Nibiru2012
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Navigating your way around can be a problem for someone who has used Windows XP all these years, but once you know where to find things it’s not all that bad. Updated to include ‘GodMode’ folders or the new TweakUI, this guide is for XP users who have skipped Vista and have either purchased a new Windows 7 computer or upgraded their existing computer to Windows 7.
As usual there are at least two or three ways to get to where you want to go and the Windows 7 is no exception. You will find that the ‘Start Menu’, ‘Search Box’, ‘Run’ command, ‘Control Panel’ and Keyboard shortcuts are all convenient ways to find many of the features you may need.
Why does my LCD display look so poor?
The first thing you may notice that after installing Windows 7 that the display quality and resolution may have changed or has deteriorated when compared to Windows XP.
Most likely the built-in Windows 7 video drivers are not optimized for your Video/Graphics card, resulting in less than optimal display quality. Go to the PC or Graphics card manufacture’s web site, locate the latest driver for your card, download the driver file and install. Since Windows 7 is new I suggest that you make it a habit to check for video card and other driver updates once a month as I expect a lot of activity in this area in the coming months.
After you have updated the drivers:
To change the resolution right click on the Desktop and click the ‘Screen Resolution’ option. The Screen Resolution window opens with three main options available: ‘Display’, ‘Resolution’ and ‘Orientation’. Click on the Resolution box and adjust the slider to meet your needs while watching the image of your LCD display change. Click ‘Apply’ and see if the change is acceptable (clear readable text), you have 15 second to accept or cancel any changes.
With higher resolutions you may need to increase the text size for better readability. Again click on the Desktop and click the ‘Screen Resolution’ option, this time click anywhere on the ‘Make text and other items larger or smaller’ option. The default setting is 100% but a small increase to 125% may be a good compromise between high resolution and text that is too small when using the default setting.
You made need to try several resolution and text sizes before you reach an optimal setting that is eye pleasing.
ClearType Tuner:
Click: Start (Windows Orb)/Search/ClearType and click on ‘Adjust ClearType text’ in the results window.
Alternate Methods: You can access the ClearType tuner via the Control Panel and Search
Control Panel: Click Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items
Search keyword: Click Start and enter the word “Clear” (without the quotation marks)
Next click on ‘Display’, then in the left hand pane click on ‘Adjust ClearType text’
The ‘Turn on ClearType’ option should be checked and then click ‘Next’.
From this point on you will see a series of boxes with sample text to pick from as you did in XP. Now you should have a clearer view of what’s coming next.
Secret: I use my eyes to read the sample text and also a small magnifying loop or glass to visually inspect the test quality close up. Look at both the horizontal and vertical part of several characters and you may be able to distinguish any unwanted articfacts.
Windows 7 System Information:
‘Windows Key’ + ‘Pause/Break’ key, or you can click on the Control Panel’s ‘System’ icon.
Alternate Method for a more detailed view: Start/All Programs/Accessories, scroll down and click on ‘System Tools’, and click on ‘System Information’.
Ease of Access:
‘Windows Key’ + ‘U’ key, or you can click on the Control Panel’s ‘Ease of Access Center’ icon. Here you will find the settings necessary to make your computer easier to use.
Control Panel:
Click: Start/Control Panel.
Change the default ‘View by Category’ mode to something more Windows XP like by selecting the ‘View by Large icons’ or ‘Small icons’, this gives you a more XP friendly display of your control panel.
Some icon titles you will recognize, others are renamed, Examples: ‘Printer and Faxes’ in XP is now ‘Devices and Printers’ and Add or Remove programs is now part of ‘Programs and Features’ in Windows 7.
Security:
The ‘Security Center’ is gone and instead is split into ‘Windows Update’, ‘Windows Firewall’ and ‘Internet Options’. The control panel ‘Action Center’ is where you will find Virus protection options.
Change back to ‘View by Category’ and in the upper right corner you will find the ‘System and Security’ category. Notice that the category view attempts to logically group control panel items by category. It’s less cluttered than using either of the ‘View by Icon’ options but not necessarily optimal or logical in the groupings.
Search keyword: Security
This displays your Local Security Policy options.
My Computer:
XP’s ‘My Computer’ is named ‘Computer’ in Windows 7.
Click: Start/Computer. To make it part of the Desktop right click and choose ‘Show on Desktop’. If you right click on the icon you will find the same options that were available in XP except for ‘Search’ which in now part of the Start menu.
Alternate Method:
Start/Control Panel/ Note: if you are still in the view by Category mode, then use the ‘Address Bar’ (upper left) and move the mouse cursor over the pull down arrow and select ‘All Control Panel Items’, then ‘Administrative Tools’ and double click on ‘Computer Management’.
