Microsoft PowerToys
Encyclopedia
Microsoft PowerToys is a set of programs provided by Microsoft
for the Windows
operating system. PowerToys are not integrated into Windows since they are released after the public release of a Windows operating system. They are also not under technical support because they do not undergo the same rigorous testing that the operating system components do.
- a tool that is used to customize the user interface
and advanced settings in Windows. It does this by modifying the registry
. A total of 15 "PowerToys" were included in this package. They include:
The Windows 95 Power Toys set was developed by the Windows Shell
Development Team. Most Windows 95 PowerToys worked correctly up to Windows XP but do not install or work correctly beginning with Windows Vista due to extensive changes to the shell and the introduction of User Account Control
. Also, on 64-bit operating systems, these 32-bit shell extensions cannot work.
-like application called WinTop, and a utility called Keyboard Remap, which allowed the user to reassign functions to keys on the keyboard. The kernel toys include:
. As part of the Windows Media Player Bonus Pack, another set of PowerToys for Windows Media Player was released. Finally, Microsoft has also released Windows Mobile
PowerToys for Developers, Visual Studio and Microsoft Office OneNote.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system. PowerToys are not integrated into Windows since they are released after the public release of a Windows operating system. They are also not under technical support because they do not undergo the same rigorous testing that the operating system components do.
PowerToys for Windows 95
This was the first version of Microsoft PowerToys and included many tools for advanced users. One of the best known ones is TweakUITweakUI
Tweak UI is a free user interface customization application first released by Microsoft in 1996 to aid end users in customizing the Microsoft Windows operating system. By itself, it does not do anything that would not otherwise be possible...
- a tool that is used to customize the user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
and advanced settings in Windows. It does this by modifying the registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
. A total of 15 "PowerToys" were included in this package. They include:
- CabView - To open cabinetCabinet (file format)In computing, CAB is the Microsoft Windows native compressed archive format. It supports compression and digital signing, and is used in a variety of Microsoft installation engines: Setup API, Device Installer, AdvPack and Windows Installer.Though Cabinet was originally called Diamond, its .CAB...
files like ordinary folders - CDAutoPlay - To make AutoPlayAutorunAutoRun and the companion feature AutoPlay are components of the Microsoft Windows operating system that dictate what actions the system takes when a drive is mounted....
work on any non-audio CD - Command Prompt Here - To start a command prompt from any folder in Windows ExplorerWindows ExplorerThis article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
by right-clicking (native in Windows Vista onwards) - Contents Menu - To access folders and files from a context menuContext menuA context menu is a menu in a graphical user interface that appears upon user interaction, such as a right mouse click or middle click mouse operation...
without having to open their folders - Desktop Menu- To open items on the desktop from a menu on the TaskbarTaskbarIn computing, a taskbar is a bar displayed on a full edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applications. Microsoft incorporated a taskbar in Windows 95 and it has been a defining aspect of Microsoft Windows's graphical user interface ever since. Some desktop environments,...
- Explore From Here - To open Windows Explorer view from any folder such that that folder acts as the root level folder
- FindX - To add drag-and-drop capabilities to Find (now called Search) menu
- FlexiCD - To play an audio CDRed Book (audio CD standard)Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc...
from the Taskbar. - Quick Res - To quickly change the screen resolution
- Round Clock - An analog round clock without a square window
- Send To X - Shell extensions which add several commonly accessed locations such as clipboardClipboard (software)The clipboard is a software facility that can be used for short-term data storage and/or data transfer between documents or applications, via copy and paste operations...
, desktop, command-line or any folder to the Send To context menu in Explorer - Shortcut Target Menu - To access the target file a shortcutComputer shortcutA file shortcut in Microsoft Windows is a small file containing a target URI or GUID to an object, or the name of a target program file that the shortcut represents. The shortcut might additionally specify parameters to be passed to the target program when it is run. Each shortcut can have its own...
is pointing to from the context menu or directly cut, copy, delete the target, create shortcut to the target or view its properties. - Telephony Location Selector - For mobile computer users to change their dialing location from the Taskbar
- Tweak UI - To customize the user interface, including menu speed, window animation and other settings
- Xmouse 1.2 - To make the window focusFocus (computing)In computing, the focus indicates the component of the graphical user interface which is currently selected to receive input. Text entered at the keyboard or pasted from a clipboard is sent to the component which currently has the focus. Moving the focus away from a specific user interface element...
follow the mouseMouse (computing)In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
without requiring to click the window to make it active
The Windows 95 Power Toys set was developed by the Windows Shell
Windows Shell
The Windows shell is the main graphical user interface in Microsoft Windows, and since Windows 95 hosted by Windows Explorer. The Windows shell includes well-known Windows components such as the Taskbar and the Start menu...
Development Team. Most Windows 95 PowerToys worked correctly up to Windows XP but do not install or work correctly beginning with Windows Vista due to extensive changes to the shell and the introduction of User Account Control
User Account Control
User Account Control is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems, with a more relaxed version also present in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2...
