Through this article you will see how Windows 7 will allow you to balance between aesthetics and performance, so read on …

• Color your World – Windows 7 gives you an option to choose from 16 different colors and set its intensity to either a bolder or a softer tone. An option to enable transparency is also available. Enable the Aero Glass feature to give your desktop a translucent and glassy effect.
• Make it your very own Desktop – Your very own Desktop can display a showcase of your photos, images and wallpapers. You can also create your own background images and customized them according to your preferences.
• Control your Screensaver – Whether it is just a still picture or an animation, customizing your screensaver will give you a sense of satisfaction as you see pictures and animations come to life when your mouse or keyboard is idle.
• Set your own Theme – Your own theme is comprised of a combination of photos, sounds, colors, menus, screensaver, icons and mouse pointers. Microsoft offers pre-built Theme packs or better yet you can set out to customize your very own theme complete with everything you want your desktop to be.
• Configure your Monitor – For your computer to set the best display you also need to configure your monitor’s settings either through its screen resolution, refresh rate and its color.
• Optimize your Visual Effects – Windows 7 interface has tons of graphical enhancements including visual effects for menus, toolbars, windows, and the taskbar.  Windows 7 can help you customize your settings based on your priorities or choose for you the best configuration.
• Fine-tune your Apps Performance – Windows 7 allows you more control on the performance of your computer by better prioritization of which applications should run making background processes and housekeeping tasks  take lesser toll on your PC’s total performance.
• Rig up your Virtual Memory – Windows 7 through paging allocates virtual memory to at least as large as the total physical memory installed on your computer or this can also be done manually by you. At the same time Windows 7 also introduces its Ready Boost which extends the disk-caching capabilities of the computer’s main memory to a USB flash device. With Ready Boost, Windows 7 will read flash devices up to 1000 percent faster than its physical disk drives.  Overall, both boost the speed and performance of your machine.

Personalizing Windows 7 to suit your tastes and preferences will make your experience with your OS a more enjoyable and fulfilling one.  Try to spend a few minutes now to do these and you bet you will curl up in satisfaction.

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From the outside, Windows 7 retail box is eco-friendly with the plastic case protecting the disk lighter and is recyclable. It opens like a standard DVD case with a packaging that is 37% lighter than its predecessor.

Inside the OS, Windows 7 was designed to help companies focused on reducing costs. It is in this area that Windows 7 had left its predecessor lagging quite behind. Windows 7 has more energy saving options for IT administrators called the “Power Management” features. This is the ability to manage power consumption via group policy, WMI, and a command line utility called PowerCfg. The OS uses time coalescing, an enhanced processor power management that can provide the highest level of performance by grouping tasks sent to the processor power management in turn providing  the highest level of performance by grouping tasks sent to the processor core at the same time while using the least amount of power.

Another simple and yet very obvious move towards being eco-friendly is manifested through its shutting down process which takes relatively a much shorter time. This is primarily because of fewer active services running in the background. Windows 7 can reduce the timeout to 12 seconds and enable users to force shutdown all unresponsive applications.

For users on the go, the adaptive display brightness feature of Windows 7 will help your battery last longer. This can be seen on its automatic screen dimming, powering off unused ports, less power consuming DVD playback and a more accurate battery life indicator. Once the network cable is reconnected, Windows 7 will put the adapter back into a full-power state. In addition to this, Windows 7 also enables wireless network controllers to enter low power modes. Laptops with wireless antennas can also be disabled when not in use for Internet connection or browsing to  prolong battery use.

By providing an infrastructure and tools that will make developers determine the energy consumption of their applications and allowing users both individuals and on corporate settings to trim down on their energy cost; Windows is emulating an example worth following. By setting their initiatives towards the Green Revolution, Microsoft together with other eco-conscious companies are creating demands for similar energy-efficient products and propelling the technology sector trend toward green products and processes.

Technorati Tags: windows 7, windows 7 features, Windows 7 Software

• Document actions in sequence using text and screen captures in real-time.
• Recording of series of actions that are taking place in your computer.
• Allows the inclusion of “comments” throughout the documentation process.
• It is not a key logger type of documentation.
• The report incorporates the display of the version of the OS and URLs of web pages visited during the documentation process.

To activate and use PSR, follow the list of steps below:

1.To run PSR is to go to Start and in the Search box, type PSR, then press ENTER.

