How to add a toolbar to your Windows 8.1 taskbar (for example, QuickLaunch)

I personally was missing in my rather new Windows 8.1, the Quick Launch Toolbar - that used to exist in older Windows versions. So i created my own, new, custom QuickLaunch toolbar. Here's how:

Basically any valid Windows folder can become a new toolbar. So all you need to do is create a folder, wherever you wish on your hard-disk, with any name of your choice. I personally went to the Documents folder (start screen, type Documents, press enter), right-clicked and created a New -> Folder, which i have named 'QuickLaunch'.

Right-Click on an empty area of your Win 8.1 taskbar. From the menu, choose Toolbars -> New Toolbar and just select the folder of your choice - in my case it was C:\Users\luciancostin\Documents\QuickLaunchToolbar

There it goes - the toolbar already appears on our taskbar. Whatever shortcuts or programs we put in there, they will be automatically displayed (here's how to create for example, a 'show desktop' icon).
For adding my Firefox icon, i've browsed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox , right-clicked on the 'firefox' program, chose 'Create shortcut' from the context-menu, cut (ctrl+x) this shortcut, and pasted it in my newly created folder.

For further customization of the toolbar (because by default, it has a rather strange appearance, showing the title, and the names of the links in here), one must:
1. unlock the taskbar: right-click your taskbar ,make sure the 'Lock the taskbar' menu item is not checked.
2. feel free to drag the margins and the whole toolbar wherever you like it, and to your preferred size.
3. right-click the toolbar for options, uncheck the 'show title' and 'show text' menu items - to get to the original 'quicklaunch' toolbar look & feel.
4. lock back the taskbar: preferably you'd want it to stay in place, so better to lock it back. Just right-click your taskbar and check the menu item 'Lock the taskbar'

That's it! :-) our new toolbar:

Re-create "Show Desktop" Icon in Windows 8.1

I'm a rather new user of Windows 8.1, and this operating system is cracking me day by day. One of the functions i miss most of older Windows versions is the "Show Desktop" icon.
Of course it exists in the lower-right corner of the taskbar, but i miss it in my 'QuickLaunch' toolbar - just as actually i missed my QuickLaunch toolbar altogether (its default appearance is quite obscure anyway). The Quick Launch toolbar doesn't exist by default in Windows 8.1 (i believe also Win 8 and Win 7).
Luckily, Win 8.1 provides a way to create custom toolbars, and i named mine exactly 'Quick Launch' (here's how to create your personal, customized win 8 "quick launch" toolbar).
And creating a "show desktop" icon is also fairly easy.

1. Find out the path of your toolbar folder (i've mine under C:\Users\luciancostin\Documents\QuickLaunchToolbar). If you don't know where it is - just right-click your taskbar, make sure the 'Lock the taskbar' menu item is not checked. Then right-click on an empty-area of your toolbar and select "Open Folder".
2. Open Notepad. Go to your Start screen and type "Notepad" to find and open it. Or go to Start ->Programs->Accessories->Notepad, if you have a start menu installed.
3. Paste these contents in your new file:
   

   [Shell]
   Command=2
   IconFile=explorer.exe,3
   [Taskbar]
   Command=ToggleDesktop

4.   Save your new file in the toolbar folder (found at point 1. above), with the following name: "Show desktop.scf" - use the doublequotes too - so that Notepad does not append a default .txt extension to your file and render it useless
5. Have fun! :) Windows (at least mine) also adds the old, nice 'Show Desktop' icon to this new button :)

* The content of the file comes directly from Microsoft - more info at this link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/190355

Git trouble on Windows with tilde filenames

I've had apparently unresolvable problems with tilde filenames .
On windows 8.1, immediately as i clone a repository to my hard drive, some filenames containing tilde (interestingly enough, not all of them) - instantly throw out an error. They immediately appear as deleted, and i cannot do anything to add them to the git index, ignore, delete from cache or whatever.

Apparently this is a fairly recent change in Git, dating since December 2014, and yes, the solution is as stated on the given link,  to configure git with the following:

git config core.protectNTFS false

As the author says, i also recommend putting it back once the files are added to the index, with: 

git config core.protectNTFS true

Here's the link to the author's reply: 
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29294910/unable-to-add-files-with-name-containing-tilde-followed-by-a-number