. Also, on 64-bit operating systems, these 32-bit shell extensions cannot work.
Windows 95 Kernel Toys
After the huge success of the Windows 95 PowerToys, the Microsoft Windows Kernel Development Team released a set of tools for power users called Windows 95 Kernel Toys. Six tools were included in this package, including a Windows Task ManagerWindows Task Manager
Windows Task Manager is a task manager application included with the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that provides detailed information about computer performance and running applications, processes and CPU usage, commit charge and memory information, network activity and...
-like application called WinTop, and a utility called Keyboard Remap, which allowed the user to reassign functions to keys on the keyboard. The kernel toys include:
- MS-DOSMS-DOSMS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
Mode Configuration Wizard Customization Tool - To configure Windows startup files without having to manually edit CONFIG.SYSCONFIG.SYSCONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS, OS/2 as well as similar operating systems. It is a special file that contains setup or configuration instructions for the computer system.- Usage :...
or AUTOEXEC.BATAUTOEXEC.BATAUTOEXEC.BAT is a system file found originally on DOS-type operating systems. It is a plain-text batch file that is located in the root directory of the boot device...
files - Keyboard Remap - To reassign functions to keys on the keyboard
- Logo Key Control - To configure MS-DOS games so that Windows will ignore the Windows logo keyWindows keyThe Windows logo key—also known as the Windows key, the home key, the meta key, the start key, MOD4, or the flag key —is a keyboard key which was originally introduced on the Microsoft Natural keyboard before the release of Windows 95. This key became a standard key on PC keyboards...
while the game is running - Conventional Memory Tracker - To unwrap the memory used by the "vmm32" program
- Windows Process Watcher (WinTop) - To watch how much of CPU resources are taken by individual programs
- Time Zone Editor - To create and edit time zone entries for the Date/Time Control Panel applet
PowerToys for Windows XP
PowerToys for Windows XP is the second version of the PowerToys set, and is a major change from the Windows 95 version. The tools are now included in separate downloads rather than in a single compressed executable file. Many tools that were distributed with Windows 95 PowerToys are no longer part of this release as some functionality of the Windows 95 PowerToys has been incorporated into later versions of Windows, such as the ability to treat .CAB files like ordinary folders.Included applications
The following PowerToys for Windows XP are now available:- Alt-Tab Replacement Task Switcher replaces the simpler Alt-Tab switcher with a more visual one which shows live window previews.
- CD Slide Show Generator generates a slideshowSlideshowA slide show is a display of a series of chosen information or pictures, done for artistic or instructional purposes. Slide shows are conducted by a presenter using an apparatus, such as a carousel slide projector, an overhead projector or in more recent years, a computer running presentation...
from photos burned to a CD. - ClearType Tuner allows customizing ClearTypeClearTypeClearType is a trademark for Microsoft's implementation of subpixel rendering technology. ClearType attempts to improve the appearance of text on certain types of computer display screens by sacrificing color fidelity for additional intensity variation. This trade-off is asserted to work well on...
settings to make it easier to read text on the screen. - Color Control Panel Applet allows managing color profiles, changing color profile associations for devices, viewing detailed properties for color profiles (including a 3D rendering of the color spaceColor spaceA color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components...
gamutGamutIn color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain complete subset of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given circumstance, such as within a given color space or by a...
). - HTML Slide Show Wizard generates an HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
slideshow presentation. - Image Resizer allows right-clicking on multiple image files inside Windows ExplorerWindows ExplorerThis article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
to batch resize them. - Open Command Window Here allows starting a command prompt from any folder in Windows ExplorerWindows ExplorerThis article is about the Windows file system browser. For the similarly named web browser, see Internet ExplorerWindows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface...
by right-clicking.
- Power Calculator is a more advanced graphical calculator application than the built-in Windows Calculator; it can evaluate more complex expressions, draw a Cartesian or polar graph of a functionGraph of a functionIn mathematics, the graph of a function f is the collection of all ordered pairs . In particular, if x is a real number, graph means the graphical representation of this collection, in the form of a curve on a Cartesian plane, together with Cartesian axes, etc. Graphing on a Cartesian plane is...
or convert units of measurements. Power Calculator can store and reuse pre-defined functions, of any arityArityIn logic, mathematics, and computer science, the arity of a function or operation is the number of arguments or operands that the function takes. The arity of a relation is the dimension of the domain in the corresponding Cartesian product...
