Recursively List All Files with PowerShell

If you are working with PowerShell and need a fast way to list all files in a directory, including those buried in subfolders, this one-liner will work:

Get-ChildItem -Path . -Recurse -File | Select-Object FullName

This script performs a recursive search starting from the current directory (.), finds all files (excluding folders), and outputs their full paths.

PowerShell Tip: Bulk Appending File Extensions with One-Liner Magic

Ever found yourself staring at a folder full of files and wishing you could batch append them all with a .txt suffix? PowerShell makes this delightfully simple with a one-liner:

Get-ChildItem -File | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name + '.txt'}

To expand further to include files in all sub folders, use below instead.

Get-ChildItem -File -Recurse | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name + '.txt' }

If you wish to rollback what you just did, use the following:

Get-ChildItem -Path . -Recurse -File -Filter "*.txt" | ForEach-Object {
    $newName = [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($_.Name)
    Rename-Item -Path $_.FullName -NewName $newName
}

Feel free to replace the txt with a different one based on your needs!

Windows - Icon Not Showing Correctly Fix

If you find that icons of your applications are not showing correctly on your Windows 7, your Icon Cache may be corrupted. The Icon Cache or IconCache.db is a special database file that Windows uses to make drawing icons of applications faster without having to get from individual application each time.

To be able to get the icons displayed correctly again, IconCache.db has to be rebuilt.

1. Launch Task Manager.
2. Look for explorer.exe process and end it.
3. Locate IconCache.db and delete it. In Windows 7/8, the IconCache.db file can be found at C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Local\. (you may need to enable to show hidden files before you can locate IconCache.db).
4. From Task Manager, click on File > New Task (Run).
5. Type explorer.exe and then click on OK button.

Your icons should be back!

Unable to view Roles and Features in Server Manager after Windows Update

Server Manager on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Sever 2008 R2 may not be able to view Roles and Features after a Windows update. Did a Google search and chanced upon an article on Microsoft Knowledge base.

The cause of this issue is said to be due to some catalog files, manifest files or MUM files being corrupted on the computer. To resolve, you will need to download and run Microsoft Update Readiness Tool, run it, check %Systemroot%\Windows\logs\CBS\Checksur.log for corrupt information after the scan is completed, then replace corrupted package(s) that remains unfixed.

Read in details on Microsoft KB.

Microsoft Provides Workaround for Issues with KB3148812 WSUS Update

An important update from the Microsoft team on the KB3148812 WSUS Update.

Find the Wi-Fi network password in your saved list on Windows

There may be occasion you may have a second mobile device and would like to be connected to the Wi-Fi network but sadly, you could have forgotten the password completely. What you need to do now is to run a command on the Windows command prompt in administrative mode to reveal the already added Wi-Fi network password in clear.

Replace THE_SSID with your own Wi-Fi SSID.

The below will show details of the Wi-Fi network.

netsh wlan show profile name=THE_SSID key=clear

To see only the password ignoring the rest of the details, feed it with the findstr command like below.

netsh wlan show profile name=THE_SSID key=clear | findstr Key

For similar hack for Mac and Linux, read How to Find the Wi-Fi Password of your Current Network.

Restore wrong or unknown program icons in Windows 7 Start Menu

Should you see wrong or unknown program icons in your Windows 7 Start Menu, you may try the following steps to restore them.

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Copy and paste %userprofile%\AppData\Local onto the address bar.
3. Find and delete IconCache.db. This file is hidden by default.
4. Open Command Prompt.
5. Run taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe on Command Prompt.
6. Run start explorer on Command Prompt.

I hope this helps.

Get List of Installed Programs on Windows

If you ever need to do some reinstalling of Windows on your laptop but would like to backup the list of installed programs before formatting, the following will be useful.

1. Start Command Prompt.
2. Type wmic /output:"%userprofile%\Desktop\InstallList.txt" product get name,version on command prompt to run Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line tool.

This will generate a list of all installed programs and save it as a text file. Do note this may take some time depending on the number of installed programs you may have.

» Generate a List of Installed Programs in Windows | Help Desk Geek

Introducing the Windows 8.1 Update

Microsoft just unveiled Windows 8.1 Update 1. New features include an improved taskbar, better task switching, and Start Screen tweaks that focus on mouse and keyboard users. Opened applications will also come with title bar. This update certainly makes Windows 8 more "Windows".

The update will be made available via Windows Update on April 8.