My Documents:
Start/YourAccountName. In the left pane of the Windows Explorer under your account name you will find all the ‘My’ subfolders and more. The right pane view can be set to one of several options including the default folder view and more useful ‘Details’ option.
Create a ‘Desktop’ icon by right clicking on your account name and click ‘Show on Desktop’.
Documents:
Start/Documents. This will open the ‘Documents’ Library again with all the by now familiar ‘My’ folders displayed. But Libraries are special as you will find out next.
Libraries:
The subject of a full article, but for now just know that there a library is already created for each new account. Libraries do not contain files but a pointer to files that can be physically located in a folder on your current partition or drive or other partitions or drives. Libraries are a convenient way to group a bunch of folders and files that are scattered throughout you hard drive or multiple drives in one location were they can be easily accessed. Just keep in mind that these are not shortcuts but a link, if you delete the file in the library you also may end up deleting the file from it’s physically location. You can however remove the root folder from a personal library you created without actually deleting the real folder and its associated files.
Search keyword: type “lib” (without the quotation marks and press the enter key).
For more information about libraries see the link at the end of this article.
Improve the ‘Computer’ and Windows Explorer layout:
Start/Computer/Organize (Upper left, just below the menu toolbar), left click and pick the ‘Layout’ option, click on the ‘Navigation Pane’ option to checkmark this option.
Start/All Programs/Accessories/Windows Explorer/Organize/Layout/, check ‘Menu Bar’, ‘Details pane’ and ‘Navigation’ pane. In the Menu bar select ‘View’ and ‘Details’.
Get back the ‘Run’ command:
Right click on the ‘Taskbar’, select ‘Properties’, click on the ‘Start Menu’ tab, click the ‘Customize…’ button, scroll down the list of item and place a checkmark in the ‘Run command’ box., click the ‘OK’ button until the properties windows is closed. The run command is on a user by user basis.
Now click Start/Run and enter: devmgmt.msc
Alternate method: “Windows Key +R” and then right click on the taskbar icon and choose ‘Pin this program to taskbar’
Get back the ‘Address Bar’:
Right click on the ‘Taskbar’, select ‘Properties’, click on the ‘Toolbars’ tab, place a checkmark in the ‘Address’ box. Click ‘Apply’ and then the ‘OK’ button.
Now enter ‘notepad’ in the address bar to launch Notepad.
Enter: devmgmt.msc for device manager.
Notepad and Sticky Notes:
Start/All Programs/Accessories/Notepad
Start/Sticky Notes
Search keyword: type “sticky” (without the quotation marks and press the enter key.
Drag the sticky note to a more convenient location on the desktop if the default location is not acceptable.
Pin the sticky note icon to the taskbar by right clicking on the taskbar icon and then click on the ‘Pin this program to taskbar’ option. Deleting an old stick note from the desktop will not delete the stick note icon in the taskbar.
Stick Notes use a font that may look nice but doesn’t make for easy cut and past of your notes to MS Word. Unfortunately you can not change the fonts for stick notes, You can however “wash” the text by copying from the note and pasting to ‘Notepad’ and then copying from Notepad and pasting to MS Word.
For more information see: Using Sticky Notes
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Using-Sticky-Notes
The Ctrl+N to create a new note only works if you have an existing stick note on your desktop which is why I suggest pinning the sticky note icon to the taskbar.
Add or Remove programs:
Now named: Uninstall or change a program
Control Panel when in ‘Category View’
Start/Control Panel/Programs/Programs and Features/Uninstall a program.
Control Panel when in ‘View by ‘Small Icons’
Start/Control Panel/Programs and Features
Search keyword: “Add or”
Looking for Device Manger or Disk Manager:
Click Start, mouse over to ‘Computer’ and right click and select ‘Manage’.
Alternate Method: Start and click on ‘Control Panel’. Next in the Control Panel’s ‘View By’ option in the upper right click on the pull down arrow to the right of ‘Category’ and from the list select: ‘Small Icons’.
Now click on ‘Administrative Tools’. From the items listed in the ‘Name’ column, double click on ‘Computer Management’. Wow, too much work, their must be a simpler way: Instead of double clicking, right click and select ‘Send to’ and ‘Desktop’ to create a shortcut.
Pin ‘Computer Management’ to the ‘Taskbar’:
Do this when you have the ‘Computer Management’ window open, then right click on the toolbar icon and select ‘Pin this program to taskbar’. See ‘Jump Lists’ later in this article for even more useful tips on getting to where you want to go quickly.
Pin ‘Computer Management’ to the ‘Taskbar’, ‘Start Menu’ or create a shortcut.
Do this when you have the ‘Administrative Tools’ window open, then in the ‘Name’ column right click on ‘Computer Management’ and select ‘Pin to taskbar’, ‘Pin to Start Menu’ or to create a desktop shortcut pick the ‘Send To’ option.
