How To Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000

Delaying Product Activation

2010-01-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

Here’s how to re-arm the Windows 7 product-activation grace period:

1. Open the Start menu, select Search, and type cmd.

2. Right-click the cmd shortcut that appears and choose Run as Administrator from the pop-up menu that appears. Windows 7’s command-line window appears.

3. Type the following text in the command-line window and press Enter when complete: slmgr.vbs -rearm. When the command is run successfully, the Windows Script Host window show popup: “Command completed successfully. Please restart the system for the changes to take effect.”

4. Click OK to close the Windows Script Host window and then restart the PC. When you reboot, reload the System window. The grace period has been reset to 30 days.

How To Install Windows 7

2010-01-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

Step-by-Step: Windows 7 Clean Setup

This section walks you through the entire Windows 7 setup process, using Microsoft’s Setup Wizard. This application was completely overhauled for Windows Vista and then further streamlined for Windows 7, and it’s now much simpler and faster-moving, especially when compared to the version used in Windows XP.

Follows these instructions to install Windows 7:

1. Insert the Windows 7 DVD in your PC’s optical drive and reboot the system. After the BIOS screen fashes by, you may see a message alerting you to press any key to boot from the CD or DVD. If so, press a key. Some systems, however, do not provide this warning and instead boot from the DVD by default. A black screen with a pulsating Windows logo and the text “Starting Windows”will appear.

If your system does not boot from the DVD, you may need to change the system’s boot order so that the optical drive is checked before the frst hard drive. To do this, consult your PC’s documentation (see your mainboard instruction).

2. Eventually, the screen displays a colored background and the initial Setup window appears. Here, you can preconfgure the language, time and currency formats, and keyboard or input method you’ll use during Setup.

3. Click Next. A window titled Install Windows appears. To continue with Interactive Setup, click Install now

This window also provides a way to access Windows 7’s new recovery tools. If you run into a problem with Windows 7 later, such as not being able to boot into Windows for some reason, you can boot your system with the Setup DVD and use these tools to help fx the problem. Choose the link “Repair your computer”
to access these tools.

If for some reason your mouse doesn’t work, you can press Alt plus the related key on your keyboard to select the appropriate action. For example, pressing Alt+R on the keyboard will start the repair process.

4. In the next window, you must agree to the End User License Agreement (EULA).

5. In the next window, select Custom (advanced) as the install type. You don’t need to click the Next button here: just selecting an option will advance the wizard to the next step.

6. In the next window, choose the disk, or partition, to which you will install Windows 7. On a clean install, typically you will be installing Windows 7 to the only disk available.

You can access the Setup routine’s disk confguration tools by clicking the option “Drive options (advanced)” or by tapping Alt+A. These tools enable you to delete, create, and resize partitions if needed.

Note that you may see two or more partitions if your PC is confgured with two or more physical hard disks or a single disk that is divided into two or more partitions.

If you are performing a clean install on a previously used machine, we advise you to format the disk during this step.

In addition to the partition on which Windows 7 is installed—what Microsoft calls the system disk—Setup also creates a second, hidden partition at the root of the drive. This partition, which takes up 100MB of space, is there for two reasons: it provides space for Windows 7’s recovery tools, which, unlike in Vista, are installed to the hard drive by default so they’re always there; and it provides space for BitLocker, an optional disk encryption technology.

7. After you’ve selected the disk and formatted it if necessary, you can walk away from your computer for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on your hardware. During this time, Setup will copy the various fles it needs for installation to the hard drive, expand the Windows 7 image fle from the DVD, install Windows 7 and any included software updates, and complete the installation by attempting to load drivers for your hardware.

8. After a reboot or two, your PC will launch into the second, and fnal, interactive phase of Setup. You’ll know something wonderful is about to happen because you’ll see the screen in Figure 2-9 after Setup reboots for the fnal time.

During reboots, you may see the screen that says “Press any key to boot to the CD or DVD.” Once you’ve started Setup, ignore that or installation will restart.

9. In the frst screen after the reboot, you are prompted for a user name and a computer name.

Unlike Windows XP, Windows 7 does not create a visible administrator account automatically. Nor are you allowed to create up to fve user accounts, as you were during XP Setup. Instead, you can create a single user account during setup. That user account will be given administrator privileges. Subsequent user accounts—created in Windows 7 using the User Accounts Control Panel—are given limited user privileges by default, but that’s easy enough to change.

10. Next, you will be prompted to enter a password and a password hint. Alarmingly, this step is optional.

11. Enter your Windows product key. This is a 25-digit alphanumeric string—in blocks of fve separated by dashes—that you will fnd on a bright yellow product-key sticker somewhere in your Windows 7 packaging. You can also choose to have Windows 7 automatically activate for you.

As it turns out, you do not actually have to enter your product key here. If you don’t, you have 30 days to evaluate Windows 7 before the system forces you to enter the key and activate.

Do not lose your Windows 7 product key or give it away to anyone. Each Windows 7 product key is valid for exactly one PC. After you’ve installed Windows 7 and activated it—which ties the product key to your hardware—you won’t be able to use this number again on another PC, at least not easily. Note, however, that you can reinstall Windows 7 on the same PC using this same product key. If for some reason you are unable to electronically activate Windows later, Windows 7 will provide a phone number so you can do it manually.

12. Next, choose whether to enable Automatic Updates. You should use the recommended settings, in which Windows automatically downloads and installs all updates. Alternately, you can choose to install only importantupdates or be prompted later.

13. Confgure the time zone, date, and time.

Even if you’re not particularly careful about setting the time correctly here, Windows 7 will eventually adjust to the correct time automatically because it is confgured out of the box to synchronize with an Internet time server

14. If you are in range of a wireless network, Windows 7 Setup will prompt you to connect to a wireless network.

15. If you are connected to a wired or wireless network, you’ll see the current location screen shown in Figure. From here, you can choose whether the network you’re accessing is a Home network (and thus private), a Work network (also private), or a Public network (such as a library, coffee shop, or airport). Windows confgures networking appropriately in each case.

16. Next, you are asked to confgure a new Windows 7 feature called HomeGroup. Simply click Skip here. .

17. Now, Windows 7 fnalizes your settings, prepares your desktop.

18. You’re done! Well, not quite.

32-bit Versions of Windows 7

2010-01-17T05:02:00.000-08:00

The differences between 32-bit (x86) versions of Windows 7 and 64-bit (x64) versions are more complex, but here’s the weird bit: though virtually every single PC sold over the past several years was x64 compatible, virtually every single copy of Windows that went out the door before Windows 7 was, in fact, a 32-bit version.

No more. With Windows 7, it’s time to leave the 32-bit world behind for good, and the frst step is to run a 64-bit version of Windows 7. These versions of Windows 7 are fully compatible with most of the 32-bit software that runs on 32-bit versions of the OS, and they are likewise just about as compatible with the wide number of hardware devices that are available on the market.

The biggest reason to go 64-bit is RAM: after all, 64-bit versions of Windows 7 can access far more RAM than 32-bit versions (up to 192GB, depending on which version of Windows 7 you’re talking about, compared to less than 4GB of RAM in 32-bit versions). Folks, with one minor exception, it’s time to say good-bye to 32-bit versions of Windows. So with Windows 7, almost universally, we recommend that you seek out 64-bit (x64) versions instead.

What is the one exception? Many netbook computers come with a version of Intel’s Atom microprocessor that is incompatible with the x64 instruction set, and thus with x64 versions of Windows 7. On such a PC, you will need to use a 32-bit version of Windows 7 instead. And that’s just fne: given the limited usage scenarios for these computing lightweights, that’s perfectly acceptable. It’s also the exception to the rule.

Though 32-bit versions of Windows 7 “support” 4GB of RAM, they can only access about 3.1GB of RAM, even when a full 4GB of RAM is installed in the PC. This is because of a limitation in the way that 32-bit versions of Windows handle memory access. If you were to install an x64 version of Windows 7 on the same system, you would have access to the entire 4GB of RAM. The 64-bit Windows 7 versions have dramatically improved memory capacity, as noted in the preceding tables.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, 64-bit software isn’t magically faster than 32-bit software. That said, 64-bit PCs running a 64-bit version of Windows 7 and native 64-bit software can often outperform 32-bit alternatives. But that’s because you can stick far more RAM in the 64-bit machine: systems with massive amounts of memory just aren’t as constrained and can operate to their full potential.

Install Windows 7

2009-11-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Installing Windows 7 on a New System

If you’ve just built a new computer from scratch, or if you’ve replaced your old drive C: with a new hard drive, you will have to do a clean install of Windows 7. From a purely technological standpoint, this is really your best option. You don’t have to bring any of the old ‘‘baggage’’ with you, but there in lies an issue.

You can opt to do a clean install even if you already have a version of Windows installed on the hard drive; however, you must realize that doing so is very serious business. When you do a clean install, you wipe out everything on your hard drive. And I do mean everything — all programs, documents, settings, Internet account information — everything. There’s no getting any of that stuff back, either.

Gearing Up for a Clean Install

Most experts prefer to do a clean install when they upgrade to a new version of Windows, largely because it gets everything off to a clean start. Besides, it’s a great excuse for upgrading to a bigger and faster hard drive. You can use your original hard drive as a second hard drive and easily transfer documents from that drive to the new drive after you’ve installed Windows 7 on the new drive. However, you’ll still need to reinstall all your programs and redo all your settings after you complete the installation.

Back up all your data

If you intend to keep your existing C: as the C: drive after the clean install, it’s important that you understand that you will permanently lose everything on that drive during the clean install. Therefore, you should:

- Write down all of your Internet connection data so that you can reestablish your account after the clean install.

- Back up or export all your e-mail messages, names and addresses, Favorites, and anything else you’ll want after the clean install so that you can recover them. Remember, whatever you don’t save will be lost forever. However, this does not apply for Web-based e-mail accounts that do not store messages on your computer.

- Back up all your documents, because each and every one of them will be wiped out along with
Windows and all your programs.

A clean install permanently erases everything on your hard drive, which is basically everything that’s ‘‘in your computer.’’ Users who do not fully understand the ramifications of this should not attempt to do a clean install of Windows 7 or any other operating system. It’s extremely difficult to recover data from an erased drive, but if you need that kind of help, you can turn to a data recovery service such as Driver Savers.

If Windows is currently installed on the C: drive you intend to reuse, you can use the Windows Easy Transfer to back up all your documents and settings. Ideally, you want to back up the data to another computer in the network. Windows Easy Transfer allows you to transfer files and folders, e-mail settings, and many other personal items from your existing computer to the new computer or hard drive. You can do this by using a USB Easy Transfer cable, the network, DVDs or CDs, or other external USB devices.

Given that hard drives are so inexpensive these days, it almost seems a shame not to start the clean install from a new hard drive. You don’t have to worry about losing any data from the old drive if you do a clean install of Windows 7 to a new drive.

Make sure that you can boot from your CD or DVD

By far, the easiest way to do a clean install on a new drive is to boot from the Windows 7 disc. You’ll want to make sure that you can do this before you do anything inside the computer. Most discs aren’t bootable, so you need to insert the Windows disc into the drive and restart the computer. Watch for the Press any key to boot from CD or DVD countdown message, and tap the spacebar before the countdown runs out. (In case you’re curious, it’s five seconds.)

If you see the Windows is loading files message, you know you can boot from a disc. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot before setup actually starts, and remove the disc from the drive while the system is rebooting. Then, shut down the PC altogether. If you can’t boot the system from the Windows disc, you need to adjust your BIOS settings. Again, this isn’t something I can tell you how to do specifically, because it depends on your system’s BIOS.

But the usual scenario is to press F2 or Del as the computer is starting up to get to your BIOS setup. After you get into the BIOS settings, make sure that booting from the disc drive is enabled and that the disc drive has a higher priority than the hard drive.

If you’d rather not adjust your BIOS settings, many computers have the option of allowing you to select the boot device. Pressing a key during the startup process tells the BIOS that you want to select your boot device this one time. It can be the F10, F11, or F12 key, but you’ll want to check your computer’s documentation to find out which key it actually is.

If you do opt to change the BIOS settings, put the Windowsdiscbackintothediscdrive,saveyour BIOS settings, and exit so that the computer reboots again. If you got it right, you should see the Windows is loading files message again on restart, indicating that you’ve successfully booted from the disc. Cancel that startup as well, by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, and remove the disc from the drive before the computer gets another chance to boot from the disc.

Installing a new C: drive

If you’re upgrading your C: drive along with your version of Windows, Step 1 is to hide existing hard drives from the system altogether so that to the BIOS, the new drive appears to be the only hard drive in the system. Simply disconnecting the power and interface plugs from the backs of the drives will do the trick. Never do anything inside your system case while the computer is turned on or even plugged into a power outlet. Wear an antistatic wrist strap to prevent static discharge from wiping out components and the warranties that go with them!

The next step involves getting the new drive installed to the point at which it’s at least recognized by the BIOS. I can’t tell you how to do that because the procedure varies from one drive manufacturer to the next. You must follow the instructions that came with the drive, or the instructions on the drive manufacturer’s Web site, to get to the point at which the system recognizes that drive at startup. Chances are, the drive manufacturer’s instructions will include steps to partition and format the drive. You should probably do so even if you intend to repartition and reformat the drive during the Windows 7 clean installation. You still won’t be able to boot from the drive, but at least the drive will be recognized as C during the Windows installation.