(Note: PSR can be found at C:\Windows\System32\psr.exe)

2. Press Start Record or use the keyboard shortcut , ALT-A.

3. Start your recording of the entire process.

4. A downloadable PSR report will be generated.

5. Remember to include comments and notes along the way. As you enter your comments, you will be prompted to highlight the area of the screen that will be added to the report.

6. Just press Stop Record to finish the recording and documenting process.

7. After which, the PSR Report can already be viewed.

8. Take note however that in recording administrative tasks, PSR should run in administrator mode.

Once done, the captured data is stored in an MHTML document which is enclosed in a zip file. This zip file can be emailed and forwarded to a technical support group. Likewise, the recorded steps can also be viewed as a slideshow for presentation purposes. This cool utility will also come in handy for the recreation of the exact steps in a coding environment which are usually needed by developers.

This might not be a “biggie” compared to the other features of Windows 7, but you can just imagine the time and effort that will be saved for other more important tasks. For help desk supporters, this is one tool that will make their lives easy and more productive. It’s a simple tool and yet works wonders!

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Let us explore in detail and see why the “Superbar” deserves both the Pros and Novice Users’ attention.

A Pleasing Visual Effect – Most will agree that Windows deserve a round of applause for the makeover look that the Taskbar now has. Although it has bigger icons and takes much space, still a lot of applications can be squeezed in.  The presence of large icons is because of Windows 7’s support to multi-touch technology. It supports the Aero Glass look without text and once a window is maximized, gone is the dark and dreary opaque color of the taskbar and the window’s title bar.

Bye Quick Launch, Hello Smart Launch – The Quick Launch buttons and separate taskbar had been dropped in favor of a faster way of maneuvering. Right-clicking on an icon brings up a list of recent items, open each one with a single click. Windows 7’s Color Hot-Track in which a light source tracks the mouse and consequently, the specific program icon lights up with its own color. Any icon that has a border frame and has that glowing effect then is the active application.

Slick and Snappy Thumbnails – Hovering over an icon on the dock will display small thumbnails of every active window of that application. These Thumbnails allow fast switching to the programs they represent. Moreover, if these are video thumbnails then they are shown in real-time. The Thumbnails are also highly customizable in any photo-editing application, automatically grouped together, and can likewise be displayed separately even the icon represents multiple windows. This paved the way for a clutter less process of managing and switching between windows.

Useful Progress Bars – Programs can now give feedback and information about progress by having their taskbar button turn into a progress bar.

A More Restrained Notification Area – Control of the Notification Area is back to the user’s hand. By default, only selected system icons will be displayed while the rest will appear in a menu. Control is achieved through dragging icons on or off the taskbar. Furthermore, any annoying alert can be configured or totally disabled.

Windows 7 had adopted several changes indeed with its Taskbar but definitely it’s for the better. Now, still in its initial phase, Windows 7’s “Superbar” rave is still far from over. The best judge of this is time itself because the more the Taskbar is put into practice and in constant use; the more we will appreciate the changes that had taken place.

Technorati Tags: multi-touch windows 7, windows 7 features, Windows 7 Software, windows 7 task bar

In this article, let us explore in detail the transition of the Windows Home Theatre Personal Computer through its Media Center.

• Easy Setup and Searching – Windows 7’s Media Center setting up and use of digital broadcast TV was trimmed down to its basic and made very simple. It even provides two ways to optimize your ATSC digital experience through scanning for more channels option and tweaking through the digital TV antenna signal strength option.
• Accessibility through launching tasks from the Start Menu – Navigation of the app’s features was also simplified by allowing the user to launch WMC tasks directly from the Start Menu. Also, WMC supports the jump list feature of the OS.
• All in One Media Center gadget – WMC features can be easily accessible from the desktop with the gadget which is installed upon the initial start of WMC. Launching TV recordings and Internet TV from your desktop is just a click or touch away.
• Browsing on your Favorite pictures – Sorting your photos, viewing and displaying them as slide shows and searching them using the new library feature of the OS are just some of the ways to tinker your photos.
• Endlessly listen to your Favorite songs – While relaxing and listening to your playlist, the cover art from all albums displays as a scrolling background for the song that’s being currently played.
• A Free Internet TV Service – Not having a TV tuner installed on your PC is no longer a drawback with Windows 7 Media Center. Virtual channels include popular shows from many genres from the Web.
• Integration of Games – Windows games can now be played inside WMC and can be accessed by just clicking their corresponding icon.
• A Special Feature for Sports Enthusiasts – WMC Sports feature goes even beyond what Vista offered by enabling you to select how much information you want to display for each sports league you follow.
• A Live Sneak Peek – A thumbnail that can be played backwards and forwards at the same speed can be displayed when you’re watching.
• A Turbo scroll for both channels and music – Skipping in-between channels through the use of the arrow button on the remote and alphabetized listing of artists are just some of the quick and easy ways of manipulating WMC.

