useful features. - Additional Tweaks » Show "Open Command Window Here"
If you’re the kind of PC user who uses the command prompt semi-regularly, you’ll want to turn this on. This adds the aforementioned option to the context menu of any folder in Windows Explorer. If you use command prompt for – and this is only an example – batch rename operations, this little tweak really comes into its own.
Jason
May 15, 2011 at 16:33
On your second recommended tweak: if you didn’t want to install extra software you can turn this account on by running Command Prompt and typing
net user Administrator /active:yesMake sure you right click on Command Prompt and select ‘Run as Admin’ or this won’t work
Mark (in reply to Jason)
May 15, 2011 at 20:41
That’s a good point.
The Administrator account is incredibly useful (oh how we hate UAC), but if people aren’t keen on downloading extra software this is a useful tip for them.