It’s also important to note which connection architecture your system uses, which determines how the
drive plugs into the motherboard. The vast majority of new systems today use Serial ATA (or SATA)
interface. Systems from a couple of years ago used both SATA and the older Parallel ATA (or PATA).
SATA cables are thin and have plastic connector tips, somewhat like USB. PATA cables are wide and
fiat and the connector blocks have two rows of holes.

The other part of the installation requires knowing how the drive will be powered. If you have a laptop, you need a 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive, and it will be bus powered. For desktop drives, you will either have the older Molex (white-tipped) power adapters or the newer, more common black- or red-tipped SATA power tips. Most systems have both Molex and SATA power adapters inside, but you need to pay close attention to the power that the drive needs. Some sATA drives come with Molex power ports, and you can find Molex-to-SATA type adapters online or in certain PC stores.

If you intend to handle the hard drive installation on your own, you need to become familiar with these interfaces and make sure that you get the correct drive to support it.

Doing the Clean Install

When you feel confident that you’ll be able to get back everything you want from your hard drive, you’re ready to start the clean install. Put the Windows disc in the disc drive and shut down the computer. Then, restart the computer and boot from the disc. Your system’s screen will go blank with a progress bar across the bottom of the screen while it copies some setup files. After the copy, the screen will change to a blue and green background, and you’ll be given a mouse pointer. Follow these steps to continue the installation:

1. At the Install Windows dialog box, select the Language, Time, and Currency format and the type of keyboard; then click the Next button.

2. Click the Install now link, and you’ll be prompted for the product key. After entering the product key, click the Next button.

3. If you accept the license terms, select the I Accept the License Terms box and click the Next button.

4. Select the Custom option to continue.

5. The next dialog box lists all the drives and partitions that the installation application sees on your system. Select the partition on which you want to install Windows 7. If you don’t see your drive, the controller your hard drive is connected to might require a special driver that the installation application doesn’t know about. You can click the Load Driver link to load the driver provided by the controller’s manufacturer. Clicking the Drive Options link enables the option to format the drive before installing Windows 7.

6. Select the partition on which Windows 7 will be installed and click the Format link. The installation application will prompt that the data on the drive will be erased and permanently deleted. Click the OK button as long as you are sure that your database has been saved elsewhere.

7. After the drive is formatted, the Total Size and Free Space columns will be almost identical. Don’t worry about any discrepancies. They are a result of how file systems and the formatting process works. Click the Next button to continue. At this point, the installation application will start copying files.

The Rest of the Installation

Copying the files and installing them to your system takes some time. When the installation continues, follow these steps:

1. You are prompted to create a username and password and optionally to choose a picture for your account.

2. Next, you need to create a name for your computer or use the name that the installation application has chosen for you. You can also choose a background image for your desktop.

3. In the Help Protect Windows Automatically dialog box, choosing Use Recommended Settings is usually best.

4. Choose your time zone and set the date and time in the Review Your Time and Date Settings dialog box; then click the Next button.

5. Finally, click the Start button, and the Windows 7 installation is complete.

The installation checks your system’s performance for a short time and then asks you to log in. At this point, Windows 7 has been installed, and you’re ready to start using it.

Upgrade Windows 7

2009-11-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

Upgrading to Windows 7

If you purchased an upgrade version of Windows 7 to replace your current version of Windows and you haven’t yet installed that upgrade, this is the place to be. To tell you the truth, you really don’t have to read this entire appendix to install your upgrade. You really just have to do this:

1. Insert the disc that came with your Windows 7 upgrade into your computer’s disc drive and wait a few seconds.

2. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to install Windows 7 by upgrading your current version of Windows.

When the installation is complete, remove the new disc from your disc drive, put it someplace safe, and ignore the rest of this appendix. If these two steps don’t quite get the job done, please read on.

There is one point that I need to stress. It’s important that you know that Windows 7 can upgrade only from Windows Vista and no versions of Windows before it. I have run the beta version of the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and, although the systems tested on were able to support Windows 7, I was required to perform a custom installation on Windows XP machines, which creates a new OS instance rather than an upgrade.

Windows 7 System Requirements

Windows 7 has the same hardware requirements as Windows Vista, but requires a bit more hardware horsepower than versions of Windows prior to Vista. The more hardware capability you have, the better Windows 7 will run. The recommended minimum hardware requirements are as follows:

- 1 GB of RAM for 32-bit (x86) versions; 2 GB of RAM for 64-bit (x64) versions
- A 1.0 Gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
- At least 16 GB free space available for 32-bit (x86) versions; 20 GB for 64-bit (x64) versions
- DirectX 9 capable GPU with WDDM 1.0 driver or higher (128 MBs of VRAM is required for the Aero theme)

Before upgrading your installation of Windows Vista, it would be a good idea to run the Windows Upgrade Advisor available at www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/upgrade-advisor.aspx as a free download. The tool generates a report that will indicate any shortcomings of your system and what you need to do to upgrade your computer if necessary.

Pre-installation Housekeeping

If you’ve been using your PC for a while with an earlier version of Windows, you’ll want to do some things before you begin your upgrade:

- If your computer has any time-out features, such as the power-down features found on some portable PCs, disable those features now.
- If you have an antivirus program handy, run it now to check for, and delete, dormant viruses that may still be lurking on your hard drive.
- Disable your antivirus software after you’ve run the check. Leave it disabled until after you’ve completed the upgrade.
- Make sure that any external devices (printers, modems, external disk drives, and so on) are connected and turned on so that Windows 7 can detect them during installation.
- If at all possible, back up the entire hard drive at this point. At the very least, jot down all the information you need to connect to your Internet account. Back up all your documents, e-mail messages, names and addresses, and anything else you’ll need after you complete the upgrade.

I realize that few people outside the corporate world have a means of backing up their entire hard drive. But you should be able to at least back up documents, e-mail messages, names and addresses, and so forth. Windows 7 includes Windows Easy Transfer that fills that need.

Installing Windows 7

To upgrade an existing version of Windows Vista, start your computer normally. You’d do well to restart the computer and get to a clean desktop with no open program windows or dialog boxes. Then put the Windows 7 disc in your disc drive and wait for the Welcome screen to open. If nothing appears on the screen within a minute or so, follow these steps:

1. Open My Computer.

2. Open the icon for your disc drive. If the Welcome screen opens, skip the next step.

3. Click (or double-click) the setup (or setup.exe) file on the disc.

By now, you should definitely see on your screen some options for installing Windows 7. To get things rolling:

1. Choose the Install Now option.

2. When the Get Important Updates for Installation window appears, you’re able to go online to get the latest updates for your installation ofWindows 7. If you choose this option, your system
needs to stay connected throughout the installation.

Before clicking Install, you can use the Windows Easy Transfer, an application included with Windows 7, for copying your files and settings to a different computer. See Chapter 12 for more information on Easy Transfer.

The installation procedure will begin. You might notice that the screen goes blank once in a while
during the installation. Don’t be alarmed; that’s normal. If the screen goes blank for a long time, try moving the mouse around a bit to bring it back. From here on out, you can just follow the instructions on the screen.

Installation options

The exact procedure from this point on will vary a bit, depending on what version of Windows 7
you’re installing. Also, the specific hardware that’s connected to your computer will affect the information that the setup procedure requests. Each request is largely self-explanatory, but here’s a summary of the items you’re likely to encounter along the way.

- Regional, Currency, and Language Options: Choose your preferred location, currency, and
keyboard layout.

- Product Key: Type the product key. You should be able to find it on the sleeve in which the
Windows 7 disc was delivered.

- License Terms: If you agree with the terms and conditions of the license, select the I Accept
the License Terms check box.

- Upgrade or Custom Installation: If you decide that you want to do a fresh installation,
choose the Custom option. This will not keep your personal files and programs. The Upgrade
option will.

- Compatibility Report: The installation application will look at your existing configuration and
indicate whether it finds devices that are incompatible with Windows 7.

- Security Settings: These settings let you determine how you want to protect your system.

- Date and Time Settings: Set the date and current time, choose your time zone, and decide
whether you want Windows to automatically adjust the time for daylight savings changes.

Reenabling old startup programs

You may discover that some of the programs that used to start automatically on your computer don’t do so after you’ve installed Windows 7. You can follow these steps to get those programs to start automatically again in the future:

1. Click Start, type msconfig, and then press Enter. This runs the System Configuration tool, which does not have an icon in the Windows menu.

2. Click the Startup tab.

3. To enable all previous auto-start programs, click the Enable All button. Optionally, select only those programs you want to auto-start.

4. Click OK.

5. Click the Start button, click the arrow to the right of the Power button, and select Restart. Windows 7 should restart with the programs from your previous version of Windows open and running.

How Firewalls Work ?

2009-11-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

To understand what a firewall is, you need to first understand what a network connection is. Even though you have only one skinny set of wires connecting your computer to the Internet (through a phone line or cable outlet), that connection actually consists of 65,535 ports. Each port can simultaneously carry on its own conversation with the outside world. So, theoretically, you could have 65,535 things going on at a time. Of course, nobody ever has that much going on all at one time. A handful of ports is more like it.

The ports are divided into two categories: TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol). TCP is generally used to send text and pictures (Web pages and e-mail), and includes some error checking to make sure all the information that’s received by a computer matches what the sending computer sent. UDP works more like broadcast TV or radio, where the information is just sent out and there is no error checking. UDP is generally used for real-time communications, such as voice conversations and radio broadcasts sent over the Internet.

Each port has two directions: incoming (or ingress) and outgoing (or egress). The direction is in relation to stuff coming into your computer from the outside: namely the Internet. It’s the stuff coming into your computer that you have to watch out for. But you can’t close all ports to all incoming traffic. If you did, there’d be no way to get the good stuff in. But you don’t want to let everything in, either. You need a way to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak — a way to let in the good stuff while keeping out the bad stuff.

Antispyware and antivirus software are good tools for keeping out viruses and other bad things that are attached to files coming into your computer. But hackers can actually sneak worms and other bad things in through unprotected ports without involving a file in the process. That’s where the firewall comes into play. A stateful firewall, such as the one that comes with Windows 7, keeps track of everything you request. When traffic from the Internet wants to come in through a port, the firewall checks to make sure the traffic is something you requested. If it isn’t, the firewall assumes this is a hacker trying to sneak something in without your knowing it, and therefore prevents the traffic from entering your computer. Picture illustrates how it works.

So, there’s really more to it than just having a port open or closed. It’s also about filtering. About making sure that data coming into an open port is something you requested and not some rogue uninvited traffic sent by some hacker. Many of the worms that infected so many computers in the 1990s did so by sneaking in undetected through unfiltered ports. These days, you really want to make sure you have a firewall up whenever you go online to prevent such things.

What a firewall doesn’t protect against

It’s important to understand that a firewall alone is not sufficient protection against all Internet threats. A firewall is just one component in a larger defense system. Specifically:

- Windows firewall doesn’t protect you from spyware and viruses.

- Windows firewall doesn’t protect you from attacks based on exploits.

- A firewall doesn’t protect you from pop-up ads.

- A firewall doesn’t protect you from phishing scams.

- Windows firewall doesn’t protect you from spam (junk e-mail).

So, a firewall isn’t a complete solution. Rather, it’s an important component of a larger security strategy.

Computer Windows Long Start

2009-11-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

Computer Takes Too Long to Start

When the computer takes much longer to start than it used to, the problem is usually caused by too many programs trying to auto-start. Windows Defender to prevent unnecessary programs from starting automatically. Many things that prevent a computer from starting have nothing to do with Windows 7. It often takes even seasoned pros many hours to diagnose and repair startup problems. But before you resort to the repair shop, here are some other things you can try.

Restore system files to an earlier time

If you can get the computer to start in Safe Mode, try restoring your files to an earlier time. In Safe Mode, click the Start button, type Restore, and then click System Restore on the Start menu. Follow the on-screen instructions to restore system files from a date prior to when the problem began. Choose the most recent date. For example, if the problem started today, restore files from yesterday or the day before.

Repair Install Windows 7

If you have a CD or DVD with Windows 7 on it, you can boot from that disc and do a repair installation. Put that disc in the CD or DVD drive and start the computer. Watch the screen for a message that shows ‘‘Press any key to boot from CD or DVD’’ (or a similar message); then, press Enter or the spacebar.

If the option to boot from the CD or DVD never appears, and the computer won’t boot from that disc, you need to change your BIOS options to start from the CD drive. How you do that varies from one computer to the next. Typically, start the computer and then immediately start pressing the F1, F2, or Del key (perhaps all three, if you don’t know which is required) repeatedly as the computer is starting. This should take you to the BIOS Setup options. There you can configure the computer to try starting from the CD before it tries starting from the hard drive. Close and save the new settings. The computer will restart, and this time you should be able to boot from the CD or DVD. If you’re able to boot from the CD, the first screen you see will likely ask about your language and locale. Make any necessary changes and click Next. On the next page, click Repair Your Computer (not the Install Now option). Then just follow the on-screen instructions to do a repair install of Windows 7.

The instruction manual that came with your computer

Most computer manufacturers provide some means of helping you troubleshoot and repair startup problems. Be sure to look through whatever documentation you have for your computer manufacturer’s recommendations. That could be your best bet, because all computers are unique in some ways. The manual that came with your computer provides information that’s specific to your exact make and model of computer.