In terms of functionality and interface, Windows 7 Media Center is several notches higher than what Vista Media Center had offered. A solid proof of how Microsoft’s investment was not put to waste. Windows 7 Media Center transcended from a mere product to an in-demand technology no doubt.

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• Startup Repair
• System Restore
• System Image Recovery
• Windows Memory Diagnostic
• Command Prompt

To access Windows 7’s System Recovery Environment, boot your PC and just before the system loads the Windows operating system; hit the [F8] Function 8 key on your keyboard which will launch the Advanced Boot Options menu. An option ‘Repair Your Computer’ will be shown, select this option and hit ‘Enter’ on your keyboard. Once this is through, Windows will load the necessary files to start the System Recovery process. In this aspect, the need for your Windows DVD is disregarded. In addition to these options, Windows 7 provides the option to create a ‘System Repair disc’ which contains all the System Recovery tools. To create your System Repair disc, click Start > All Programs > Maintenance > Create a System Repair Disc. Insert a blank DVD or CD and click the Create disc button.

For now, we would concentrate on System Restore and its refinements under Windows 7.  System Restore is like a time machine for your operating system for it restarts your system back to a set point. It is a process that returns the computer to an earlier state while retaining Windows files and settings, the programs that were installed, registry settings that had been changed and other elements that can prevent your system to get back to its feet.  However, there is a catch here. You can’t just wave System Restore’s magic wand and restore to an arbitrarily chosen point in time. Instead, when you invoke this feature it presents you with one or, several event-specific restore points from which to select. These points are created on a regular basis by the system on both a timed basis and when specific events take place. By default, Windows 7 will display the most recent restore point. Windows 7 had added an additional feature to System Restore and this is the chance to see what will be the effect on your system once you revert to a certain restore point. It also has the advanced recovery options that can guide you through the reinstallation of Windows 7 and restorations of personal files and settings.

Despite the magnitude of its impact on the system, System Restore through the enhancements it had undergone in Windows 7 had become more simple and user-friendly.  This is best seen in its simplified user interface and utmost guidance towards selecting a better recovery method. Once it’s running, then you know you’re on your way to recovery and your disaster should then be just a part of an unpleasant memory.

Technorati Tags: windows 7, Windows 7 Protection, Windows 7 Software

Here are their most common reasons …

• Rave and excitement for the new OS is not enough to change their minds and join the bandwagon of the shrieking fans of the new OS. Most users noticed the same hype and attention were given to Vista on its early days and yet Vista in the end had failed to meet the user’s expectations.
• The fear and uncertainty of scenarios where users will find themselves shortchanged in case they migrate to Windows 7  and the option to revert back is not feasible anymore. This holds true more when the time comes that XP will not be around anymore.
• During Vista’s heydays, a lot of entrepreneurs and SMBs had decided to buy lots of licenses for Vista for migration for their business units and some even upgraded and changed their hardware to accommodate Vista’s hardware requirements. Apparently, when problems and issues started cropping out like hardware and driver incompatibilities, security, frequent crashes and a lot more from Vista, they found themselves downgrading back to XP. Just imagine the merry go round of bucks that were spent at that time.
• Lack of budget is another factor why a lot are still on the waiting list, the instability of the global economy is still lurking around.
• Lastly, a small percentage would like to take their sweet time and hold back to wait and see for awhile on what will be the turnout of this new OS in the coming days. Being cautious and wise is the name of the game.

