Trick To Enable/Unlock Hidden Themes In Windows 7

Windows 7 has been a real delight for the eyes due to its excellent graphics.By defualt Windows 7 has 5 themes enabled for all countries but there are additional themes which are country specific and enabled according to your demographic location.In this tutorial I will show you how to enable/unlock the country specific hidden themes in windows 7.

Once enabled these themes will always be available to you.There are two ways to enable these hidden themes.I will explain both of them to you and you can use any one of them whichever you find easy.

Here is the step by step tutorial with screenshots on how to Enable/Unlock Hidden Themes In Windows 7

Method 1:-

1.Goto Control Panel.
2.Click on Folder Options.
 
Note:- If Folder options is not available ,change the view to large icons at top-right corner of the screen



3.Now Click On the View tab.



4.Now uncheck the box Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).



5.It will show you a warning.Click Yes.



6.Now Goto C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\
7.Inside this folder you will see folders with name MCT-XX where XX will be AU,CA etc.These are the country codes in which these themes are automatically available.
8.Inside each MCT-XX you will see a Theme folder.Open it and click on the .theme file to unlock it.
9.Once unlocked the theme will be available to you in personalization option.

METHOD 2:- This is a simple method as compared to the above method

1.Open Notepad
2.Copy and Paste the following code into it.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\InstalledThemes\MCT]
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-AU\\Theme\\AU.theme”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-CA\\Theme\\CA.theme”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-GB\\Theme\\GB.theme”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-US\\Theme\\US.theme”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-ZA\\Theme\\ZA.theme”=””

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\KnownFolders\Windows Wallpapers\MergeFolders]
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-AU\\Wallpaper”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-CA\\Wallpaper”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-GB\\Wallpaper”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-US\\Wallpaper”=””
“%windir%\\Globalization\\MCT\\MCT-ZA\\Wallpaper”=””

3.Save it with the name allregional.reg
4.Now double click on it.It will ask for your permission to add the file to registry.Click on Yes.
5.Right click on desktop and select personolize.You new themes will be available to you.

Axcrypt: Freeware Software To Encrypt Files and folders

Have you ever felt the need to encrypt your files and folders to protect your secret data like I use to have a lot of hacking softwares  and guides on my computer that are only for my personal use.
So if you have some secret and special personal data that needs to be protected/Encrypted then I have a freeware solution for you i.e Axcrypt.It is one of the best freeware software to encrypt your files and folders.

If you are using Windows 7 then you should also read my post on how to Lock drives and encrypt  files and folders.
Now I will show you all the magnificent features that Axcrypt provides you for the encryption of your files and folders

§  Click here to download Axcrypt (only 1.4 mb)
§  Now install the software and follow the instructions.
§  Put the data that you want to encrypt into a folder and right click on it.


§  Now click on Axcrypt-> Encrypt



§  Click ok and now it will ask for you to enter passphrase.Enter and confirm your passphrase.




§  Now click ok and within minutes it will encrypt your data.
§  Now open your folder and and you will notice that the icons of your files have been changed.



§  Now it will ask for a password every time somebody tries to open it
§  While the above encryption features are provided by other softwares also the special feature of Acrypt is that if you create a key file and store it into a usb drive then it will only open the encrypted files if and only if a correct path to the key file is provided otherwise it will not open the encryption even if the correct password is provided.
So the files can now only be opened by the combination of correct password and correct path to the key file.



Note:- If you create a key file please do save another copy at some safer place because if you you loose it then your encrypted data cannot be opened by any means
Another feature of Axcrypt is that it provides a file shredder using which you can permanently and securely delete your files and folders which cannot be recovered by using any data recovery software.To use it right click on the file or folder and then Axcrypt->Shred and Delete

How To Encrypt Files And Folders In Windows 7

Encryption is a method to protect your files from unauthorized access.
Windows 7 has inbuilt Encryption capabilities so that you don’t have spend extra money on these type of softwares.
File encryption is becoming more and more important these days.
If you fear that somebody may transfer your important data from your computer then go for windows encryption.The person is still able to transfer your data but they will never be able to read/open that data because it is encrypted and it cannot be opened without private encryption key.
Encryption is the safest Protection for files and folders that windows 7 provides to its users.
Now,lets start the step by step tutorial with screen shots on how to encrypt files and folders in windows 7.