. For example, a function can be set bycube(x) = x * x * x, and later it can be used in an expression like5 + cube(4). It does not evaluate every time an operator is entered. Rather, the entire expression must be entered for calculation. In the Numeric mode, it presents a visual keypad, in all other modes the expression has to be typed in. A scrolling text area maintains a history of all calculations. The advanced view allows declaring and graphing functions, along with a list of all the saved functions. A flyout window provides the option of choosing either a Cartesian co-ordinate system or polar co-ordinates. It can also save a list of variables for use in expression. Unit conversions of the following types are supported: length, mass, time, velocity, and temperature. PowerToy Calc has support for typing calculations using Reverse Polish NotationReverse Polish notationReverse Polish notation is a mathematical notation wherein every operator follows all of its operands, in contrast to Polish notation, which puts the operator in the prefix position. It is also known as Postfix notation and is parenthesis-free as long as operator arities are fixed...
(RPN). It can calculate up to 500 precision levels beyond the decimal point and supports complex numberComplex numberA complex number is a number consisting of a real part and an imaginary part. Complex numbers extend the idea of the one-dimensional number line to the two-dimensional complex plane by using the number line for the real part and adding a vertical axis to plot the imaginary part...
s. - RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadataMetadataThe term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
display for RAW imagesRAW image formatA camera raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of either a digital camera, image scanner, or motion picture film scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and therefore are not ready to be printed or edited with a bitmap graphics editor...
from within Windows Explorer. - SyncToySyncToySyncToy is a freeware tool in Microsoft's PowerToys series that provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface for synchronizing files and folders. It is written using Microsoft's .NET framework and uses the Microsoft Sync Framework.-Features:...
allows synchronizing files and folders. - Taskbar Magnifier magnifies part of the screen from the taskbar.
- Tweak UI customizes Windows XP's user interface and advanced settings.
- Virtual Desktop Manager allows switching between four virtual desktopVirtual desktopIn computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the size of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical limits of the screen's real estate through the use of software, This saves space...
s from the taskbar. - Webcam Timershot takes pictures at specified time intervals from a webcamWebcamA webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
.
Retired components
The following PowerToys for Windows XP are now retired:- Background Switcher added a slideshow tab to Display properties and allows automatically changing the desktop wallpaperComputer wallpaperWallpaper is an image used as a background of a graphical user interface on a computer screen or mobile communications device. On a computer it is usually for the desktop, while for a mobile phone it is usually the background for the 'home' or 'idle' screen...
periodically. Although, Background Switcher is now retired, a replacement, known as Wallpaper Changer, is now available from Microsoft. - Internet Explorer Find Bar added toolbar to Internet Explorer that allowed users to search for keywords in a web page. This feature is now natively supported by Internet Explorer 8Internet Explorer 8Windows Internet Explorer 8 is a web browser developed by Microsoft in the Internet Explorer browser series. The browser was released on March 19, 2009 for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. Both 32-bit and 64-bit builds are available...
. - ISO Image Burner burned ISO imageISO imageAn ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
s to an Optical disc recorderOptical disc recorderIn computing, an optical disc drive is a disk drive that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves near the light spectrum as part of the process of reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only read from discs, but recent drives are commonly both readers and recorders,...
. This feature is now integrated into Windows 7. In addition, Windows Server 2003 Resource KitResource KitResource Kit is a term used by Microsoft for a set of software resources and documentation released for their software products, but which is not part of that product...
includes two similar tools (CDBurn.exe and DVDBurn.exe). Although Microsoft has retired this Power Toy, it is now available as the unauthorized ISO Recorder Power ToyISO Recorder Power ToyThe ISO Recorder Power Toy is CD burning software for Microsoft Windows XP, 2003, Vista and 7. It was written by Alex Feinman and is open source software under a license similar to the BSD license with advertising clause...
. - Shell Audio Player was a Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
-based compact player which allows playing music from the taskbar. - Super-Fast User Switcher allowed Fast User SwitchingFast user switchingFast user switching is a feature on some modern multi-user operating systems such as Windows XP and newer, Mac OS X, Linux. It allows users to switch between user accounts on a single PC without quitting applications and logging out. Analogous functionality was first developed on consumer level...
or logging on to a different account using the Windows keyWindows keyThe Windows logo key—also known as the Windows key, the home key, the meta key, the start key, MOD4, or the flag key —is a keyboard key which was originally introduced on the Microsoft Natural keyboard before the release of Windows 95. This key became a standard key on PC keyboards...
+Q combination without requiring to switch to the logon screen.Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel could mount an ISO imageISO imageAn ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
as a virtual driveVirtual driveA virtual drive in computing is a device that to the operating system appears to be an ordinary physical disk drive, with disc images substituted for disc reading hardware through the use of software called a disk emulator...
. It was designed for Windows XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, but it also worked with Windows Server 2003Windows Server 2003Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005...
. It was a free alternative to software such as Alcohol 120%.
PowerToys for other Microsoft products
Microsoft has also released PowerToys for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows XP Media Center EditionWindows XP Media Center Edition
Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of the Windows XP operating system designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub. The last version, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, was released in October 2004.-Versions:...
. As part of the Windows Media Player Bonus Pack, another set of PowerToys for Windows Media Player was released. Finally, Microsoft has also released Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
PowerToys for Developers, Visual Studio and Microsoft Office OneNote.