Get Windows 7 Resizing Capabilities in Windows XP & Vista

Here’s a quick tip for those of you still on Windows XP and Windows Vista.

One of the great things about Windows 7 is the ability to quickly and simply put two windows side by side by using keyboard shortcuts (so “Windows Key + Left Arrow” to snap a window to the left of the screen and “Windows Key + Right Arrow” to snap a window to the left of the screen). However, Microsoft would never backport this functionality to Windows XP or Vista so you’re only option was to upgrade to Windows 7.

If you are well and truly stuck with XP or Vista then there is an answer.

There’s a nifty tool called “Window Resizer” or WinResizer for short that will allow you to adjust your windows to occupy a given space on the screen, including:

  • left or right half,
  • top or bottom half,
  • one of the four quarters of the screen.

Another bonus in using this application is that it requires no installation or administrative rights so you can used this on locked down computers that are yet to move to Windows 7.

The only drawback is that the buttons are all labelled in German. If you don’t know German you can click the buttons and work out what each of them actually does to a window. Once you work it out though then this might be a nifty little tool to help you get by.

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