Windows Blue Screen

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Screen turns blue during startup and then stops

This is commonly referred to as the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). It doesn’t mean your computer is permanently broken. A frequent cause of this problem is a device driver that doesn’t work with Windows 7.

If you recently connected or installed a new hardware device, disconnect or uninstall it. Then start the computer again. That’s your best bet. If you still get the Blue Screen of Death, you’ll likely have to boot to Safe Mode and disable the device through Device Manager. This is not the sort of thing the average user normally does. This is more the kind of thing that a professional would handle.

If the error persists, look for an error number on the Blue Screen of Death page. It will most likely start with the characters 0x. Jot that number down on a sheet of paper. Then, if you can get online through another computer, go to Microsoft’s sites (http://search.microsoft.com or http://search.microsoft.com) or your favorite online search site (such as Google) and search for that number. You might find a page that offers an exact solution to that problem.

If you can get online through another computer, you might also consider posting a question at the Windows Communities site. Be sure to include the error number in your post. You might find someone who has already experienced and solved that very problem.

Computer Automatic Restart

2009-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Computer keeps trying to start but never gets there

Get to Safe Mode and choose the option to disable automatic restart. If that doesn’t help, get to the
Safe Mode options again and try the Last Known Good Conﬁguration option.

Mouse and Keyboard don’t Work

2009-11-10T09:24:00.001-08:00

Computer starts but mouse and keyboard don’t work

If the computer starts, but doesn’t respond to the mouse and keyboard, turn off the computer. Unplug both the mouse and keyboard from the computer. If the mouse connects to a round PS/2 port, make sure you plug it in firmly. If the plug is round, make sure you plug it into the PS/2 port for the mouse (usually colored green). Make sure nothing is resting on the keyboard and holding down a key. Then firmly plug in the keyboard. If the plug is round, plug it into the PS/2 port for the keyboard (usually purple in color). Check all cable connections to the computer one more time. Then restart the computer.

Non-System Disk or Disk Error Message

2009-11-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

Non-System Disk or Disk Error message

This message appears when the computer attempts to boot from a disk on which Windows is not installed. If a floppy disk is in the floppy drive, remove it Likewise for any disk in the CD drive or DVD drive, or any drive that’s connected to the computer through a USB port. Press any key to continue startup. If that doesn’t work, press Ctrl+Alt+Del or restart the computer with the main on/off switch.

Computer Won’t Start

2009-11-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

If the computer does absolutely nothing when you first turn it on, your first move is to check all cable connections. Make sure the power plug on every device that plugs into the wall is firmly plugged in. Also, make sure the mouse, keyboard, and all other devices are firmly plugged into their slots. If it’s a desktop computer, look for a 0/1 power switch on the back of the computer and make sure it’s on (flipped to the 1 position). Turn on the computer again and as it’s powering up, push the button on the floppy disk drive (if the computer has one) and the CD or DVD drive. If there is a disk in either drive, remove it. If the computer sounds as though it’s starting up but you don’t see anything on the screen, make sure all plugs to the monitor are firmly seated. If it’s a desktop computer, make sure the monitor’s power cable is firmly attached to the monitor and wall socket, and that the cable connecting the computer to the monitor is firmly attached at both ends of the cable. Make sure the monitor is turned on. Then restart the computer.

Windows Navigating Help

2009-11-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Windows Navigating Help

Across the top of the Help and Support Center, you see the buttons. (On your own screen, you can point to any button to see its name.)

Here’s what each button offers:

- Back: Takes you back to the help page you just left (if any). Disabled (dimmed) when there’s no page to go back to.

- Forward: Returns to the page you just backed out of. Disabled if you didn’t just back out of a page.

- Help and Support Home: Takes you to the same page that opens when you first open Help and Support.

- Print: Lets you print whatever help information you’re currently viewing.

- Browse Help: Takes you to the Table of Contents.

- Learn about Other Support Options: Takes you to options for getting online help from humans. (But no one is actually sitting there waiting to answer your questions. It’s more complicated than that.)

- Options: Provides the following options:

- Print: Same as clicking the Print button.

- Browse Help: Same as clicking the Browse Help button.

- Text Size: Changes the size of the text in the Help window. (A lifesaver if the text is too small to read!)

- Find (on This Page): Searches the current Help page (only) for a word or phrase you specify.

- Settings: Provides options for enabling or disabling online help and participation in Help Experience Improvement program.

Using the Search box
The Search box at the top of the Help and Support Center window is strictly for searching Help. It searches both the Help that’s in your computer and the more extensive online Help (if you’re online when you use the Search box). Use the Search box as you would the index at the back of a book. It works best if you know the exact term you’re looking for and how to spell that term. But even if you don’t know how to spell
it exactly, the Search feature works pretty well. For example, a search for desk top (wrong spelling) returns roughly the same results as desktop (correct spelling). You can also phrase your search as a question. For example, ‘‘What is a user account?’’ or ‘‘How do I create a user account?’’ Press Enter or click the magnifying glass button after typing your search term or question. The results will be a series of links to pages in Help that are relevant to your search phrase or question.

Online Help and Offline Help
There are really two types of help in Windows 7. There’s ofliine Help, which you can access at any time. There’s also online Help, which you can access only when you’re connected to the Internet. The online Help is more extensive than the ofliine Help. In the Help window’s lower-right corner, you’ll see an indicator that tells you which Help you’re currently accessing. Click that to choose to use Get Offline Help (only), or Online Help (which includes both offliine Help and online Help). To automatically include online Help in your searches, click Options, choose Settings, and then choose Improve My Search Results by Using Online Help (Recommended).

Windows Communities

2009-11-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

Windows Communities

Windows Communities are newsgroups in which other users hang out, ask questions, and answer questions. Nobody gets paid to work on newsgroups. It’s all done voluntarily. So there’s no charge to access the newsgroups.

Newsgroups aren’t an immediate gratification type of help. There isn’t anyone there waiting for your questions and standing ready to answer on the spot. It’s more like group e-mail: People post messages, and other people reply as convenient. This is another resource you can add to your list of resources for information. To get to the newsgroups, first make sure that your computer is online. Then click the Ask button in
Help and Support and click Windows Communities. Your Web browser opens to the home page for the communities. I can’t say exactly how it will look because it’s a Web page, and Web pages change all the time. But you should see a Search For box and some basic instructions.

It’s important to understand that when you type something in the Search For box, you’re not sending your question to an expert to read and answer. There is no live person on the other end to read and respond to your question. Instead, what you get is a list of all the previous newsgroup posts that contain the word or phrase for which you searched. The idea is to scroll through all the messages to see whether one looks as though it might help. Then click its message header (the text in bold) to expand the thread. A thread consists of the original message and all the replies to that message. To read any message in the thread, click its header in the left pane. The message text appears in the right pane.

To post your own question to a group, you need to set up an account. Don’t worry; you don’t have to give up any personal information. Nor will there ever be a charge. You need to set up the account only once, not every time you use the newsgroups. Posting a question starts with clicking Ask a Question. If you haven’t set up an account yet, you’ll be given the opportunity to do so on the next page that opens. Otherwise, if you already have set up an account, you can sign in by entering your username and password. After you do so, you’ll be able to
create a new post. When you’ve set up an account, you might find it easier to use a newsgroup client rather than your Web browser to access the newsgroups. You can use Windows Live Mail as that newsgroup client (even if you don’t use Windows Live Mail for e-mail).

Remote Assistance

2009-11-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance is a technology that allows another person to see what’s on your computer screen and operate your computer with his or her mouse and keyboard. The idea here is to turn control of your computer over to a trusted expert to resolve your problem.

Microsoft Customer Support

2009-11-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

Microsoft customer support

Clicking the Microsoft Customer Support link takes you to a Web page that provides still more support options. There, you’ll ﬁnd a ton of links to different kinds of support for different kinds of questions. Take a look at all your options and decide what’s best for you.

Troubleshooting

2009-11-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Troubleshooting computer problems isn’t easy; it involves a host of skills that take a lot of time, education, and experience to build. But you can use some resources to troubleshoot some of the more common problems without being a total computer geek. First, it’s important to understand that troubleshooting comes into play only when you already know how to do something but it’s not working as it should. This is not the same as not knowing how to do something, or not being able to ?gure out how to do something by guessing. It’s an important distinction to make because if you can’t do something because you don’t know how, troubleshooting won’t help.

As to nongeek troubleshooting, there are many resources for that. The first is Windows 7’s automated troubleshooting. Windows 7 can often recognize when something’s gone wrong. When it does, Windows 7 may pop up a message asking whether it’s okay to send information about the problem to Microsoft. You should always choose Yes. No human will receive the message. Nobody will call or pop up on your screen to solve the problem. Instead, another computer will check to see whether it’s a known problem that’s already been solved.

If a solution is available, you’ll (eventually) see a message in your Notification area offering to solve the problem. Just click that message and follow any additional instructions that appear on the screen. Hopefully, the problem will go away without your having to call in the pricey computer nerds. You can also use the Troubleshooting link in the Help and Support Center shown back. Click that link to ?nd solutions to common problems.

I’ve also included a troubleshooting chapter at the end of each part of this book. As with the Troubleshooting you get through the Help and Support Center, these chapters cover only some of the more common problems. There isn’t a book in the world that’s large enough to cover every possibility. Finally, the communities mentioned in the previous section can be a great resource. Just make sure that you explain exactly what the problem is so that people reading your post can determine what’s happening. Chances are, someone who reads your message has already encountered that problem and will offer a solution. Hey, it’s free. So it’s certainly worth a try.

Windows Live - Parental Controls

2009-11-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

Using Parental Controls from Windows Live

The Windows Live Family Safety add-on adds Web filtering and activity reporting to your toolbox of parental controls. To add these controls to your computer, first make sure you have a Windows Live account. If you don’t, you can create one the first time you visit the Web site. Open Internet Explorer, browse to http://home.live.com, and log in with your Windows Live ID (or create one). Then, click More and then click Family Safety Choose your language from the drop-down list and then click the Download button. Follow the displayed download instructions to start and complete the download process.

The Family Safety add-on gives you the following added capabilities:

- Activity reports: View reports of the Web activity and other Internet activity for the selected child.
- Content filtering: Specify the types of Web sites the child can access.
- Contact management: Specify the people the child can communicate with online through Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail, and Spaces on Windows Live. You can also allow the child to manage his or her own contact list.

To access the new Family Safety settings, click Start > All Programs > Windows Live > Windows Live Family Safety to open the Windows Live Family Safety Filter dialog box. Then, click the Go to the Family Safety link to navigate to the Windows Live Family Safety Web site. Through the Family Safety Web site, you can add child and parent accounts, as well as configure settings for each child’s account. To con?gure settings for a child, ?rst add the child’s account. Click the Add Child link, and if you have already created the child’s Windows Live account, click Sign in with This Child’s ID. If not, click Create Child ID.

After the account is created, you see it listed when you browse to the Family Safety Web site. You can
click the link under the Web Filtering, Activity Reporting, or Contact Management columns to set the corresponding setting.

Each Windows account by default uses the Windows Live ID that was used to install the Family Safety add-on. Before you allow a child to browse the Web, you need to log in to the computer with his/her account and log in to Family Safety with his/her Windows Live ID. Here’s how:

1. Log in to the computer using the child’s Windows account.

2. Click Start > All Programs > Windows Live > Windows Live Family Safety.

3. Click Sign Out to switch family members.

4. In the Sign In to Family Safety dialog box, enter the child’s Windows Live credentials. If you don’t want the child to have to enter the credentials each time, select the Remember My Password and Sign Me In Automatically options. Then click Sign In.

Defining Web restrictions
The World Wide Web contains millions of Web sites and billions of Web pages. No one person or company has control over what goes on the Web. It’s very much a public place where anyone can post any content they wish. Obviously, not all that content is suitable for children. (Much of it isn’t particularly appropriate for adults, either.)

To define Web restrictions, navigate to the Family Safety Web site as described previously, and click Add a Child. If the child’s account already exists and is listed, just click the child’s account. In the resulting Web Filtering page, you can choose between the following three options:

- Strict: Block all Web sites except child-friendly sites and sites you’ve explicitly allowed.
- Basic: Block only adult content.
- Custom: Choose from multiple types of sites those you will allow the child to access.

In addition to choosing between these three primary options, you can explicitly add sites to the list of allowed or blocked sites. To add a site, click in the text box under Allow or Block a Website, type the site’s URL, and choose the desired action from the drop-down list, such as Allow for This Account Only. Then, click Add. When you’re satisfied with the settings, click Save.

GetWeb sites working
If you’ve set restrictions on Web sites, you might need to do a little tweaking to get the sites working. Log out of your administrative account (click the Start button, click the arrow next to the lock, and then click Log Off). Then log in to the child’s account. Browse to an allowed Web site. If some content from the site is blocked, you’ll see a warning in the information bar (Infobar). You can click the Infobar to review portions of the site that are blocked. Typically, allowing the child to see the blocked content is perfectly safe because it’s still age-appropriate. But you’ll need to choose Always Allow when prompted to make sure the child can visit the site when you’re away.