So are these reasons justifiable? Yes they are in a way and to some extent. Looking at the other side of the coin, companies will also have to weigh the cost of a migration to new hardware and software as well as the upgrading of some applications. A typical time frame schedule for deployment of a new OS in an organization will take less than 18 months, so to delay further will be additional cost on the part of the company.  The truth of the matter is, migrating to Windows 7 is inevitable and for some it’s just a matter of time and for how long, it all depends on their priorities. If Windows 7 can deliver, what’s stopping you anyway? Go and take that leap!

Technorati Tags: installing windows 7, Windows 7 Software, Windows Vista, Windows7

Microsoft is no exception to this. Ever since the release of their first operating system they had vowed to consistently elevate the security ground to a higher level. Sad to say, Microsoft’s release of Vista had jeopardized whatever good intentions the company had. Vista’s security loopholes had led to the loss of credibility on the part of big corporations and ordinary PC users. Thus, the company cannot afford to miss another step but instead once again harness its powers to reclaim its dominance on the computing industry and its rivals.

Indeed, Windows 7 is out to make a redemptive break for whatever security lapses and shortcomings in the past and hopes to emerge as the most reliable and stable OS that Microsoft had ever developed. Recently conducted reviews of the software are showing how convincingly Microsoft had finally nailed it down.

Below is an impressive list of Windows 7 security enhancements:

• Less Annoying User Account Control is an enhancement of Vista’s UAC which constantly pops up to reduce the frequency that users run with administrative privileges thereby lessening the chances of malware attacks. In Windows 7, a four-position slider was introduced to control these pop ups. The new UAC default setting permits Windows executables to automatically run with administrative privileges.
• Configurable Multiple Active Firewall Policies is also an enhancement of Windows Firewall policy wherein Windows distinguishes between Public, Home, and Work Networks and each one having its own profile. In Vista’s case only one profile can be active on the computer at a time and this is where the problem arises. Windows 7 resolved this by allowing multiple firewall policies to be enabled at the same time putting into effect the appropriate firewall policy and ensuring protection for mobile and remote users while giving access to the specific networks.
• Applocker is a Windows 7 feature that offers flexibility for administrators in controlling how users can access and use files such as exes, scripts, dll, etc.  This is a very useful feature for computers running in shared or inside organizations for it reduces the risk of information leakages because of unauthorized software.
• Bitlocker was not embraced well in Vista’s time because of it not being so user-friendly. Thus, Windows 7 had simplified the encryption process of a system drive. Bitlocker to Go enhances the technical capabilities of Bitlocker and works independently from it.  Seeing that it is a full-disk encryption for removable storage devices, this was designed primarily for enterprise environment in order to protect the loss or theft of corporate or even of personal data.
• ActiveX Installer Service’s crucial role in making an application run well was highly regarded by Windows. As such Windows 7 has enabled this by default making you use the Group Policy to configure the Trusted sites zone that can identify sites that are free to install ActiveX controls on computers.

This list is far from complete and neither is each one a perfect fit solution to all security concerns. Windows 7 can never be a 100% malware and security proof OS, just  like any other application in the market. But one thing is for sure, the long wait is over – here is an OS that is equipped enough finally to address a lot of security headaches.

Technorati Tags: top 10 security for windows 7, windows 7 features, Windows 7 Protection, Windows 7 Software

Windows 7 Tips – Top 10 

Create a System Repair Disk – Strongly Recommended. Type ’system repair disc’ in the Start Menu search box, and use the utility.

Aero Shake – Hold down a window by its top border (or any other part) and shake your mouse to minimize all other windows. Alternative Shortcut:  Win + Home.

Aero Peek - Hold your mouse icon over a program icon in the TaskBar to get a preview of the program (if it’s running). then move your mouse and hold it over this icon to bring up the actual window itself. Click to bring this window up permanently or just move the mouse away.

Install Windows 7 without a DVD drive – Look at this post on installing windows 7 without an optical dvd drive. You could also use a flash drive (courtesy Tim Sneath) -

I took a spare 4GB USB 2.0 thumbdrive, reformatted it as FAT32, and simply copied the contents of the Windows 7 Beta ISO image to the memory stick using xcopy e:\ f:\ /e /f (where e: was the DVD drive and f: was the removable drive location). Not only was it easy to boot and install from the thumbdrive, it was also blindingly fast: quicker than the corresponding DVD install on my desktop machine.