Control Panel:
Start/Control Panel
With the Control Panel Window open, notice the icon in located in the Task Bar. Right click on the icon and select ‘Pin this program to taskbar’. Later I’ll show you how to make use of the Windows 7 ‘Jump Lists’ feature.
Disk Cleanup:
Click Start and type cleanmgr.exe in the ‘Search’ box, click and use the pull down to select the drive letter you want to cleanup. When Cleanup is done analyzing the drive, check the box for each category of files you want to delete and click the ‘OK’ button and then the ‘Delete Files’ button.
Alternate Methods:
1) Click Start and enter cleanmgr and press the ‘Enter’ key.
2) Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup.
3) Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items, click on ‘Performance Information and Tools’. In the left pane click on ‘Open Disk Cleanup’.
Task Manager, Disk Defragmenter, Event logs and more:
Task Manager: Ctrl+Alt+Del and select ‘Start Task Manager’
Disk Defragmenter: Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items, click on ‘Performance Information and Tools’. In the left pane click on ‘Advanced Tools’, ‘Open Disk Defragmenter’.
Event Logs: In the ‘Advanced Tools’ window click ‘View performance details in Event log’. Now resize the window to increase the display area for the left, center and right panes. In the left explorer pane select and expand the ‘Windows logs’ folder. Click on the ‘Application’ icon to view the events displayed in the center pane. Note that the right hand ‘Actions’ pane provides some event log options you can perform.
Action Center:
Check your ‘Security’ (Spyware, Virus, Windows Update, Windows Defender status) and ‘Maintenance’ information.
Reliability Check: Part of the Action Center’s ‘Maintenance’ group, expand the list by clicking on the down arrow button , located in the ‘Check for solutions to problem reports’ you will find a link labeled ‘View reliability history’ (last link on the right). Click on the link to display the ‘Reliability Monitor’, which includes any application, Windows and miscellaneous failures and warnings.
System Restore – Take out the guesswork:
XP users could never be absolutely certain what is going to be restored. Windows 7 has a ‘Preview’ mode that provides some information that may help you choose the best restore point to use. Click Start/Control Panel/System. In the left pane click ‘System protection’, and click on the ‘System Restore’ button to start the restore process. Now in the Sysem Restore window click ‘Next’, pick a restore point and then click the ‘Scan for affected programs’ button. If the selected restore point is not the one you want close the information window and select another restore point.
Other ways to access System Restore:
Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/Recovery/Open System Restore
Start/Computer/Properties/System protection
Change disk space available for restore points:
Start/Control Panel/System and Security/System OR Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/System. In the left pane click the ‘System protection’ option. Wait for Windows to finish the scan for your drives, then click on the drive/disk letter (typically C
, once highlighted click on the ‘Configure’ button. The default is 3%, move the slider to the right to increase the space available for restore points or to the left for less space depending on the size of your hard drive. If you change the Disk Space Usage value, click ‘Apply’ and then the ‘OK’ button.
Note: Both Windows 7 and Vista do not create restore points on FAT32 partitions.
System Image:
Creating an "Image Backup" image of your hard drive without using third party software like Acronis True Image Home 2010 or Symantec's Norton Ghost version 15. Both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image have additional features not included with the System Image tool.
Start/Control Panel/Backup and Restore. Next click on the ‘Create a system image’ option located in the upper right. Pick the destination for the xxx file and click next. Now you have the option to select one or more drives and or drive partitions to backup. By default the 100MB system partition and partition (usually C that contains Windows 7 are already included in the backup. Click ‘Next’, confirm your settings and then click the ‘Start backup’ button. After the backup has completed create a system repair disc (CD or DVD) and test is by booting from the repair disk.
The repair disk contains both a ‘System Recovery tools’ option and the ‘Restore your computer using a system image’ option which the option you want to select. A scan for image backups you have created will start and once the scan has completed you can select the system image you want to use to restore your computer, click ‘Next’, ‘Next’ and ‘Finish’.
Power Management Options:
One of the computers which I use to evaluate Windows 7 has the unfortunate side effect that after a “Clean Install” is that it goes into hibernation too quickly for my taste. Some computers will hibernate and never fully wake up again. So I would suggest that useless you like to press the reset button is to disable hibernation, at least try several different settings to see what works and what does not work for you.
Start/Control Panel/ All Control Panel Items/Power Options.
The default power plan is: ‘Balanced’
Click on the ‘Change plan settings’ link and then change ‘Put the computer to sleep’ setting to ‘Never’.
Improve your computer’s Performance by modifying the power plan:
Click on the ‘Show additional plans’ down arrow.
Check the ‘High performance’ button.
Additional options are available by clicking on the ‘Change plan settings link’.
