Customize Your Windows Send To Menu With These Tips & Tweaks

Supercharge Your Windows Send To Menu With These Tips & Tweaks [Customization]

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The ‘Send To’ menu is one of the most frequently used and useful options in the Windows context menu. Whenever you right click on any file in your computer, the context menu shows this option. This menu can be used to quickly send the files to different locations or applications.

By default, the options that we get in the menu are pretty limited. The image below shows the basic Windows 7 “Send To” menu.

If properly customized, this option can make life easier, if we tweak it to our needs. We have written a few tips and tweaks that would help you get better control of your Send to context menu.

Customizing The Right Click “Send To” Menu:

Depending on your preference, the options that you get in the start menu can be easily customized by any of the three ways detailed below.

1) Enable The Hidden Send to Options by Shift key + Right Click:

A number of extra options in the send to menu are hidden from regular use and can be enabled by the combination of Shift + Right Click combination.

When you want to see all the options this menu provides, just press the “shift key” and right-click on the file. This will then show the extended menu.

The extended send to menu mainly consists of folders from your library and a few other common folders. If you regularly use these folders for keeping your files, this feature can be useful to quickly move files to your regularly used folders.

2) Customize Your Send To Options:

The Send To menu can be customized by changing the items in the Send to folder. You can add your preferred folder or application to this list which can save a lot of time.

To get to this folder, just paste the following in the address bar of the Windows Explorer.

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo

Here %APPDATA% is an environment variable that represents the Application Data. The above path maps you to the Send to folder with a path like

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo

Another easier way to do this would be to type Shell:SendTo in the ‘Search programs and files’ box or in the Run command box.

The command is not case-sensitive.

Once you open the Send to folder you will see a few shortcuts that make up the options in your Send To menu.

Here you can add a shortcut to any folder or even an application. For example, I added a shortcut to the folder Viki’s Downloads and one to Notepad.exe to this folder.

Now you can see these options are shown in the default Send To Menu in the image below.

For the users who usually move their files to specific folders other than the library folders, the above method will be useful.

3) Add A Browse Option To The Send To Menu:

If you prefer to keep things flexible and want the option to get access to any folder anytime – customizing the send to menu with a utility is the way to go.

Send To Other Location is a useful little utility that provides you the option to choose your “Send To” location.

Select the file(s) that you wish to send and click on this option.

Click OK to copy/move the selected files to the Send to location.

Features of “Send To Other Location” Utility:

• Self Installs (links) itself in to the Send to menu
• You can browse for other folder, the app will remember them.
• You can also Drag and Drop files in to the file list box (left) and it will get added to the Que.
• Select a file and press Delete key to remove a file from the list.
• You can choose to Copy a file, or to move it.
• You can choose to make a Short Cut, Add in “Shortcut to…” or to give the shortcut its own special name.

You can download it from – here.

Customizing your Send to menu options according to your needs is quite easy. The above options can satisfy the requirements of even the power users. If you move/copy files a lot between multiple destinations, the above steps are sure to make your life easier and your work a lot faster.

If we missed out on any tips to tweak/customize the Send to Context menu, please share them in the comments and we will update the post with your suggested tips.

How To Enable or Disable Hibernate Mode In Windows 7 [Win 7 Tips]

Hibernation is a great way to cut down on the computer’s power consumption when it’s not in use. It also helps save battery on the laptops.

Hibernation does consume memory on the hard disk, so you can save some space by disabling it, if you do not use this mode often.

There are a couple of way to enable and disable the Hibernate option on your Windows 7 PC. You can choose the method that you find easier.

Enable or Disable Hibernate Via Control Panel: 

To manage the Hibernate option go to the Power Options in Control Panel.

Go to: Start > Control Panel > Power Options.

Under Power Options select the option “Change when the computer sleeps”:

Here, click on the “Change Advanced Power Settings” option

In the Advanced Power Options window look for the Sleep option. Once you find it, expand the Sleep tree then expand Hibernate after and change the minutes to zero to turn it off.

You can also specify the amount of minutes you want to pass before it goes into hibernation.

For a laptop you would get an extra option for the battery. On a desktop PC you would only see one option. When you have made your choice, click Apply and Ok and close any open windows.

You would now see the Hibernate option in the Shut Down menu.

Manage The Hibernate Option Via The Command Prompt:

The Command Prompt is the quicker way to enable or disable Hibernate option on the computer.

Click on Start and type CMD into the search box and it will be listed under programs. Right-click on the icon and select Run as administrator.

In the Command Prompt, type the commands shown below to enable or disable the Hibernate options.