Add a shortcut for a website on your Desktop – Right click on any blank space on the web page and select ‘Create Shortcut’.  Choose ‘Yes’ in the dialog and a shorcut will get added to your desktop.

Circle through all Open Windows of one application - Hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on the program icon in the TaskBar.

Shortcut to launch Explorer – Win+E.

Problem Recorder – A screen capture tool that lets you capture the steps that lead to a problem. Then a tech help person or friend can look at it and help you.

Press the Start button (windows logo button on bottom left of the screen), then type in psr in the search field and press Enter to run it.
You could also go to the Control Panel and choose ‘Record Steps to reproduce a problem’.

In the Problem Steps Recorder click ‘Start Record’, then do the steps that are causing a problem. You can add comments at any time.

When you are done click Stop Record. The Problem Steps Recorder has taken snapshots of the steps you took.

Multiple Instances of Same Program – Hold down Shift and Click a taskbar item to start a new instance of that particular application without having to go to Start Menu.

Add XP’s Run Command to the Start Menu – right click in the Start Menu (not on a program icon), then Properties, then Start Menu, then Customize and check “Run Command”. 

90 more great windows 7 tips below …

Windows 7 Tips – SuperBar (the new TaskBar)

Start or switch between Taskbar programs – Use Win+1 to switch to (or start) the first Program in the TaskBar (the first icon). Win+2 for the second, and so on. You can also move the icons around for running and non-running programs. This includes icons in the System Tray. 

Access a Program’s JumpList – Alt+Win+1 for 1st application, Alt+win+2 for second application and so on.

Access Jump Lists via Left Mouse Button – You can left-click and drag upwards from an application’s icon to access the Jump List Menu.

Aero Peek - Hold your mouse icon over a program icon in the TaskBar to get a preview of the program (if it’s running). then move your mouse and hold it over this icon to bring up the actual window itself. Click to bring this window up permanently or just move the mouse away.

Add a website to your Taskbar – Take the favicon (tiny image on the left of the website address in the address bar) and drag it to the taskbar. You can also drag it to the desktop to create a desktop shortcut. 

Circle through all Open Windows of one application - Hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on the program icon in the TaskBar. 

Walk through SuperBar/ TaskBar – Press Win+T to move focus to the TaskBar. Now you can use arrow keys to select a window or group and press Enter to launch it or switch to it. Press Esc to get out of this mode.  

Pin your favorite folder to the TaskBar – Hold down right click button and drag the folder to the TaskBar. It gets added to the Explorer Jump List.

Multiple Instances of Same Program – Hold down Shift and Click a taskbar item to start a new instance of that particular application without having to go to Start Menu.

Get the Quick Launch ToolBar back -

Right-click the taskbar and choose Toolbars, and then New Toolbar.
In the folder selection dialog, enter this path: %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch , where %userprofile% is your user name (the one you’re logged into).
Turn off “lock the taskbar” setting.
Right-click on the divider.
Disable “Show text” and “Show title”.
Set the view option to “small icons”.
Set the order of the toolbars using the dividers.
Lock the taskbar again.

Pin Favorites to JumpLists - First, right click on program in taskbar or press  Win=Alt+1/2/3/etc. to bring up the Jump List. Then, hover your mouse over the item you want to pin to the jumplist and a little pin icon will appear next to it on the right. Click the pin to pin that item to the JumpList.

Windows 7 Tips – Window Management

Simplify with Aero Shake – Hold down a window by its top border (or any other part) and shake your mouse to minimize all other windows. Alternative Shortcut:  Win + Home. 

Peeking at the Desktop – Win+Space lets you see what you have on your desktop (without closing or minimizing the window). 

Window Management – You can minimize, maximize, and dock windows.

Dock a window to the left or right half of the screen – Drag it to the Edge of the Screen.
Shortcut: Win Button (button with windows logo) + Left Arrow to dock to the left side. Win+Right Arrow to dock to the right side. (Both buttons must be kept pressed).

Maximize a window – Drag it to the top of the screen OR Win + Up Arrow.
Restore/Minimize a window – Win + Down Arrow.

Mazimize the Vertical Size (while keeping horizontal width the same) – Win+Shift+Up Arrow OR double-click the window’s top or bottom border.
Minimize the Vertical Size (or restore it) – Win + Shift + Down Arrow.