You can also use one of the child’s allowed sites as the default home page that appears when the child first opens the Web browser. In Internet Explorer, browse to whatever Web page you want to make the default. Then click the Home button in the toolbar (or press Alt+M) and click Add or Change Home Page. Choose Use this Webpage as Your Only Home Page and click Yes. You might also want to add all the allowed sites to the child’s Favorites. For more information on Internet Explorer, Favorites, and default home pages. When you want to get back to performing parental (administrative) tasks, log out of the child’s account. Then log back into your administrative account. Next, you want to specify exactly what the child can and can’t do with the computer. Your options are described in the sections that follow.

Viewing User Activity Reports - Windows Parental Control

2009-11-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Viewing User Activity Reports - Windows Parental Control

User activity reports provide a summary of user activity. You can view the report for any user at any time, and you can review a child’s computer activity by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Windows Live Family Safety Web site as described previously.

2. Log in with your Windows Live account and then click the icon beside the user whose reports you want to view.

3. Click the Activity Reporting link.

4. In the Web activity tab, choose the range of dates you want to view and click Refresh. By default, the site shows the previous seven days of activity.

5. Click the Other Internet activity tab to view reports for the child’s other Internet activity.

Technical approaches to online safety, such as parental controls, are a good thing. But they cannot cover all possible risks. Kids like to get involved with instant messaging and chats in which people aren’t always who they claim to be. Children should be taught some basic ground rules. For example, children should never give out personal information, such as where they live or go to school. If anything makes them feel uncomfortable, they should report it to their parents. They should never agree to meet with anyone. As a parent, you have many online resources for sharing your concerns with others and getting advice. You don’t need to be a technical whiz to take advantage of these sites. Here are some you might want to add to your Favorites:

- Safe Kids: www.safekids.com
- Child Safety: www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children
- CyberAngels: www.cyberangels.org/
- GetNetWise: www.getnetwise.org/

Using the Windows Parental Controls

2009-11-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

How to use Windows Parental Controls
Windows 7 provides three options for controlling how your children (or even you) can use the computer. These are as follows:

- Time Limits: Specify the hours during each day that the child can use the computer.
- Games: Specify whether the child can play games on the computer, and set the rating and content types that are allowed.
- Allow and Block Specific Programs: Select which programs the child can run.

Getting to the Parental Controls Page

Fortunately, you don’t need to be a computer guru to set up parental controls. After you’ve set up appropriate user accounts, the rest is easy. Here are the steps:

1. Log in to a user account that has administrative privileges.

2. Do whichever of the following is most convenient for you at the moment:
- Tap WIN key,type par in the search box, and click Parental Controls.
- Click the Start button, choose Control Panel, and click Set Up Parental Controls for Any User.

3. You come to a page that shows the name and picture for each user account you’ve created, as in the example in picture. Click the user account for which you want to set up parental controls.

Now you’re in the parental controls page shown in picture. Any options you choose are applied to the account shown in the page. For example, I’m setting up parental controls for a user named Gene. To activate parental controls for the account, choose On, Enforce Current Settings under the Parental Controls heading. After you turn on parental controls, you can choose which controls to apply for the selected user.

Setting time limits

To specify times when the child is allowed to use the computer, click Time Limits. You see a grid of days and times. Initially, all squares are white, meaning there are no restrictions. You can click any time slot for which the child isn’t allowed to use the computer to turn it blue. Or, drag the mouse pointer through a longer stretch of time to block more time.

Optionally, you can place the mouse pointer in the upper-left corner of the grid and drag down to the lower-right corner to block all times. Then drag the mouse pointer through the times that the child is allowed to use the computer. For example, in Figure 4-3, the child is allowed to use the computer from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm on Sunday, 3:00 to 7:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 3:00 to 9:00 on Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday. Click OK after setting allowable times. You can change those settings at any time by clicking Time Limits again when appropriate. For example, if the child needs a ‘‘time out’’ from the computer, you can block out all the times so that the child can’t use the computer at all!

Sometimes you might want to allow your children to use the computer but not use the Internet. For example, they might need to do homework but you don’t want them on the Web. You can prevent their access to the Internet by blocking Internet Explorer, but I block Internet traffic at the home firewall instead. With a single click in the firewall interface, I can allow or deny traffic to the kids’ computer. Configuring a firewall is outside the scope of this chapter, but I offer this tip to give you another way to control how your children use the computer.

Controlling game play

To control the child’s game play, click Games. Doing so opens the page shown in Picture. If you don’t want the child to use the computer for game play at all, choose No. Otherwise, choose Yes. If you choose Yes, you can block games based on content. Click Set Game Ratings. Your first options will be base don ESRB ratings. ESRB stands for Entertainment Software Rating Board, an independent third party that rates games for age appropriateness and specific content. The ratings are similar to movie ratings (G, PG, R, and so forth), but specific to computer games.

To use a rating system other than ESRB, click the Back button until you get to the first parental controls page that shows user accounts. Then click Select a Games Rating System in the left column.

To prevent the child from playing games that have no ESRB rating, choose Block games with no rating. Then read each rating and click whichever rating is the most appropriate for your child. The child will be able to play games up to, and including, the rating you choose. Then you can scroll down the page and block more games based on content type. To block games based on content, select the type of content you want to block. When you get to the bottom of the list and have blocked all the content that you feel is inappropriate, click OK. Finally, you can click Block or Allow Speci?c Games to allow or block games installed on your computer. For each listed game, you can choose User Rating Setting to block based on the ESRB rating. Or you can choose Always Allow to let the child play the game. Or choose Always Block to prevent the child from playing that game. Click OK after making your selections. Then click OK again to return to the main parental controls page for your child.

Blocking and allowing programs

Clicking Allow and Block Specific Programs takes you to a page that lists all the programs installed on your computer. There you can opt to allow the child to use all programs. Or choose Can Only Use the Programs I Allow. If you choose the second option, you need to select the check box next to each program that the child is allowed to use. Click OK after making your selections.

When you’ve ?nished setting up parental controls for the child, the account name and picture summarize your settings. You can click OK to return to the list of user accounts. From there, you can click another account to which you want to assign parental controls. Or close the window if you’re finished setting up parental controls.

Of course, you can add or change parental controls at any time. Just use any technique described under ‘‘Getting to the Parental Controls Page,’’ earlier in this chapter, to get to the main page. Then click the account for which you want to add or change parental controls.

Windows Parental Controls

2009-11-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Parental Controls and Family Safety

Keeping kids safe online isn’t always easy for parents. Especially for the parent who hasn’t exactly been riding the crest of the tech wave in recent years. Parental controls are a great ?rst step to keeping children safe online. Better yet, you don’t need to be a computer guru to set parental controls. After you’ve set up standard user accounts for children, the rest is fairly easy. In this chapter, you see just how easy it is to set up parental controls in Windows 7 and how to extend parental controls with Windows Live.

Before You Get Started

For parental controls to work, your computer must be set up with at least one password-protected administrator user account. If you set up multiple user accounts with administrative privileges, make sure that they’re all password-protected. And make sure the kids don’t know the password. Otherwise, the kids can easily go in and change any parental controls you import. Furthermore, each child should have his or her own standard user account. There you can learn everything you need to know about setting up user accounts.

Finally, understand that Windows 7 offers a certain set of features for parental control. You can add other features by downloading the Family Safety add-on from Microsoft Windows Live. The ?rst half of this chapter covers the parental controls that are built into Windows 7, and the second half covers the Windows Live add-ons.

Switch Between Programs

2009-11-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Switch Between Programs

Whenever you have two or more programs open at the same time, you want to be able to easily switch among them. You have several ways to switch among open programs, as discussed in the sections to follow.

Switching with taskbar buttons

As mentioned, almost every open program has a button on the taskbar. When you have multiple open programs, you have multiple taskbar buttons. To make any one particular program active, click its taskbar button. If you’re not sure which button is which, point to each button. You see the name and a miniature copy of the program that the button represents. You also see a full-size preview of the window, a new feature in Windows 7.

Switching with the keyboard

If you prefer the keyboard to the mouse, you can use Alt+Tab to switch among open windows. Hold down the Alt key and then press the Tab key. You see a thumbnail image for each open programm window. Keep the Alt key pressed down and keep pressing Tab until the name of the program you want to switch to appears above the icons. Then release the Alt key.

Switching with Flip 3D
If you’re using the Aero Glass interface in Windows 7, you can use Flip 3D to switch among windows. Hold down the WIN key and press Tab. The desktop darkens, and any program windows you have open appear in the three-dimensional view.

When you see the three-dimensional stack, you can click any window to bring that window to the top of the stack on your desktop. If your mouse has a wheel, you can cycle through windows by spinning the mouse wheel. If you use the keyboard, keep the WIN key held down and press the Tab key until the window you want is at the front of the stack. When you release WIN key, that same window will be on the top of the stack on the desktop. In Windows Vista, Flip 3D was accessible from the Quick Launch taskbar. That taskbar isn’t included in the Windows 7 interface, but you can create a shortcut for Flip 3D and pin it to the taskbar.

Here’s how:

1. Right-click the desktop and choose New -> Shortcut.

2. In the Type the Location of the Item text box, type c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe DwmApi #105 and then click Next.

3. Name the shortcut Flip 3D and click Finish.

4. Right-click the shortcut and choose Properties.

5. Click the Shortcut tab of the item’s Properties dialog box and then click Change Icon.

6. Click Browse, and in the Windows\System32 folder, locate and select the file imageres.dll; then click Open.

7. Select the Flip 3D icon (or another icon of your choice) and click OK.

8. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box for the shortcut.

9. Drag the shortcut to the taskbar to pin it there. You can then delete the original shortcut from the desktop, if you prefer.

Whenever you want to use Flip 3D, just click the shortcut icon in the taskbar to display the open programs on the desktop, and click the window you want to use. You can also scroll with the mouse to cycle through the windows.

Running Programs

2009-11-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

Running Programs

You can start any program that’s installed on your computer by finding the program’s icon on the All Programs menu and then clicking that icon. You have other ways to start programs as well. For example, if an icon appears on the left side of the Start menu to start the program, just click that instead. If you see an icon for the program in the Quick Launch toolbar, you can click that. If you see a shortcut icon to the program on the desktop, you can click (or double-click) that icon to start the program.

Every time you start a program, an instance of that program opens in a program window. No rule exists that says you can have only one program open at a time. Nor are you limited to having only one copy of any given program open at a time. You can have as many programs open simultaneously as you can cram into your available memory (RAM). Most programs allow you to run multiple instances. The more memory your system has, the more stuff you can have open without much slowdown in performance.

Any item you open on the desktop usually shows its own name somewhere near the top of the program window. Figure 2-13 shows an example in which I have Getting Started open on the desktop. You see its name in the address bar near the top of the window, appearing either by itself or as part of a string of items. Most items that you open also have a taskbar button. The name in the taskbar button matches the name of the item. For example, the taskbar button for the open Getting Started also shows the words Getting Started when you hover the pointer over the icon. You can click the Getting Started taskbar button to make the open window appear and disappear. That’s a good thing to know, because sometimes you want to get something off the screen temporarily so that you can see something else on the screen.

When you have multiple program windows open, they stack up on the desktop the way multiple sheets of paper on your real desktop stack up. When you have multiple sheets of paper in a pile, you can’t see what’s on every page. You can see only what’s on the top page, because all the other pages are covered by that page.

It works the same way with program windows. When you have multiple program windows open, you can see only the one that’s on the top of the stack. We call the program that’s on the top of the stack the active window.

Arranging Desktop Icons

2009-11-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

As you discover, you have many ways to customize the Windows 7 desktop. But if you just want to make some quick, minor changes to your desktop icons, right-click the desktop to view its shortcut menu. Items on the menu that have a little arrow to the right show submenus. For example, if you right-click the desktop and point to View on the menu, you see the View menu, as shown in picture.

The final item on the View menu, Show Desktop Items, needs to be selected (checked) for the icons to show at all. If no checkmark appears next to that item, click that item. The menu closes and the icons appear on the desktop. When you need to see the menu again, just right-click the desktop again. The top three items on the menu, Large Icons, Medium Icons, and Small Icons, control the size of the icons. Click any option to see its effect. If you don’t like the result, right-click the desktop again, choose View, and choose a different size.

The Sort By option on the desktop shortcut menu lets you arrange desktop icons alphabetically by Name, by Size, by Type, or by Date Modi?ed. However, no matter how you choose to sort icons, the built-in icons are sorted separately from those you create. Custom shortcut icons you create yourself are listed after the built-in icons. So if you sort by name, the built-in icons are listed alphabetically first. Then any shortcut icons you created are alphabetized after those. If you sort in reverse order, however (choose Sort, by Name twice), the custom items display first, followed by the built-in icons.

Windows Desktop Icons

2009-11-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

Windows Desktop Icons

Desktop icons are just like the icons on the Start menu. Each icon represents a closed object that you can open by double-clicking the icon. Most desktop icons are shortcuts to files and folders. They’re shortcuts in the sense that they duplicate icons available elsewhere. They just save you the extra clicks required to get to the same icon through the Start menu or All Programs menu.

Rules always have exceptions. When it comes to desktop icons, the Recycle Bin is the exception. The Recycle Bin icon exists only on the desktop, and you won’t find it anywhere else. The role of the Recycle Bin is that of a safety net. Whenever you delete a file or folder from your hard drive, the item is actually just moved to the Recycle Bin. You can restore an accidentally deleted item from the Recycle Bin back to its original location.