1.Right click on the folder you want to encrypt and then click on properties.





2.In the properties dialog click on Advanced under the general tab.



3.After clicking on advanced you will see a prompt,check the box in the prompt which says Encrypt Contents To Secure Data



4.If your trying to encrypt a folder you will see another prompt asking you whether you would like to encrypt subfolder also.Click on OK.



5.Now your files will be encrypted.



Note:If you are performing the encryption for the first time then you should backup your encryprtion key certiface because without this encryption key certificate you wont be able to open your files or folders on other computers.
6.Your Encrypted files and folders names will turn into green colour which indicates that the these files have been encrypted.

Encrypt/Lock Computer Drives Or Pendrive In Windows 7

Microsoft Bitlocker drive encryption is used to encrypt/lock any Local drive or removable drives like pendrives.Bitlocker encrypts the drives using 128 bit key.Once the drives are encrypted/locked it can only opened using the password.Microsoft introduced bitlocker encryption in windows vista.

The bitlocker feature is currently available in Ultimate and Enterprise editions of windows 7 ,Vista as well as the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 .Bitlocker requires that your hard disk should have atleast two NTFS drives :One of the operating system and the other with a minimum size of 100 MB.

Let’s Begin the step by step tutorial along with screenshots on how to Lock/encrypt Computer drives or pendrive in windows 7.


1.Plugin your Pendrive into your Usb port.
(Skip the above step if you want to lock/encrypt a local drive)
2.Click on Start button and type Bitlocker and click on BitLocker Drive Encryption




3.Now you can see all local drives and your pendrive(If you have plugged in any)








4.Now click on Turn on BitLocker in front of the drive you want to lock/Encrypt.
5.Now it will ask you to choose your password




6.Once you have entered your password click Next you will be now asked to save the password or take a print out.



Note:If you save your password in your computer then make sure that it at some safe place.




7.Now bitlocker will start encrypting your drive.The encryption time varies according to the size of the drive.




8.If you have encrypted/locked  a local drive then you will see a lock in front of the drive.




9.If you have encrypted/locked a pendrive then you will see a bitlocker setup file when you put this pendrive in computer.Install this in another computer.
(If bitlocker is already installed in another system then this step is not required.)
10.Now it will prompt you to enter your password.
Note:If you want to encrypt only a specific file or folder then you can read the or tutorial by clicking the link below
Click Here To Read Tutorial On Encrypting Files or Folders In windows 7

Trick To Create Invisble Folder Without Name In Windows 7 And Vista

Windows 7 and vista allows you to create an invisible folder without any logo and name.If you have some private data and want to hide it from pirating eyes without using any external software then certainly you will benefit from this tutorial.
If you want to protect your data using password then you can read my post on Axcrypt:Free Encryption Software or Bitlocker Encryption utility
In this tutorial we will protect our data first placing it in an invisible folder and then hiding it so that no one can even accidentaly open that folder.So this will provide you with two level security.

How To Create A Folder Without Name In Windows 7 And Vista?

1. Click on Start Button in taskbar
2. Search For Character Map
3. Open character Map and click on the blank Coloumn
   
4. Now Click on Select Button and then on Copy Button(Now you have copied a blank Space)
5. Create a New folder and Rename it and press Ctrl+V keys from keyboard.

By this time we have created a folder without any name.Now we have to create a folder without any Logo.

How To Create An Invisible Folder  In Windows 7 And Vista?

1. Right click on the folder that you have created without name in the previous step.
2. Click on Properties>>Customise>>Change Icon
3. Now will get a popup windows with various icon.Select the blank Icon

4. Press Ok
By this time you have created an Invisible folder with no logo and no name.
Move all of your private data in this invisible folder.

How To Hide the Invisible Folder In Windows 7 And Vista?

1. Right Click on the Invisible Folder
2. Select Properties and now select the Hidden Checkbox.

By this time you have your data in an invisible folder with no logo,name and which is hidden.So only you can access this folder as only you have knowledge where this invisible folder is stored.

How To Open This Hidden folder?

1.First Make Your Hidden Files,folders visible from  folders options in control panel.You can get a hint on how to do it by clicking here

2.Now go to the drive (location) of your computer where you have created the folder without name and icon.Now press Ctrl+A your folder will get highlighted.

Just open it.