Switch Windows between Monitors (when using multiple monitors) – Win+Shift+Left Arrow to move a window to the left side monitor with the same relative location on the screen. Win + Shift + Right Arrow to move it to the monitor on the right.

Gadgets on Top – Win+G to display gadgets in front of other windows.

Gadgets Below Windows – Alt+G to Disable Gadgets on Top of other windows. 

DeClutter: Win+Home to Clear all but the active window.

Minimize Everything – Win+M. Note: You cannot bring back all windows at once if you do this. Its different from Win + Space.

Display on to a Projector – Press Win+P and then choose one of the options. Press Win+P again to circle through the options. Also available by running displayswitch.exe.

Turn off ‘Windows Smart Arrangement’ – Press Windows Key, then RegEdit, then go to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. The setting to change is WindowArrangementActive – set it to 0 to turn it off.  You must restart to kick this into effect.

Windows 7 Tips – Windows 7 Shortcuts

Create Your Own Shortcuts for any program – Right click the program icon and select Properties, then Shortcut tab, and then enter a keyboard shortcut in the Shortcut Key field.

Shortcut to launch Explorer – Win+E.

Display or Hide the Explorer Preview Panel – Alt+P. 

Disable Gadgets on Top of other windows – Alt + G.  

Auto Arrange Icons – Keep F5 pressed down for a few seconds.

Shortcuts in Windows Explorer – Alt+Up to go to Parent Folder, Alt+Left Arrow to go back, Alt+ Right Arow to go Forward. 

Minimize Everything – Win+M. Note: You cannot bring back all windows at once if you do this. Its different from Win + Space.

Access the Jump List of an Application – Alt+Win+1 for 1st application, Alt+win+2 for second application and so on.

Lock the screen – Windows + L.

Lots More Shortcuts

1. Win+Home: Clear all but the active window.
2. Win+Space: All windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop
3. Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window
4. Win+Down arrow: Minimize the active window or restore the window if it’s maximized
5. Win+Left/Right arrows: Dock the active window to each side of the monitor
6. Win+Shift+Left/Right arrows: If you’ve got dual monitors, this will move the active window to the adjacent monitor
7. Win+Shift+Up Arrow: Maximize the vertical height of the window.
8. Win+Shift+Down Arrove: Minimize or Restore the vertical height of the window.
9. Win+T: Shift focus to and scroll through items on the taskbar.
10. Win+P: Adjust presentation settings for your display.
11. Win+(+/-): Zoom in/out.
12. Win+G – display gadgets in front of other windows.
13. Alt+P – Display/Hide the Explorer preview pane.
14. Shift+Click a taskbar item: Open a new instance of that particular application.
Preview Photos in Explorer - Alt+P.  
Desktop Magnifier – Win+ Plus Key (’+') to zoom in, and Win+Minus Key (’-') to zoom out.

Windows 7 Tips - Improve Your Experience

Adjust  Text Contrast – Run cttune.exe to adjust ClearType Text and the contrast between type and the screen.  This is also available in the Control Panel. 

Calibrate your screen brightness – Run dccw.exe to adjust the gamma.

MP3 Bug Fix for Media Player and Media Center – Download the fix from Microsoft to prevent mp3s getting their beginnings cut.

Make Internet Explorer 8 faster (by turning off slow plug-ins) – Click ‘Tools’ and the choose ‘Manage Add-Ons’. Scroll Right to see the load time of various plug-ins and ‘disable’ the ones that are very slow.

IE 8 Address Bar Tip - Press the left mouse button and while keeping it pressed ‘drag down’ to access related entries, browser history and favorites.

Get Back the Run command that XP has – right click in the Start Menu (not on a program icon), then Properties, then Start Menu, then Customize and check “Run Command”.

Launch a program with Admin rights – Slow Way: Right click and choose run as an administrator. Fast Way: Hold down Ctrl + Shift and then click on the icon. 

Run As Another User – In addition to run as admin, you can run a program as another user. Hold down shift and right click on any program icon to get the option to ‘Run As …’ and then choose what user you want to run as.

Launch another instance of a program (that is already running) – Hold down Shift and Click on the icon of the program you want a second instance of. You can also middle-click (use your mouse’s third, middle button). 