In addition to the Recycle Bin, you have other built-in desktop icons from which to choose. If you want to take a shot at adding icons, you have to get to the Personalization page and make some selections. You can use either of the following techniques to get to the Personalization page:

- Click the Start button, type pers, and click Personalization.
- Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.

The Personalization Control Panel applet opens. In its left column, click Change Desktop Icons. You see a dialog box like the one in picture It’s called a dialog box because you carry on a sort of dialog with it. It shows you options from which you can pick and choose. You make your choices and click OK. You’ll see menu dialog boxes throughout this book.

To make an icon visible on your desktop, select (click to put a checkmark in) the check box next to the icon’s name. To prevent an icon from appearing on the desktop, click the check box to the left of its name to deselect it (remove the checkmark). In the?gure,I’veopted to see all icons except the Network and Control Panel icons. You can choose a different picture for any icon you’ve opted to show on the desktop. Click the icon’s picture in the middle of the dialog box. Then click the Change Icon button. Click the icon you want to show and then click OK. If you change your mind after the fact, click Restore Default. Click OK after making your selections. The dialog box closes and the icons you choose appear on the desktop. However, you might not see them if that part of the desktop is covered by something that’s open. Don’t worry about that. You learn about how you open, close, move, and size things on the desktop a little later in this chapter.

If nothing is covering the desktop, but you still don’t see any desktop icons, they might just be switched off. I cover this topic in the next section.

Windows 7 Jump Lists

2009-11-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 - Using Jump Lists

Jump lists are a new feature of Windows 7 that enhance the usefulness of the icons on the taskbar. Jump lists add the most recently used objects from the application to a pop-up menu. Just right-click the icon to view the Jump list.

Other applications written for Windows 7 offer additional capabilities in the Jump menu. For example,
Internet Explorer 8 offers your browsing history. You don’t need to do anything to set up Jump lists — they happen automatically. Whenever you want to use a Jump list, just right-click a taskbar icon and choose from the list the item you want to open.

The Power button

2009-11-07T05:56:00.000-08:00

The Power button

The Power button at the lower-right side of the Start menu plays several roles and can take one of two appearances. If the Power button has no icon beside it, and reads Shut Down, clicking the button powers down your computer. If you see a shield icon on the button in addition to the words Shut Down, Windows will install downloaded updates and then shut down. Clicking the arrow on the Power button displays several options.

Switch User: Switches to another user account without logging out of the current account.

Log Off: Closes all open items, logs out of the current user account, and returns to the login screen.

Lock: Hides the desktop behind a login screen. Regaining access requires entering the user account password.

Shut Down: Closes all open items and shuts down the computer.

Restart: Closes all open items and restarts the computer (also called a reboot or warm boot).

Sleep: Puts the computer in a state in which it consumes little power without losing your place on the screen.

Hibernate: Saves what’s on your desktop and then shuts down the computer all the way so that it’s consuming no power at all. When you restart the computer and log in, your desktop is returned to wherever you left things.

Different types of computers offer different options for sleeping, hibernating, and shutting down. How you restart the computer also varies. For example, when you put the computer to sleep, you can often wake it up just by tapping a key on the keyboard or by moving the mouse. Or, on a notebook computer, simply opening the lid to view the screen may wake up the computer. When you hibernate or shut down the computer, you have to use the main On/Off switch to turn the computer back on. But because these vary from one computer to the next, I can’t say exactly which options your computer offers or how they work. If you have any trouble with those options, refer to the instruction manual that came with your computer for specifics. At times, the button for powering down the computer might show a shield and exclamation point, as shown in picture. When you point to that button, the tooltip shows information like that shown in the picture. The button and tooltip are telling you that your computer has automatically received an update that requires you to click that button. Go ahead and do so. Don’t worry: It’s not a security risk. Nothing bad will happen, it won’t cost you any money, and everything will work the way it did before. The update is just a security patch or minor fix. Go ahead and click the exclamation point button and wait for the computer to shut down on its own.

Windows 7 - Start Menu

2009-11-07T05:49:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 - Using the Start Menu

Clicking the Start button displays the Start menu. The left side of the Start menu shows icons for some (but not all) of the programs on your computer. The right side of the menu offers links to commonly used folders and other features.

The icons on your Start menu won’t necessarily match those shown in the figure, so don’t worry if yours looks different. The picture is just an example. You will notice, however, that some of the program names on the left side of the Start menu are boldface and some are not. There’s a horizontal line separating the two types of names.

Items above the horizontal line are pinned to the Start menu and never change. Items below the horizontal line are dynamic, meaning they change automatically based on the programs you use most frequently. As the weeks and months roll by, the left side of your Start menu will eventually list just the programs you use most often.

To see all the programs available on your system, click All Programs near the bottom of the Start menu. In the All Programs menu, some icons look like folders, others like logos. Any icon that looks like a logo represents a program. To start (open) a program, you click its name or logo. Icons that look like folders represent program groups. To see the names of programs in a group, click the folder icon or name. So now the left side of the Start menu includes programs and program groups from the Windows 7 Accessories program group.

You can choose from many more programs than can it on the left side of the Start menu. Use the vertical scroll bar just to the right of the program name to scroll up and down through the complete list. If you want to leave the All Programs menu and return to the dynamic menu, click the

The right side of the Start menu

The right side of the Start menu shows menu items for frequently used folders and features. The name at the top of the list (jboyce in the previous examples) is the name of the user account into which you’re currently logged. Clicking the user name opens a folder containing icons for other folders that represent things like documents, pictures, music, and other information saved and stored by this user.

Items labeled Documents, Pictures, and Music open folders in which you can store documents, photographs, songs, respectively. The Games link opens a folder of games you can play on your computer.

The Start menu Search box

Below the list of programs that contain the search letters, you may see Control Panel items, files, contacts, and e-mail messages that also contain those letters. As you type more letters, the list shrinks to show only the items that contain all the letters you’ve typed so far. When you see the item you want to open, just click its name in the Start menu.

To cancel a search without making a selection, press Escape (Esc)

Windows 7 Desktop

2009-11-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 - What’s on the Desktop

The interface that Windows 7 provides is called the Windows desktop. The name ‘‘desktop’’ comes from
the fact that it plays the same role as a real work desktop. You work with programs on the Windows
desktop in much the same way as you work with paper on an office desktop.

The desktop is on the screen from the moment you log in to the moment you log off. The desktop
may get covered by program windows and other items, but the desktop is still under there no matter
how much you clutter the screen. It’s the same as a real desk in that sense. Although your real desk-
top may be completely covered by random junk (as mine is right now), your desktop is still under
there somewhere. You just have to dig through the mess to get to it.

The two main components of the Windows desktop are the desktop itself and the taskbar. The desk-
top is where everything that you open piles up. The taskbar’s main role is to make it easy to switch
from one open item to another. Everything you’ll ever see on your screen has a name and a purpose.
Virtually nothing on the screen is there purely for decoration (except the wallpaper). Figure 2-3 shows
the main components of the Windows desktop and other items. Your desktop might not look exactly
like the picture and might not show all of the components. But don’t worry about that. Right now,
you want to focus on learning the names of things so that you know what people are talking about
when they refer to these things.

Here’s a quick overview of what each component represents. The sections that follow the list describe
each component in detail:

Desktop: The desktop itself is everything above the taskbar. Most programs you open appear
in a window on the desktop.

Desktop icons: Icons on the desktop provide quick access to frequently used programs,
folders, and documents. You can add and remove desktop icons as you see it.

Gadgets: These are optional components for showing data in a small window. Examples are a
clock, weather information, or stock ticker.

Start button: Click the Start button to display the Start menu. The Start menu provides access
to programs installed on your computer, as well as commonly used folders such as Documents,
Pictures, and Music.

Taskbar: A task is an open program. The taskbar makes switching among all your open
programs easy. Right-clicking the clock in the taskbar provides easy access to options for
customizing the taskbar and organizing open program windows.

Notification area: Displays icons for programs running in the background, often referred to
as processes and services. Messages coming from those programs appear in speech balloons just
above the Notification area.

Clock: Shows the current time and date.

That’s the quick tour of items on and around the Windows 7 desktop. The sections that follow look at each major item. But first, I should point out that your desktop might be partially covered by the Getting Started item. If so, and it gets in your way while you’re trying things out in this chapter, you can close the Welcome Center so that it’s out of your way. See ‘‘The Getting Started Item’’ near the end of this chapter for more information.

Windows 7 Logging In

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Logging In

Obviously, the first step to using a computer is to turn it on. Shortly after you ?rst start your computer, the Windows 7 Login screen appears. Exactly how that screen looks depends on what user accounts exist on your computer. By default, Windows 7 comes with a built-in user account named Administrator. But it’s unlikely that you’ll ever see that user account because it’s not for day-to-day computer use. If you’ve never used your computer or Windows 7 before, you’ll likely be taken through a process where it asks you to create a user account. Just follow the on-screen instructions if faced with that question.

If your computer already has user accounts, you’ll likely see a login page that displays icons (little pictures) and names for one or more user accounts. But for now, all you need to know is that if you see user account icons shortly after you first start your computer, you have to click one in order to use the computer.

If the user account isn’t password-protected, the Windows desktop appears automatically. If the user account you clicked is password-protected, a rectangular box appears instead. You have to type the correct password for the account to get to the Windows desktop. The letters you type won’t show in the box. This is to prevent people from learning your password by looking over your shoulder as you type it on the screen. After you type the password, press Enter or click the arrow to the right of the password box.

After you’ve successfully logged in, the Windows desktop appears.

Music and Video Sharing

2009-11-07T04:47:00.000-08:00

Music and Video Sharing

Windows 7 gives you new ways to enjoy and share your music and videos. With the new homegroup networking feature, you can easily share your music, pictures, and videos with others on your home network. For example, you might consolidate all your photos into one location, where you can easily back them up and share them across the network.

Even more significant is the capability in Windows Media Player 12, which is included with Windows 7 to stream media to other computers, even across the Internet. This means that others on your homegroup can access a central media library — for example streaming music from a home server tucked in your basement that streams to a media center in your living room. Even cooler than that, you can stream music from your home computer to your computer at work — and potentially stream music to mobile devices such as a Windows Mobile smartphone or media player.

To further extend sharing capabilities, Windows Media Player 12 can browse media libraries on other computers, enabling you to browse to and play music stored on other computers on your network. This capability isn’t limited to Windows Media Player libraries, either. Media Player 12 can also browse and play from iTunes libraries.

Troubleshooting and Alerts

2009-11-07T04:43:00.000-08:00

Troubleshooting and Alerts

One of the annoyances in Windows Vista is the frequency of the alerts and pop-up messages that it displays. Windows 7 changes the way it displays alerts; it also gives you more control over those alerts and messages, letting you choose the messages you want to see.

The Action Center consolidates alerts from several Windows features, including the Security Center and Windows Defender. In Windows 7, the Action Center icon appears in the taskbar. Clicking the icon displays messages related to the items that you might need to address, such as the lack of an antivirus program, a problem with a device in the computer, or the need to scan the computer for threats.

Windows 7 also gives you control over the types of messages you see. For example, if you don’t want to see messages about Windows Update, you can turn off those messages by deselecting a check box in the Action Center settings. In addition, you can control how Windows 7 noti?es you when changes are being made to your computer. Instead of Windows notifying you and asking you to allow a change that you initiate in Windows, for example, you can have Windows notify you only when programs try to make changes.

Other changes are geared toward troubleshooting. The Devices and Printers folder, for example, gives you a single place to manage and troubleshoot a wide variety of devices connected to your computer. In addition, the Troubleshooting item in the Control Panel consolidates troubleshooting tools in one place.

Windows 7 Device Management

2009-11-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

Previous versions of Windows provided several different ways to manage hardware such as printers, mice, cameras, scanners, and so on. For example, you managed printers from the Printers object in Control Panel, mice from the Mouse object, keyboard from the Keyboard object, and so on. Windows 7 brings devices together in a new Devices and Printers object that enables you to view and manage devices in one location.

In Devices and Printers, you can manage cell phones, MP3 players, cameras, mice, displays, printers, faxes, keyboards, and other compatible devices. Bringing all these devices under a common management tool simplies device configuration and troubleshooting.

Windows Live

2009-11-07T04:32:00.000-08:00

If you have been a Windows Vista user, you might be surprised to see that some of the programs you are accustomed to using are no longer included with Windows 7. For example, you won’t and Windows Mail included in 7. Instead, these programs have been pulled from Windows and made part of Windows Live, a set of online services and programs from Microsoft. These programs include:

Messenger: Use Messenger to text chat, video chat, or make phone calls to others.

Mail: Formerly Outlook Express, then Windows Mail in Windows Vista, Windows Live Mail lets you send and receive e-mail and work with online newsgroups.

Writer: Use this program to blog and share photos and videos on many blog services.

Photo Gallery: Manage your digital photos, edit them, share them with friends and family, and even stitch together photos to make panoramic shots.

Movie Maker: Create movies and video clips, and add titles, subtitles, music, and special effects.

Family Safety: Control what sites your children can see, view reports about their browsing history, limit searches, and decide with whom they can communicate when they are using Windows Live Messenger.

Toolbar: The Windows Live Toolbar gives you quick access to Windows Live and Live Search in Internet Explorer.