Microsoft MS-DOS v1.1 and v2.0 Source Code

Microsoft released the source code for MS DOS 1.1 and 2.0 few days back. With the help of the Computer History Museum, the source codes are now made downloadable by the public.

On the same day, Microsoft also released source code for Word for Windows 1.1a.

» Microsoft MS-DOS early source code | Computer History Museum

Free ebook: Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals

Free ebook on Windows 8.1 from Microsoft themselves. Visit ebook page now.

How to Turn Off Thumbs.db From Appearing?

The auto creation of Thumbs.db files in folders with images can get annoying. Before burning photo albums into DVD-R, I often have to go around searching and deleting such files. This can also get annoying for web developers using version control software e.g. TortoiseGit and TortoiseSVN.

Eh .. Sometimes, deleting these files can get the "file is in use and cannot be deleted" prompt. Very annoying.

So what exactly is Thumbs.db? As quoted from Wikipedia,

On Microsoft Windows operating systems, starting with the IE4 Desktop Update for Win95/98, a thumbnail cache is used to store thumbnail images for Windows Explorer's thumbnail view. This speeds up the display of images as these smaller images do not need to be recalculated every time the user views the folder.

Yes we know the purpose of Thumbs.db but what if we still wish to turn off Thumbs.db from appearing? There is a way to do it by tweaking a setting on the Local Group Policy Editor.

1. From the Start Menu, click Run option. Or, you can use Win+R keyboard shortcut.
   
   
2. Type gpedit.msc and hit ENTER key. This will launch the Local Group Policy Editor.
   
   
3. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > then either Windows Explorer (Windows Vista/7) or File Explorer (Windows 8).
   
   
4. Look for "Turn off the caching of thumbnails in hidden thumbs.db files" key and double click on it.
   
   

   

   Local Group Policy Editor

5. Select Enabled and click OK.
   
   
   

» How to Switch Off the Thumbs.db Image Cache File in Windows | Sitepoint

Stop Windows from Restarting Your Computer After Windows Update

Almost always, Windows will always show the "your computer is going to restart in 15 minutes ..." prompt every time Windows Updates is performed. This can get annoying especially when the update setting is set to auto download and update. So I can we make the annoying prompt not to show?

The following fix should apply to both Windows 8 and 7.

1. Open your registry editor by typing regedit from your Start Menu → Run box.
2. Navigate to key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU. Many may see up to \Windows level. In that case, you will need to create new keys for \WindowsUpdate and \WindowsUpdate\AU.
3. Now, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers under the AU key. Give it a value of 1.
4. Reboot your machine and you are done.

NOTE: It is still your responsibility and is definitely recommended to reboot whenever you are ready to so the updates can be applied completely.

» Stop Windows from Restarting Your Computer After Updates | LifeHacker

How to dual boot Windows 8 with Windows 7?

Mashable has an article with screen captures on how to dual boot Windows 8 with Windows 7 without having the need to ditch Windows 7.

A brief summary on what are to be done:

1. Create a new empty partition.
2. Download Windows 8 from Microsoft as an ISO and burn it into a DVD.
3. Run the Windows 8 installer.
4. Choose to install into the new empty partition.
5. That's all!

Evolution of Windows

Source: [via]

Choosing Windows 8 and preparing your computer for it

Microsoft has officially launched their new revolutionary Windows 8 operating system. But before deciding whether if Windows 8 is right for you, you may wish to first find out which flavours (Windows RT, Windows 8 *, Windows 8 Pro) are right for you.

And especially if you have decided to download and install Windows 8 right onto your existing PC or laptop, this article on How to Prepare Your Computer for Windows 8 would be useful.

Watch Live at Microsoft Windows 8 launch event

Alternative direct link here.

Apple iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S III vs Motorola Droid RAZR HD vs Nokia Lumia 920

A quick chart from Mashable comparing the latest smartphones in the market.

List of Windows 8 Shortcuts

Lifted from Yash's Blog, the below is a list of Windows 8 shortcuts. Hope it helps.