Add any library or folder to Favorites – Navigate to the library or folder in Windows Explorer, right click Favorites in the left hand navigation pane, then selected ‘Add current Location to Favorites’. 

Avoid Disturbances with Presentation Mode – Win+X to get to Windows Mobility Center. Then turn on Presentation Mode to disable screensavers, switches IM clients to ‘do not disturb’ etc.   

Open a Command Prompt in Any Folder Location – While in a particular folder, press down the Shift button and right click to get ‘Open Command Prompt Here’ option. 

Windows 7 Tips - New Features and Improvements

Burn any DVD or CD .iso image to a disc – Double click on the .iso file and a ‘Burn Disc Image’ applet will pop up.

Sticky Post-It Notes - Press Windows button and type StikyNot.exe to create post-it style notes.

Encrypt a USB drive – Right click on the removable drive and choose ‘Turn on Bitlocker’.

Display Empty Removable Drives – By default Windows 7 hides empty drives when you open your My Computer view. To see empty drives, choose Tools, then Folder Options then View and uncheck ‘Hide empty drives in the computer folder’. 

Automatically Changing Wallpapers - Right click on the desktop screen, then Personalize, then Desktop Background. Hold the CTRL key down while chossing images (click on them). Then you can choose time interval and random or sequential display.

Advanced Calculator - Click on ’View’ to bring up new options i.e. 

There are 3 new calculator modes – Scientific, Statistics and Programming. Shortcuts: Alt+2, Alt+4, Alt+3.

There are worksheets for Mortgage calculations and vehicle leases.

You also can do Unit Conversions and Date Calculations. Shortcuts: Ctrl+U, Ctrl+E.

Improve Your Start Menu – Microsoft has a well detailed page showing you how to make the Start Menu better for you.

Change the Function of the Shutdown Button – You can change what the Shutdown button in the Start Menu does -

Click the Start button, then click on Control Panel. clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Taskbar and Start Menu.In the Control Panel, choose ‘Appearance and Personalization’, then Taskbar and Start Menu. Then click the Start Menu tab.

In the Power button action list, click an item (whatever action you want the Shutdown button to take), and then click OK.

Run IE8 in Compatibility Mode – Click on the Page menu item in IE8 (top right, next to Safety and Tools). Then click on ‘Compatibility View’ to view the current website in compatibility mode. You can also select ‘Compatibility View Settings’ in the Page Menu to choose websites that are always viewed in compatibility mode.

Web Searches from your Desktop - You can download various connectors that let you search directly from the desktop. More on this later.

Expand Send To Options – Shift and right click on a folder or file to get expanded Send To options.

Install Fonts Easily – The font viewer applet has a ‘Install’ button that you can click to install fonts easily. Lots of other features that the Font dialogs will show you. Windows 7 also adds the Gabriola Font from Tiro Typeworks. Its rather pretty.

Windows 7 Tips - Advanced Windows 7 Tips 

These are mostly more advanced windows 7 tips and tricks. Leave a comment if you run into problems with any of these windows 7 tips

Run Windows 7 in Windows XP Mode (Release Candidate) – Please see the Windows 7 Team Blog for the links and instructions.

App Locker - Press Win button to bring up Start Menu, then type in gpedit.msc into your search bar and press enter. This brings up the Local Group Policy Editor and then Lazy Admin has great instructions and screen shots.

International Wallpapers – Browse to C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT. There is a wallpaper directory per country, with different wallpapers. You can also go to the Theme directory to select wallpapers.

Use Virtual Hard Disk Files – To Be updated.

Optimize Power Usage (useful for Netbooks and Laptops) – Press Windows Key, then type “POWERCFG -ENERGY -OUTPUT <path\filename>. Then look at ‘energy-report.html’ in the folder you chose in 1 to 2 minutes.

Start Explorer at ‘My Computer’ by default – In the Start Menu go to Accessories, then right click on Explorer and in properties change the target to %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Advanced Defragmentation – Press Windows, and then type in CMD to get a command prompt. The command defrag can be used with these options -

/r defrag multiple drives simultaneously.
-a performs a defrag analysis
-v view the defrag report
-r do not defrag files that have 64 mb or larger fragments
-w defrag everything

Hide your desktop searches – Press the Windows button and type in GPEDIT.MSC, then select User Configuration, then Administrative Templates, then Window Components, then Windows Explorer, then double-click “turn off display of recent search entries. Click Enabled > OK to confirm the changes.  