Windows Jump Lists

2009-11-07T04:27:00.000-08:00

Jump lists are another new feature in Windows 7. When you right-click a taskbar icon, Windows displays a jump list that contains menu items for commonly-used tasks for the program and quick access to recently-used documents.

Jump lists are a Windows feature, rather than an application feature, so you’ll get a jump list for a program even if it wasn’t written speci?cally to use the jump list. However, program developers can modify the jump list, so programs that are written specically to do so will likely provide additional options in the jump list menu.

Windows 7 Taskbar

2009-11-07T04:22:00.000-08:00

Taskbar

The taskbar at the bottom of the desktop provides, just as it does in previous versions of Windows, quick access to your running programs, the clock, and notification messages. But Windows 7 improves on the taskbar by streamlining it with smaller icons that group your programs together. For example, if you have three different Web pages open in three instances of Internet Explorer, you’ll see a single, small Internet Explorer icon on the taskbar that you can use to quickly access one of those windows. The reduced icon size makes more room available on the taskbar for other program group icons, making it easier for you to work with your programs. Picture shows an example of the new taskbar. When you click the mouse on or hover it over a program group icon, Windows displays a preview of each of the program windows in that group, and as you hover the mouse over a preview window, Windows shows you a full-size preview on the desktop of that window’s contents. You can then click the preview to open its associated program window.

How to Reboot Windows?

2009-11-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

How to Reboot Windows?

1. Begin by first clicking on the "Start Button".
2. Clicking the arrow on the Power button displays several options.
3. Found and click "Restart".

OR

1. Hold down Ctrl and Alt, and press Delete (Task Manager show up.).
2. Click on 'Shut Down' button.
3. Select 'Restart' from the list and click it.

Btw. You also press "Reset" button on you computer :)

Activating Windows

2009-11-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Activating Windows

When you upgrade operating system to Windows 7, or the first time you start a computer, you are prompted to activate your Windows .

Each copy of Windows 7 must be activated within 30 days of the first use . After that grace period expires, you will not be able to use all the functions of Windows . You can activate Windows over the Internet or by telephone .

The activation process is completely anonymous and does not require that you divulge any personal information If you choose to register your copy of Windows 7, this is a completely separate (and optional) task

You can locate your Windows activation status at the bottom of the System window (Control Panel) .

If your copy of Windows has been activated, Windows is activated appears in the Windows Activation area at the bottom of the window . Otherwise, the time remaining in the grace period appears, with a link to complete the activation process .

Microsoft Internet Explorer Shortcuts

2009-11-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Internet Explorer Shortcuts
Description	Press this key
Add ‘‘www.’ and '.com’’ to the text in address bar	CTRL+ENTER
Add the current page to favorites	CTRL+D
Click the Information bar	SPACEBAR
Close current tab	CTRL+W
Close other tabs	CTRL+ALT+F4
Close Print Preview	ALT+C
Close the current window	CTRL+W
Copy selection to Clipboard	CTRL+C
Display a list of addresses you’ve typed	F4
Display a shortcut menu for a link	SHIFT+F10
Display ?rst page to be printed	ALT+HOME
Display last page to be printed	ALT+END
Display next page to be printed	ALT+↓
Displaypreviouspagetobeprinted	ALT+←
Display zoom percentages	ALT+Z
Find on this page	CTRL+F
Go to home page	ALT+HOME
Go to selected link	ENTER
Go to the next page	ALT+↓
Go to the previous page	ALT+← or BACKSPACE
Go to the Toolbar Search box	CTRL+E
Help	F1
Move back through the items on a Web page	SHIFT+TAB
Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches	→
Move backward between frames	CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move focus to the Information bar	ALT+N
Move forward through frames and browser elements	CTRL+TAB or F6
Move forward through the items on a Web page	TAB
Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches	↓
Move selected item down in the Favorites list	ALT+↓
Move selected item up in the Favorites list	ALT+↑
Move the cursor left to the next punctuation in the address bar	CTRL+←
Move the cursor right to the next punctuation in the address bar	CTRL+→
Move to the beginning of the page	HOME
Move to the end of the page	END
Open a new tab in the foreground	CTRL+T
Open a new tab in the foreground from the address bar	ALT+ENTER
Open a new Web site or page	CTRL+O
Open a new window	CTRL+N
Open Favorites	CTRL+I
Open Feeds	CTRL+J
Open History	CTRL+H
Open links in a new background tab	CTRL+Click
Open links in a new foreground tab	CTRL+SHIFT+Click
Open search query in a new tab	ALT+ENTER
Open the Organize Favorites	CTRL+B
Page Setup	ALT+U
Paste Clipboard contents	CTRL+V
Print the current page or active frame	CTRL+P
Refresh the current Web page	F5
Refresh the current Web page regardless of timestamp	CTRL+F5
Save the current page	CTRL+S
Scroll down a line	↓
Scroll down a page	PAGE DOWN
Scroll up a line	↑
Scroll up a page	PAGE UP
Select all items on the current Web page	CTRL+A
Select frames to print in framed Web site	ALT+F
Select the text in the address bar	ALT+D
Set printing options and print the page	ALT+P
Stop downloading a page	ESC
Switch between tabs	CTRL+TAB or CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Switch to a speciﬁc tab number	CTRL+ n (n is number from 1 to 8)
Switch to the last tab	CTRL+9
Toggle between full-screen and regular views	F11
Toggle Quick Tabs on or off	CTRL+Q
Type the number of the page you want displayed	ALT+A
Zoom in	ALT+PLUS SIGN
Zoom in 10 percent	CTRL+PLUS SIGN
Zoom out	ALT+MINUS SIGN
Zoom out 10 percent	CTRL+MINUS SIGN
Zoom to 100 percent	CTRL+0

Windows Character Map Shortcut Keys

2009-11-05T12:03:00.001-08:00

Windows Character Map Shortcut Keys
Description	Press this key
Move up one row	↑
Move down one row	↓
Move to the left or to the end of the previous line	←
Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line	→
Move to the last character	CTRL+END
Move to the ﬁrst character	CTRL+HOME
Move to the end of the line	END
Move to the beginning of the line	HOME
Move down one screen at a time	PAGE DOWN
Move up one screen at a time	PAGE UP
Switch between Enlarged and Normal modes	SPACEBAR

Text Navigation and Editing Shortcuts

2009-11-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

Text Navigation and Editing Shortcuts
Description	Press this key
Move cursor down one line	↓
Move cursor left one character	←
Move cursor right one character	→
Move cursor up one line	↑
Delete character to left of cursor	BACKSPACE
Move cursor to start of next paragraph	CTRL+↓
Move cursor to start of previous paragraph	CTRL+↑
Move cursor to start of previous word	CTRL+←
Move cursor to start of next word	CTRL+→
Select all	CTRL+A
Copy to Clipboard	CTRL+C
Copy the selected text to destination	CTRL+drag
Select to end of paragraph	CTRL+SHIFT+→
Select to end of word	CTRL+SHIFT+→
Select to beginning of word	CTRL+SHIFT+←
Select to beginning of paragraph	CTRL+SHIFT+↑
Select to end of document	CTRL+SHIFT+END
Select to top of document	CTRL+SHIFT+HOME
Paste Clipboard contents to cursor position	CTRL+V
Cut to Clipboard	CTRL+X
Undo last action	CTRL+Z
Delete selected text or character at cursor	DEL
Cancel the current task	ESC
Select to character in line above	SHIFT+↑
Select to character in line below	SHIFT+↓
Select character to left	SHIFT+←
Select character to right	SHIFT+→
Select from cursor to here	SHIFT+Click
Select to end of line	SHIFT+END
Select to beginning of line	SHIFT+HOME
Select text down one screen	SHIFT+PAGE DOWN
Select text up one screen	SHIFT+PAGE UP

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts

2009-11-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
Description	Press this key
Display or hide the Start menu	WIN
Lock the computer	WIN+L
Display the System Properties dialog box	WIN+BREAK
Show the desktop	WIN+D
Open Computer folder	WIN+E
Search for ﬁle or folder	WIN+F
Search for computers	CTRL+WIN +F
Display Windows Help	WIN+F1
Minimize all the windows	WIN+M
Restore all minimized windows	WIN+SHIFT+M
Open the Run dialog box	WIN+R
Show Flip 3D	WIN+TAB
Open Ease of Access Center	WIN+U
Open Windows Mobility Center	WIN+X

Windows Help Shortcut Keys

2009-11-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Windows Help Shortcut Keys
Description	Press this key
Open Windows Help and Support	F1 or +F1
Display the Table of Contents	ALT+C
Display the Connection Settings menu	ALT+N
Display the Options menu	F10
Move back to the previously viewed topic	ALT+←
Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic	ALT+↓
Display the customer support page	ALT+A
Display the Help home page	ALT+HOME
Move to the beginning of a topic	HOME
Move to the end of a topic	END
Search the current topic	CTRL+F
Print a topic	CTRL+P
Move to the Search box	F3

Ease of Access Keyboard Shortcuts

2009-11-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

Ease of Access Keyboard Shortcuts
Description	Press this key
Open Ease of Access Center	WIN+U
Switch the MouseKeys either on or off	LEFT ALT+LEFT SHIFT+NUM LOCK
Switch High Contrast either on or off	LEFT ALT+LEFT SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN
Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off	NUM LOCK for ﬁve seconds
Switch FilterKeys either on or off	RIGHT SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch the StickyKeys either on or off	SHIFT ﬁve times

Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

2009-11-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
Description	Press this key
Collapse the selected folder	– on numeric keypad
Display all the subfolders under selected folder	* on numeric keypad
Select or collapse parent folder	←
Expand current folder or move to next subfolder	↓
Display the contents of the selected folder	+ on numeric keypad
Display the bottom of the active window	END
Display the top of the active window	HOME
Open selected folder in new instance	SHIFT+Double-Click

Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts

2009-11-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Dialog Box Keyboard Shortcuts
Description	Press this key
Choose option with underlined letter	ALT+letter
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons	Arrow keys
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected	BACKSPACE
Go to previous tab	CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Go to next tab	CTRL+TAB
Same as clicking OK	ENTER
Same as clicking Cancel	ESC
Help	F1 key
Display the items in the active list	F4 key
Move to previous option	SHIFT+TAB
Select or deselect the check box	SPACEBAR
Move to next option	TAB

General Shortcut Keys

2009-11-05T11:00:00.001-08:00

General Shortcut Keys
To do this	Press this key
Copy selected icon(s)	CTRL+C
Cut selected icons(s)	CTRL+X
Paste cut or copied text or item(s) to current folder	CTRL+V
Undo your most recent action	CTRL+Z
Delete selected icon(s) to Recycle Bin	DELETE or DEL
Delete selected icons(s) without moving to Recycle Bin	SHIFT+DELETE
Rename selected icon(s)	F2
Extend selection through additional icons	SHIFT+any arrow key
Select all items in a document or window	CTRL+A
Search for a ﬁle or folder	F3
Display properties for selected icon	ALT+ENTER
Close program in the active window	ALT+F4
Open the shortcut menu for the active window	ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in multiple document program	CTRL+F4
Show Flip 3D	WIN+TAB
Switch between open programs	ALT+TAB
Cycle through open programs in the order they were opened	ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements on the desktop or in a window	F6
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item	SHIFT+F10
Open/close the Start menu	CTRL+ESC or WIN
Open menu or perform menu command	ALT+underlined letter
View menu bar in active program	F10 or Alt
Move left or right in menu bar	← and →
Move up or down in menu	↑ and ↓
Select highlighted menu command	ENTER
Refresh the active window	F5
View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer	BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task	ESC
Open Task Manager	CTRL+SHIFT+ESC
Copy dragged item to destination	CTRL+drag
Move dragged item to destination	CTRL+SHIFT+drag

Windows Shortcut Keys

2009-11-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick reference to shortcut keys that are used throughout Windows 7. Many application programs use the same shortcut keys. That’s why I’ve titled this appendix Universal Shortcut Keys. Of course, any program can have additional shortcuts to its own unique features. Those are visible in drop-down menus, as in the example shown in the Home group on the Microsoft Word 2007. The key+key combination to the right of each menu command is the shortcut key for using that command from the keyboard without the menu.

Many programs show shortcut keys in the tooltip that appears when you point to a button or icon. I’m pointing to the B (Boldface) button in Microsoft Excel 2007. Below the mouse pointer, you can see that Ctrl+Bisthe shortcut key for boldfacing text.

Virtually every program also comes with its own help. Typically, you get to that by pressing Help (F1) while the program is in the active window. Or choose Help from that program’s menu bar. Use the Help feature of that program to search for the term shortcut or shortcut keys to see whether you can ?nd a summary of that program’s shortcut keys.

Of course, Windows 7 has its own Help, too, which you can learn about in Chapter 5 of this book. For help with shortcut keys, click the Start button and choose Help and Support. Type shortcuts keys as your search text and press Enter. The search results will include shortcut keys for Windows 7 and many programs that are built into 7.

How to clean Windows Registry ?

2009-10-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

If you wanna clean Windows Registry you should use CCleaner. This is a freeware optimization and cleaning tool. It removes crapy files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. This tool don't have any Spyware and Adware! :)

Free Download:

http://www.ccleaner.com/download

How To Disable Windows Firewall ?