Windows key: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Windows key + C: Access the charms bar
Windows key + Tab: Access the Modern Desktop Taskbar
Windows key + I: Access the Settings charm
Windows key + H: Access the Share charm
Windows key + K: Access the Devices charm
Windows key + Q: Access the Apps Search screen
Windows key + F: Access the Files Search screen
Windows key + W: Access the Settings Search screen
Windows key + P: Access the Second Screen bar
Windows key + Z: Brings up the App Bar when you have a Modern Desktop App running
Windows key + X: Access the Windows Tools Menu
Windows key + O: Lock screen orientation
Windows key + . : Move the screen split to the right
Windows key + Shift + . : Move the screen split to the left
Windows key + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications
Windows key + Shift + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
Windows key + PrtScn: Takes a screenshot of the screen and automatically saves it in the Pictures folder as Screenshot
Windows key + Enter: Launch Narrator    
Windows key + E: Open Computer
Windows key + R: Open the Run dialog box
Windows key + U: Open Ease of Access Center
Windows key + Ctrl + F: Open Find Computers dialog box
Windows key + Pause/Break: Open the System page
Windows key + 1..10: Launch a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Shift + 1..10: Launch a new instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Ctrl + 1..10: Access the last active instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Alt + 1..10: Access the Jump List of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + B: Select the first item in the Notification Area and then use the arrow keys to cycle through the items Press Enter to open the selected item
Windows key + Ctrl + B: Access the program that is displaying a message in the Notification Area
Windows key + T: Cycle through the items on the Taskbar
Windows key + M: Minimize all windows
Windows key + Shift + M: Restore all minimized windows
Windows key + D: Show/Hide Desktop (minimize/restore all windows)
Windows key + L: Lock computer
Windows key + Up Arrow: Maximize current window
Windows key + Down Arrow: Minimize/restore current window
Windows key + Home: Minimize all but the current window
Windows key + Left Arrow: Tile window on the left side of the screen
Windows key + Right Arrow: Tile window on the right side of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Up Arrow: Extend current window from the top to the bottom of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Left/Right Arrow: Move the current window from one monitor to the next
Windows key + F1: Launch Windows Help and Support

PageUp: Scroll forward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
PageDown: Scroll backward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
Esc: Close  a charm
Ctrl + Esc: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Activate the Semantic Zoom on the Modern Desktop screen

Alt: Display a hidden Menu Bar
Alt + D: Select the Address Bar
Alt + P: Display the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
Alt + Tab: Cycle forward through open windows
Alt + Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through open windows
Alt + F: Close the current window Open the Shut Down Windows dialog box from the Desktop
Alt + Spacebar: Access the Shortcut menu for current window
Alt + Esc: Cycle between open programs in the order that they were opened
Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box of the selected item
Alt + PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the active Window and place it in the clipboard
Alt + Up Arrow: Move up one folder level in Windows Explorer (Like the Up Arrow in XP)
Alt + Left Arrow: Display the previous folder
Alt + Right Arrow: Display the next folder
Shift + Insert: CD/DVD Load CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
Shift + Delete: Permanently delete the item (rather than sending it to the Recycle Bin)
Shift + F6: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + F10: Access the context menu for the selected item
Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + Click: Select a consecutive group of items
Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program
Shift + Right-click on a Taskbar button: Access the context menu for the selected item
Ctrl + A: Select all items
Ctrl + C: Copy the selected item
Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
Ctrl + V: Paste the selected item
Ctrl + D: Delete selected item
Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
Ctrl + N: Open a new window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + W: Close current window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + E: Select the Search box in the upper right corner of a window
Ctrl + Shift + N: Create new folder
Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open the Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use arrow keys to cycle through open windows
Ctrl + Alt + Delete: Access the Windows Security screen
Ctrl + Click: Select multiple individual items
Ctrl + Click and drag an item: Copies that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Shift + Click and drag an item: Creates a shortcut for that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Tab:  Move forward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move backward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program as an Administrator
Ctrl + Click on a grouped Taskbar button: Cycle through the instances of a program in the group
F1: Display Help
F2: Rename a file
F3: Open Search
F4: Display the Address Bar list
F5: Refresh display
F6: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
F7: Display command history in a Command Prompt
F10: Display hidden Menu Bar
F11: Toggle full screen display
Tab: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the entire screen and place it in the clipboard
Home: Move to the top of the active window
End: Move to the bottom of the active window
Delete: Delete the selected item
Backspace: Display the previous folder in Windows Explorer  Move up one folder level in Open or Save dialog box
Esc: Close a dialog box
Num Lock Enabled + Plus (+): Display the contents of the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Minus (-): Collapse the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Asterisk (*): Expand all subfolders under the selected folder

Press Shift 5 times: Turn StickyKeys on or off
Hold down right Shift for 8 seconds: Turn FilterKeys on or off
Hold down Num Lock for 5 seconds: Turn ToggleKeys on or off

Microsoft Surface Keynote

Watch the following video for Microsoft keynote on the latest tablet offering - Microsoft Surface.

Or the following from the Microsoft introductory video on Surface.