1) Disable Hibernate Option:

powercgf /hibernate off

2) Enable Hibernate Option:

powercfg /hibernate on

To Hibernate or Not to Hibernate:

While sleep puts your work and settings in memory and draws a small amount of power, hibernation puts your open documents and programs on your hard disk, and then turns off your computer. Of all the power-saving states in Windows, hibernation uses the least amount of power.

On a laptop, use hibernation when you know that you won’t use your laptop for an extended period and won’t have an opportunity to charge the battery during that time.

If you prefer to turn off your computer and not use the Hibernate option, you can disable the Hibernate mode to gain a bit of extra hard disk space. On a hard disk of 500 GB you can save about 5GB of space if you turn off hibernation. So it makes sense to keep this option OFF if you  do not use this mode and save some space.

Differences Between Hibernate and Stand By

 Understanding Differences Between Hibernate and Stand By

Do you know the differences between Windows Stand By and Hibernate? These two Windows XP shutdown options often confuse people. These power saving options offer advantages, but it’s important to know the differences when creating a power scheme for your notebook or desktop.When you click Turn Off Computer, Windows XP shows 4 options to shut down your computer.

• Stand By
• Turn Off
• Restart
• Hibernate

Most people understand Turn Off and Restart as they’re frequently used. Where people get confused is between Stand By and Hibernate. The main differences lie in power consumption and data storage.

Windows Stand By Maintains a Fast State of Readiness

When you hear the term “stand by” you think of a resource that is ready to go once called. The concept is similar in Windows. Your computer returns to a state of readiness when you press a key or the power button. The time it takes your PC to resume or shut down is seconds.
Your machine recovers quickly as your data is stored in RAM. The slower part is waking up the peripherals. Although your machine is in “stand by” the power has been cut to items such as your hard drive and monitor. You’re running your machine in a very low power mode, but it is still on. This mode can be useful if you’re on a notebook and need to conserve your battery while you step away.
If you have a notebook, you wouldn’t want to keep your computer in this state for more than several hours. The first issue is that even though you’re in a low power consumption state, you’re still using power. The bigger reason is once your power goes, so does your data.
The big drawback to Stand By is you run the risk of losing whatever data you were working on if the power goes out. As a precaution, you might want to save the data before putting your computer in this mode or use Hibernate.

Windows Hibernate Takes a Longer Term Approach

An option with a longer perspective is hibernate. Like Stand By, you can recover your place. The big difference is that your PC has shut down and is not pulling power. Another difference is that your data is saved to your hard disk and not RAM. This makes it a safer, but slower option for shut down and resume.
Hibernate will save your desktop and open files to a special Windows file called hiberfil.sys. This large file usually resides in your root folder (c:\hiberfil.sys). The file size closely matches how much RAM your PC has installed. If you have 2 gigs of RAM on your notebook, you’re going to have to give up 2 gigs of hard disk space.Note: You can delete the hiberfil.sys file only if you disable hibernate.
When you press your power button, Windows will start and open the files you were using. The process is not instantaneous as with Stand By, but gets you to the same place. You may find this option is faster than rebooting, as Windows doesn’t have to do things such as detecting your hardware.

Where is the Hibernate Option?

Hibernate doesn’t show by default. Your manufacturer has to have included the functionality and it needs to be enabled. Even then, there is a trick to seeing this option. Usually, when you turn off your computer you see the following dialog.


If you hold down your Shift key, you’ll see the Stand By option changes to Hibernate.

If you still can’t see the option, you should check your Power Options Properties in your Control Panel.

Creating a Windows XP Power Scheme

Most Windows XP systems allow you to set various power options. This is ideal for notebook users who wish to conserve power after a certain period of inactivity. It’s also useful for desktop owners who wish to conserve power. As example, you might want to create a profile that first puts your computer into Stand By mode and then goes into Hibernate after another time.
To create a Power Profile in Windows XP,
1. From the Start menu, select Control Panel
2. Select Performance and Maintenance
3. Select Power Options.
Your system should display the Power Options Properties dialog with various tabs. The number of tabs will vary based on your manufacturer and if you have aUPS. Notebook systems have extra settings so you can set a scheme for when you’re using direct power or batteries.

4. Click the Hibernate tab. Check the box if you wish to enable this feature.
5. Click the Power Schemes tab.

6. Set your options to suit your needs. If you’re on a notebook, make sure that your hibernate time is less than your battery time. Otherwise, your battery will drain before the option can kick in.
7. Click OK.
We may be use to cheap and abundant energy, but there is little need to keeping your computer fully powered. Microsoft and various hardware vendors have improved the power management systems. The bigger question is whether you should use Stand By, Hibernate or both.