2009-10-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

Allowing Connections Through the Firewall

In some situations, you want to allow other computers to initiate a connection to your computer . For example, you might use Remote Desktop, play multiplayer games, or chat via an instant messaging program; these types of programs typically require inbound connections so that others can contact you .

The simplest way to enable a connection is to click Allow A Program Or Feature Through Windows Firewall, a link in the left pane of the main Windows Firewall window . The list of programs and features that initially appears in Allowed Programs, shown in Figure 15-6, depends on which programs and services are installed on your computer; you can add others, as described in the following sections . In addition, program rules are created (but not enabled) when a program tries to set up an incoming connection . To allow connections for a program or service that’s already been defined, simply select its check box for each network location type on which you want to allow the program . (You’ll need to click Change Settings before you can make changes .)

In each of these cases, you enable a rule in Windows Firewall that pokes a small hole in the firewall and allows a certain type of traffic to pass through it . Each rule of this type increases your security risk to some degree, so you should clear the check box for all programs you don’t need . If you’re confident you won’t ever need a particular program, you can select it and then click Remove . (Many of the list items included with Windows don’t allow deletion, but as long as their check boxes are not selected, there’s no danger .)

The first time you run a program that tries to set up an incoming connection, Windows Firewall asks for your permission by displaying a dialog box similar to the one shown below . You can add the program to the allowed programs list by clicking Allow Access .

When such a dialog box appears, read it carefully:

Is the program one that you knowingly installed and ran?

Is it reasonable for the program to require acceptance of incoming connections?

Are you currently using a network location where it’s okay for this program to accept incoming connections?

If the answer to any of these questions is no—or if you’re unsure—click Cancel . If you later find that a needed program isn’t working properly, you can open the allowed programs list in Windows Firewall and enable the rule .

Alternatively, you can set up the program from Allowed Programs, the window shown in Figure 15-6, without waiting for a Windows Security Alert dialog box to appear . Follow these steps:

1. Click Allow Another Program . The Add A Program dialog box appears .

2. In Add A Program, select the program for which you want to allow incoming connections . Or click Browse and navigate to the program’s executable file if it isn’t shown in the Programs list .

3. Click Network Location Types .

4. Select the network location types on which you want to allow the program, click OK, and click Add . (You can also select network locations in Allowed Programs after you add the program .)

How To Enable Windows Firewall ?

2009-10-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

The Block All Incoming Connections check box in Customize Settings provides additional safety . When it’s selected, Windows Firewall rejects all unsolicited incoming traffic—even traffic from allowed programs or that would ordinarily be permitted by a rule . Invoke this mode when extra security against outside attack is needed . For example, you might block all connections when you’re using a public wireless hotspot or when you know that your computer is actively under attack by others.

How to edit Windows Registry?

2009-10-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Because of the registry’s size, looking for a particular key, value, or data item can be daunting . In Registry Editor, the Find command (on the Edit menu; also available by pressing Ctrl+F) works in the forward direction only and does not wrap around when it gets to the end of the registry . If you’re not sure where the item you need is located, select the highest level in the left pane before issuing the command . If you have an approximate idea where the item you want is located, you can save time by starting at a node closer to (but still above) the target .

After you have located an item of interest, you can put it on the Favorites list to simplify a return visit . Open the Favorites menu, click Add To Favorites, and supply a friendly name (or accept the default) . If you’re about to close Registry Editor and know you’ll be returning to the same key the next time you open the editor, you can skip the Favorites step, because Registry Editor always remembers your last position and returns to that position in the next session .

Registry Editor includes a number of time-saving keyboard shortcuts for navigating the registry . To move to the next subkey that starts with a particular letter, simply type that letter when the focus is in the left pane; in the right pane, use the same trick to jump to the next value that begins with that letter . To open a key (revealing its subkeys), press Right Arrow . To move up one level in the subkey hierarchy, press Left Arrow; a second press collapses the subkeys of the current key . To move to the top of the hierarchy, press Home. To quickly move between the left and right panes, use the Tab key . In the right pane, F2 to rename a value, and press Enter to open that value and edit its data . Once you the hang of using these keyboard shortcuts, you’ll find it’s usually easier to zip through the subkey hierarchy with a combination of arrow keys and letter keys than it is to open outline controls with the mouse .

Adding or Deleting Values

To add a value, select the parent key; open the Edit menu, and point to New . On the submenu that appears, click the type of value you want to add . A value of the type you select appears in the right pane with a generic name . Type over the generic name, press Enter twice, enter your data, and press Enter once more . To delete a value, select it and press Delete .

Changing Data

You can change the data associated with a value by selecting a value in the right pane and pressing Enter or by double-clicking the value . Registry Editor pops up an edit window appropriate for the value’s data type .

Adding or Deleting Keys

To add a key, select the new key’s parent in the left pane, open the Edit menu, point to New, and click Key . The new key arrives as a generically named outline entry, exactly the way a new folder does in Windows Explorer . Type a new name . To delete a key, select it and then press Delete .

Registry Data Types

2009-10-25T05:43:00.000-07:00

The registry uses the following data types:

● REG_SZ The SZ indicates a zero-terminated string This is a variable-length string that can contain Unicode as well as ANSI characters When you enter or edit a REG_SZ value, Registry Editor terminates the value with a 00 byte for you

● REG_BINARY The REG_BINARY type contains binary data—0s and 1s

● REG_DWORD This data type is a “double word”—that is, a 32-bit numeric value Although it can hold any integer from 0 to 232, the registry often uses it for simple Boolean values (0 or 1) because the registry lacks a Boolean data type

● REG_QWORD This data type is a “quadruple word”—a 64-bit numeric value

● REG_MULTI_SZ This data type contains a group of zero-terminated strings assigned
to a single value

● REG_EXPAND_SZ This data type is a zero-terminated string containing an unexpanded reference to an environment variable, such as %SystemRoot% (For information about environment variables, see “Using Environment Variables” on page
968 ) If you need to create a key containing a variable name, use this data type, not REG_SZ

Internally, the registry also uses REG_LINK, REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR, REG_RESOURCE_LIST, REG_RESOURCE_REQUIREMENTS_LIST, and REG_NONE data types. Although you might occasionally see references in technical documentation to these data types, they’re not visible or accessible in Registry Editor

About Registry in Windows

2009-10-25T05:36:00.001-07:00

Windows 7 is designed in such a way that direct registry edits by end users are generally unnecessary When you change some detail about your system’s confguration using Control Panel, Control Panel writes the necessary updates to the registry for you, and you needn’t be concerned with how it happens When you install a new piece of hardware or a new program, a myriad of registry modifcations take place; again, you don’t need to know the details On the other hand, because the designers of Windows couldn’t provide a user interface for every conceivable customization you might want to make, sometimes working directly with the registry is the only way to get a job done And sometimes, even when it’s not the only way, it might be the fastest way Windows includes a registry editor that you should know how to use—safely.

How to access the Windows Registry?

2009-10-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

To get access the Windows Registry Editor:

1. Click the Start button, type regedit, and press Enter or click "Ok".

2. When prompted, click "Yes". And now you can use Windows Registry Editor.

Readyboost How To?

2009-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

To enable ReadyBoost:

1. Put your USB thumb drive into a USB port on your computer.
2. When the AutoPlay menu appears, click Speed up my System with Windows ReadyBoost.

3. Select your device and specify how much of the drive you want to use for ReadyBoost. I recommend using a full USB drive. (TIP: match the size of your drive to the amount of RAM you have in your computer. i.e., With 4GB RAM, use a 4GB thumb drive.)

4. Click OK. Don’t expect miracles—but stick with it and your computer will begin to perform more efficiently.

Requirements for ReadyBoost

2009-10-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

For a USB thumb drive to be compatible, it needs to have a minimum of 256 MB free space. Most modern USB thumb drives will meet the space and speed requirements of
ReadyBoost.

How Does ReadyBoost Work?

2009-10-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

Solid state memory (what your USB drive uses) has excellent transfer speeds; therefore, it can be used to store and access data that is needed quickly. Windows 7 ReadyBoost uses the USB thumb drive as an extra cache between the processor and the hard disk. Unlike RAM, the data is stored on your thumb drive and can be used next time you use your computer—a great time saver if you use many different programs and run many of them simultaneously.

What is ReadyBoost?

2009-10-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

ReadyBoost uses a USB thumb drive to create an extra cache of the most commonly used data, which is quickly accessible when needed. Microsoft’s website states:

Windows ReadyBoost [is] a new concept in adding memory to a system. You can use non-volatile flash memory, such as that on a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to improve performance without having to add additional memory under the hood.

Use ReadyBoost to Speed Up

2009-10-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Using Windows ReadyBoost is a great way to improve the performance of your computer when doing your day-to-day tasks.

All tweaks ReadyBoost you found here...

Memory Diagnostic Tool

2009-10-11T07:57:00.000-07:00

Memory (RAM) can become corrupted and not work properly. Usually, a replacement is needed to fix the problem, but before you replace your hardware, you should use the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. This tool is available in both Windows Vista and 7.

To run Windows Memory Diagnostic:
1. Click the Start button, type mem, and click on Windows Memory Diagnostic.
2. When the Windows Memory Diagnostic screen loads, click Restart now and check for problems.

3. You computer will restart.
4. The memory diagnostic will run and can take some time (up to an hour).

5. Windows will restart and report any errors to you.

After sharing this feature with Windows Vista users, many of them reported a more responsive system after the test and I expect the same results with Windows 7.

Windows 7 Shut Down Faster

2009-10-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

As you install programs on your computer, it slows down — we all know that. However, what you may not know is that the programs install services. Windows is “kind” enough to patiently wait for these services to stop when you shut down your computer; however, if you have all your work saved, there is no need to wait.

Decrease the time it takes for Windows to shut down by:
1. Open the Registry Editor (Appendix D: Launch Windows Registry Editor.)
2. You will see a screen like the one below. In the left menu, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

3. In the right pane you will see a key called WaitToKillServiceTimeout, with a default value of 12000 (12 seconds.)
4. Right click on the key and click Modify.

5. Change the value from 12000 to 4000.

6. This can potentially reduce your shut down time by 8 seconds.

Please note: I do not advise setting this value to less than four seconds because some programs need a few seconds to close and you increase the chance of data loss by setting this value any lower.

Speed up External Hard Drives

2009-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

The default setting in Windows 7 disables write caching for external drives. This is done so that you can remove an external drive at any time without data loss. If you are willing to eject your drive each time using Safely Remove Hardware, you can increase the performance of your external hard drives by enabling write caching.

To turn write caching on and activate advanced performance:
1. Click on the Start Button, type dev in the search box, and click Device Manager.
2. Click on the + Next to Disk Drives.
3. Right click on your external hard drive and click Properties.
4. Click the Policies tab and click Optimize for performance

5. If available, check: Enable write caching on the device and Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on the device.
6. Click OK.
7. Reboot your computer to apply changes.

Enhance SATA Disk Performance

2009-10-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

You can improve the performance of your SATA hard drive by enhancing write caching. If you are not sure whether or not you have an SATA drive in your computer, please check with your manufacturer. A quick warning: If you turn this setting on and your computer is not connected to a battery backup, losing power increases you risk of data loss or corruption. If you are using a laptop, the chances of this are unlikely as you have a battery in the laptop that will act as a power source if there is an outage.

To enhance SATA drive performance:
1. Click on the Start Button, type dev in the search box, and click Device Manager.

2. Click on the + Next to Disk Drives

3. Right click on your hard drive and click Properties.

4. Click the Policies tab and check Enable advanced performance (Note: this option may not be available for your drive.)

5. Now click OK and close Device Manager.

Windows Performance Rating Tool

2009-10-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

Like Windows Vista, Windows 7 comes with a performance rating tool, which rates your system and then gives you tips on improving it. In this section, you’ll learn how to use Windows 7’s Performance Information Tools to rate your system.

To rate your system:
1. Click the Start button, type perf, and click on Performance Information and Tools.
2. Click on Rate this computer and let the tests run. Windows will now rate your computer. This rating can take up to 20 minutes

After the test is complete, Windows will offer suggestions on how to improve your computer’s performance.

Use Startup Delayer to Reduce Boot Time

2009-10-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Some programs need to start right away, like your dock or your antivirus program. Some programs can wait; for example: Messenger programs, etc.

With StartUp Delayer, you can set programs to start up in defined intervals, which will smooth the startup process considerably. The program also acts as a startup manager, allowing you to uncheck programs you don’t want to run at all.

Picture shows Startup delayer’s interface, which lets you drag programs to the delay area. Once in the delay area, you can define how long to wait before these programs start. After testing this software on my Windows 7 Ultimate laptop (Core Duo 2 GHz, 3 GB ram), I managed to get a complete startup time (boot to functionality) in 28 seconds (originally 41)… not bad. I have done other things to tweak my laptop, but this is still a real improvement.

Reduce Boot Time Windows 7

2009-10-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Does your computer boot slowly? If you shut your computer down regularly, this can be a real pain. Anything more than about 45 seconds tests my patience and I’ve used computers that take well over five minutes to boot (really, not kidding.)

There are three easy things you can do to improve boot time:

• Remove unnecessary startup programs.
• Delay non-essential programs on startup.
• Remove Spyware.

Increase Performance Windows 7

2009-10-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

Windows runs pretty well on its own. I am very impressed by how well Windows 7 works out of the box, but there are still a few things you can do to improve performance. In here I will focus on the key things you can do to get the most performance out of doing the least work.