Make Windows 7 Faster – Press the Windows Key or Click the Start button – then type RESMON and press Enter to launch the resouce monitor. You can now go through the CPU, Memory, Disk and Network tabs and see what’s slowing things down. 

Customize your log-in screen image – Courtesy Rafael Rivera of Within Windows.

Create a DWORD value named OEMBackground in the HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background key. Set its data, of Boolean type, to 1 for enabled (0 for disabled).
Note: You might have to create the registry key if it does not exist.

Find a folder named %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds (%windir% will usually be C:/windows/). If it doesn’t exist, create it. Now put your desired background image in the folder – Name must be backgroundDefault.jpg and size must be less than 256 Kb.

Customize your log-in screen buttons – Again, courtesy Rafael Rivera.

Go to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI and add a DWORD value named ButtonSet. The supported integer values range from 0 to 2, with each value defined below.

0 – Lighter text shadows, darker (more opaque) buttons (Windows default)
1 – Darker text shadows, lighter (more translucent) buttons (for lighter backgrounds)
2 – No text shadows, opaque buttons (for darker backgrounds)

Change how Windows Media Center starts up – Courtesy Missing Remote. Go to Start, then All Programs, then Windows Media Center. Right Click on it, then select Properties, and then change the target field -

Target Field will probably be %windir%\Ehome\Ehshell.exe (where %winhome% is probably C:\windows\).
Simply add one or more of the following choices at the end of the existing target field -/nostartupanimation – stops the startup sound and Windows Media Center logo “pebble” going off into the distance
/noshutdownui – removes the “shutdown” item from the tasks menu
/mediamode – starts in media only mode (no close/minimize/maximize options in top right corner)
/widescreen – start in widescreen mode, even on 4:3 display (windowed only)
/nochrome – display windowed mode Media Center but without the window chrome
/playallmusic – plays all your music instantly
/playfavmusic – plays all your favorite music
/playfavslideshow – plays your favorite slideshows only
/playfavslideshowwithmusic – plays your favorite slideshow with music
/playslideshow – plays all slideshows
/playslideshowwithmusic – plays all slideshows with music
/screensaver – starts the Media Center screensaver
/configuress – starts Media Center at the “configure screensaver” screen

To get something like %windir%\Ehome\Ehshell.exe /nostartupanimation /noshutdownui /mediamode

Finally, to start MediaCenter in LiveTV, use – %windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe “/mcesuperbar://tv?live=true”

Much thanks to Tim Sneath for his ‘bumper list of windows 7 secrets’ and to all the people linked above and others who’ve been finding and sharing windows 7 tips.

Please do leave a comment if you have questions or a windows 7  tip or trick to share.

Technorati Tags: windows 7, windows 7 tips, windows 7 tricks

Some Context: Basically Windows 7 was thought to be only backwards compatible with Vista.

Which would have meant -

1. If you’re running Vista everything will work like it’s supposed to. Something that I can attest to with the Beta – it really does work. 
2. The problem was that people moving from XP to Windows 7 would have problems.

Now, with one masterstroke, the Windows 7 team have solved 95%+ of compatibility issues.

The Solution: Have a ‘Windows XP Mode’ in W7 which is actually a virtual machine running Windows XP. Now nearly all XP applications will work like they’re supposed to.

A little on Windows XP mode:

The add-on, called “Windows XP Mode” creates an XP virtual environment running under Virtual PC within Windows 7. “All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode,” said Scott Woodgate, the director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy. “The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7.”  

Paul Thurrot has an extensive review of Windows XP Mode in the W7 RC, and also some deep dives. He writes -

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site.

My Thoughts: The ‘Windows XP Mode’ virtual XP machine in W7 -

1. Is really smart.  
2. Should not be something to be downloaded separately. 
3. Should be available for all editions of Windows 7 – it’s just too fundamental of a feature.

Overall, its great news – now Windows 7 is compatible with Vista and XP. Its not 100% compatibility. However, to be honest, there never is 100% compatibility.

This is a move by Microsoft mostly to make Enterprise customers and IT departments happy and kudos for pulling off an elegant workaround. Very smart move by the W7 Team.

Technorati Tags: windows 7 xp, xp mode