All tweaks you found here...

As always, I recommend you make backups before making major changes to your system.

Windows Easy Transfer

2009-10-04T16:31:00.000-07:00

Windows Easy Transfer is used to transfer your files from your old PC (Windows XP, Vista, or 7) to your new PC.

You can transfer your files through the following ways:
• An Easy Transfer Cable
• A Network
• An external hard disk of USB flash drive

You can specify which accounts to move to your new PC and everything is pretty simple at straight forward. To use Windows Easy Transfer: click Start, type transf and click Windows Easy Transfer. Follow the on-screen instructions to copy your data.

Work with the Group Policy Editor

2009-10-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

Work with the Group Policy Editor

To enable options, double click on the specified option in the right-hand pane, and change the setting to Enabled (below):

Access the Group Policy Editor

2009-10-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

Access the Group Policy Editor :

Click the Start button, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter

Group Policy Editor

2009-10-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Group Policy is a feature of Microsoft Windows that provides centralized management and configuration for your computer or computers in a domain. This tool is mainly used by systems administrators to control a group of PCs; however, you can use it to customize your personal machine.

Using Windows XP Mode

2009-10-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

After you have prepared your computer to use Windows XP mode, the first thing you need to do is install your Windows XP programs. To install them in Windows XP Mode, begin by starting Virtual Windows XP from the Start menu. A Virtual Windows XP window appears, displaying a desktop for the Windows XP operating system. You install your programs just as you normally would on a computer using Windows XP; you can download software from the Web, use CDs or DVDs, or access it from a network. After you install your Windows XP programs, you can run them in Seamless or Desktop mode. Seamless mode allows you start your Windows XP programs directly from the Windows 7 Start menu, while Desktop modes opens in a separate window (Virtual Windows XP) where you can start your Windows XP programs from the Start menu.

While you run Windows XP Mode, you can share drives, USB devices, Clipboard,and printers. This means you can cut, copy,and paste data between Windows 7 and Virtual PC and use file and printing resources.

Install and Use Virtual XP Mode

2009-10-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

To enable and use Virtual XP mode, first check for compatibility, with SecurAble, or you’ll be presented with the error below:

1. Download Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC.
2. Install Windows6.1-KB958559-x86.msu.
3. Restart Your Computer.
4. Install VirtualWindowsXP.msi and accept the default settings.
5. Set a login Password.

6. I recommend enabling Automatic Updates.

7. Windows XP will now install and be ready to use.

Requirements for XP mode (Windows 7)

2009-10-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

Requirements for XP mode:

• Check for compatibility with SecurAble.
• 1 GHz 32-bit / 64-bit processor required.
• Memory (RAM) – 1.25 GB required, 2 GB memory recommended.
• Recommended 15 GB hard disk space per virtual Windows environment.
• NB: Windows XP Mode is only available in Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate.

Windows 7 - XP Mode

2009-10-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 allows you to install and run your Windows XP programs directly from Windows 7. Windows XP Mode uses Windows Virtual PC software to provide a virtual Windows XP environment for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise users. This allows you the flexibility to run many older programs. After you install your Windows XP programs, you can access them just as you would any other Windows 7 program.

Geographic Location

2009-10-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

Many programs in Windows 7, such as Firefox, will utilize your geographic location. This location will be used in a variety of ways including letting people know where you are when you send emails and take pictures, etc.

To set your default geographic location:

1. Click the Start button, type loc, and click on Default Location.

2. From this screen, you can set your default location settings.

3. When you are done, click Apply. Now you are ready for maximum utilization as more location-aware programs and services are released.

Internet Explorer Automatic Crash Recovery

2009-10-04T15:57:00.001-07:00

If IE8 crashes while you are using it, you won’t lose your current tabs; IE8 recovers your browsing session
automatically.

Internet Explorer InPrivate Browsing

2009-10-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

InPrivate Browsing helps prevent Internet Explorer from storing data about your browsing session. This includes cookies, temporary Internet files, history, and other data.

Toolbars and extensions are disabled by default.

Internet Explorer Improved Search

2009-10-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Search has been greatly improved, with smart suggestions and even inline search (absence of a pop-up search window)—a feature I’ve taken for granted in Firefox. Enter your query in the search bar and receive customized results and suggestions depending on the current search engine in use. Inline search helps you find the key phrases you are looking for, without the hassle of a pop-up search box.

Internet Explorer Quick Tabs

2009-10-04T15:52:00.001-07:00

Quick tabs show you all currently open tabs at a glance to help you select the page you need.

Internet Explorer Accelerators

2009-10-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Accelerators help you perform common tasks, such as online search and mapping, with ease. Download accelerators here and install the ones you want to use. Then, when you are browsing, simply highlight some text and click the accelerator arrow to perform a task.

Internet Explorer Web Slices

2009-10-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

Web slices are used to save ‘snippets’ of your favorite web pages and show you just the parts you want to see. These can be really useful when you follow some websites that are updated frequently.

An example of a Webslice: MSN News Slideshow:

Configuring IE8 First Time

2009-10-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

When you first launch IE8, you are presented with some questions. I’ve put together a simple step by step and explanation of the initial setup:

1. Click on the IE8 icon on the Taskbar.
2. You will see the initial setup screen. Click Next.

3. Choose whether you want suggested sites or not.

4. I recommend choosing Custom Settings.

5. If you want a custom provider, click Show me a webpage after setup to choose more search providers.

6. If you want to set up more accelerators, click Show me a webpage after setup to choose more Accelerators.

7. Smart Screen Filter helps protect you from malicious websites.

8. You can choose to use compatibility updates. These updates make websites, designed for older browsers, look better.

9. Click Finish and you are ready to go.

Action Center – Troubleshooting

2009-09-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

One great feature bundled with the Action Center is troubleshooting. If you are having problems with your computer, open the troubleshooting component and Windows will run tests to determine why the problem exists and how it can be fixed.

To test the troubleshooter, I decided to let Windows find out why I cannot run Aero in a virtual environment.

To troubleshoot a problem:

1. Click the Start button, type action, and click on Action Center.

2. Scroll down and click on Troubleshooting.

3. Click Yes if you would like to get the latest troubleshooting updates.

4. Locate the issue you are having (in this case: Display Aero desktop effects.)

5. Windows will now determine why you are having the problem.

6. In my case, Windows determined I need to update my drivers.

7. Windows may continue to detect problems.

8. Windows has found the exact problem: my graphics card (a generic VMware card) is not compatible with Aero.

The Action Center is great and a move in the right direction. Computers will never completely fix themselves, but letting you know what the problem is helps greatly.

Action Center – Maintenance

2009-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

In a similar fashion to the security section, the Action Center also ensures your computer is maintained and deals with backup, updates, and more. Screen shows the areas the Maintenance section is responsible for.

Action Center – Security

2009-09-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

The security section of the Action Center deals with anti-virus software and spyware protection, firewall settings, UAC, and more. This is your one-stop solution to ensuringyour computer is secure. Screen shows the settings that are monitored.

Action Center

2009-09-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Windows Action Center is an improved version of Vista’s Security Center. The action center alerts you to problems with your PC and lets you know how you can resolve them. Notifications are delivered through the notification area.

Geographic Location

2009-09-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

To set your default geographic location:
1. Click the Start button, type loc, and click on Default Location.
2. From this screen, you can set your default location settings.
3. When you are done, click Apply.

Now you are ready for maximum utilization as more location-aware programs and services are released.

Device Stage

2009-09-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

Device Stage is a new technology that helps you interact with any compatible device connected to your computer. Device Stage lets you see device status and run common tasks. This a current list of products that take advantage of Device Stage.
Device stage is designed to take the pain out of adding new devices to your computer and have them working almost instantly. Many people wonder why it is so hard to recognize a device plugged into a machine. Simply put, Windows cannot interact with all these devices instantly because they all work differently; Windows needs drivers for these devices to communicate with them properly. Device stage will install drivers when you plug a new device in or go out to Windows Update to get the necessary files. I am very impressed with Device stage. I plugged in my LG TV and not only did it recognize it as such, but it changed my PC’s resolution to the TV’s native resolution of 1920 x 1080 without me clicking the mouse once.
Essentially, device stage should alleviate the need for bulky third-party applications that were required, in the past, to access your devices.

Accessing Files Shared on the HomeGroup

2009-09-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

To access files shared on your HomeGroup:

1. Open Windows Explorer (WIN+E.)
2. In the left-hand pane, you should now see your HomeGroup files. Click on the links to access the shared data.

Joining HomeGroup with Another PC

2009-09-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Now you’ve set up your HomeGroup, you can join other computers to it. To join your current HomeGroup, go to your second PC and:

1. Connect to the same network (wireless or wired) on which the current Windows 7, HomeGroup-enabled PC is connected.
2. You will be prompted to join the HomeGroup. Click Join Now.
3. Type in your HomeGroup password
4. Now you can decide what you would like to share, from your PC, on the HomeGroup

5. After sharing your files, your PC is now part of the HomeGroup.

Set up HomeGroup

2009-09-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Picture shows the location specification of the current network you are connected to. When you select Home as your network locationn (after connecting to your network), Windows will start modifying settings to enable resource sharing.

After Windows prepares your network, you will be asked to decide what you want to share on the network. Choose from Pictures, Documents, Printers, Music, and Videos. When you click Create Now, your network will be set up with the choices you made.

Now your HomeGroup is nearly set up. All you need is the password, which allows other computers, running Windows 7, to connect to your HomeGroup. Picture shows the screen where you are given your password. You can view this password whenever you need by going to the Network and Sharing Center.

Windows HomeGroup

2009-09-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

Setting up a home network can, at times, be complicated. In the past, Windows XP and Vista haven’t done a great job at guiding you through the setup process. As the average household has more than one computer these days (no source, but I’m just assuming this is the case), home networking is becoming more of a mainstream need. With PCs running Windows 7, a home network is easier to setup and a lot more useful. HomeGroup makes it easier to connect to other computers and devices on a wireless home network, so you can share files, photos, music, printers, and more throughout your home network. HomeGroup is strictly a feature of Windows 7, so you’ll need to have at least two PCs running Windows 7. Once you've set up a HomeGroup, you can use the Network and Sharing Center to choose what you share with other HomeGroup members.

Removing BitLocker Encryption

2009-09-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

If you would like to decrypt your drive:

1. Plug your thumb drive into a USB port.
2. Click the Start button, type BitLocker, and click on BitLocker Drive Encryption.
3. Next to your thumb drive, click Turn Off BitLocker, and click Decrypt Drive.

4. You should be notified your data is decrypting (this will take some time.)

5. Your drive is no longer encrypted.

Now you are familiar with Windows 7’s built-in feature, BitLocker To Go, which helps you protect your data.

Verifying Encrypted Data

2009-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

When protecting your data or anything you own, it is important to ensure the protection actually works. I took my thumb drive out of the Windows 7 machine and put it in a Vista machine. You should do the following too, to ensure your data is protected.

Please note: If you check the drive in an older version of Windows, you will need either XP SP3 or Vista SP1 (or above) to read the encrypted drive. Other operating systems will recognize the drive as an unformatted drive.

To verify that your data is protected:

1. Put your thumb drive in another PC and try to open the files. You should see a BitLocker setup file, which shows BitLocker is not installed on the computer you’re testing on. If you have BitLocker installed on the machine, you will be prompted for a password (see the next step.)

2. If you have BitLocker installed on the PC you are testing on, you will be prompted for your password. If it’s not installed, go ahead and install it.

3. Enter your password to get to your data.

Encrypting USB Drive

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To encrypt your thumb drive:

1. Plug your thumb drive into a USB port.
2. Click the Start button, type BitLocker, and click on BitLocker Drive Encryption.
3. Next to your thumb drive icon, click Turn on BitLocker.

4. If your thumb drive is compatible, BitLocker will prepare it for encryption.

5. Choose a password and click Continue

6. Either save your recovery key (used if you forget your password) or print a copy of it.

7. If you save the file, ensure the file is stored somewhere safe.

8. Click Next.
9. Confirm your chosen settings and password and click Start Encrypting.
10. Your drive will now be encrypted.
11 If you have a large thumb drive, this can take a long time.

BitLocker To Go

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BitLocker To Go encrypts the data on your portable media. With an increasing number of key drives at our disposal, loss of sensitive data is becoming more of a threat. In this section, you’ll learn how to encrypt your thumb (flash) drive with BitLocker To Go (Alternative: Encrypt your USB Drive’s Data), how to verify that the data is encrypted, and how to remove encryption from your drive.

BitLocker Biometric

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BitLocker Biometric protects your computer by fingerprint credentials. If you don’t have a fingerprint scanner on your laptop, I am sure, by now, you’ve seen someone with a laptop that has this functionality. BitLocker Biometric provides native support for logon authentication for Windows and also comes with an API software vendors can use to protect access to programs. Expect to see more and more programs using this feature. Figure 14 shows a list of biometric devices attached to your computer.

BitLocker biometric looks to be an exciting feature that will become more integral to our computing habits in the near future.

Federated Search

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Federated search is used to search beyond the scope of your PC. Based upon OpenSearch and RSS, you can search remote repositories. You can create your own connectors, which is very easy because of the standard format used by OpenSearch. Figure 12 shows the Live Search connector after installation; you can now use Live Search directly from Windows Explorer.