Then click on ‘Change advanced power settings’.
You will find options for your hard drive, wireless adaptor, USB ports, PCI Express, Display and other device options.
Disappointed by your computer’s performance score:
Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items
Click on ‘Performance Information and Tools.
After installing Windows 7 most likely one of the lower numbers is for your ‘Primary hard disk’. You may be able to improve this value by 1 or more points by running ‘Disk Cleanup’ and the defragmenting your hard drive. Do this by clicking on the ‘Advanced Tools’ option located in the left hand pane. Near the bottom of the Advanced Tools list is ‘Open Disk Defragmenter’. It may report that your disk is not fragmented, ignore this and defragment your drive.
Next, close out the window and return back to the Performance Information and Tools window. Located in the lower right hand corner it the option to ‘Re-run the assessment’ click and wait for the new values to be displayed.
Create a new user account:
Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/User Accounts.
Click ‘Manage another account’.
Click ‘Create a new account’.
Enter the user’s account name.
Choose either ‘Standard user’ or ‘Administrator’ based on the user’s needs.
Click the ‘Create Account’ button.
Jump lists:
A replacement for XP’s ‘My Recent Documents’ - Not entirely true but read on for some of the Jump List features.
If you have been reading and performing some of the tips related to using the control panel options, then by now you should have a lot of recent control panel activity, but how to find all the past activity?
When the Control Panel is open simple right click on the Control Panel’s quick launch icon located on the Task Bar. You should now see a list of ‘Recent’ activity. Just click a named item in the list and you “Jump” instantly back to that part of the control Panel. You can pin frequently used control panel items by clicking on the stick pins.
For more information about Jump Lists see the link at the end of this article.
GodMode Folders:
The new TweakUI or call it a super sized Control Panel, GodMode reveals dozens of previously hidden or hard to fine features. Better still is that any item displayed in the GodMode folder can be dragged to the Desktop to create a shortcut icon.
Create a super sized GodMode Control Panel folder:
There is no need to use “GodMode” as part of the folder name, for example:
“Super Control Panel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}”
Right click on the desktop and create a new folder. Next highlight and copy (Ctrl+C) the Super Control Panel folder name above (do not include the quotation marks). Now using the folder you just created right click and select the rename option and press the 'Delete' key to remove the existing text and then paste (Ctrl+V) the text you just copied into the folder name box.
For more information about GodMode folders see the link at the end of this article.
Use Windows help to discover new features:
Click: Start/Help and enter the key words listed below.
Start menu
Pinned programs
Recently opened programs
Jump lists
Address bar
Search bar
Save a search
Search bar without "history"
List of other useful applets and snap-ins:
Add/Remove programs = appwiz.cpl
Device Manager = devmgmt.msc
System Properties = sysdm.cpl
Firewall = firewall.cpl
Display Properties = desk.cpl
There is a lot more to be found and utilized so feel free to try out everything you are curious about. The best way to do this is by creating a new account to be used just for this purpose.
SOURCE
Navigating your way around can be a problem for someone who has used Windows XP all these years, but once you know where to find things it’s not all that bad. Updated to include ‘GodMode’ folders or the new TweakUI, this guide is for XP users who have skipped Vista and have either purchased a new Windows 7 computer or upgraded their existing computer to Windows 7.
As usual there are at least two or three ways to get to where you want to go and the Windows 7 is no exception. You will find that the ‘Start Menu’, ‘Search Box’, ‘Run’ command, ‘Control Panel’ and Keyboard shortcuts are all convenient ways to find many of the features you may need.
Why does my LCD display look so poor?
The first thing you may notice that after installing Windows 7 that the display quality and resolution may have changed or has deteriorated when compared to Windows XP.
Most likely the built-in Windows 7 video drivers are not optimized for your Video/Graphics card, resulting in less than optimal display quality. Go to the PC or Graphics card manufacture’s web site, locate the latest driver for your card, download the driver file and install. Since Windows 7 is new I suggest that you make it a habit to check for video card and other driver updates once a month as I expect a lot of activity in this area in the coming months.
After you have updated the drivers:
To change the resolution right click on the Desktop and click the ‘Screen Resolution’ option. The Screen Resolution window opens with three main options available: ‘Display’, ‘Resolution’ and ‘Orientation’. Click on the Resolution box and adjust the slider to meet your needs while watching the image of your LCD display change. Click ‘Apply’ and see if the change is acceptable (clear readable text), you have 15 second to accept or cancel any changes.
With higher resolutions you may need to increase the text size for better readability. Again click on the Desktop and click the ‘Screen Resolution’ option, this time click anywhere on the ‘Make text and other items larger or smaller’ option. The default setting is 100% but a small increase to 125% may be a good compromise between high resolution and text that is too small when using the default setting.
You made need to try several resolution and text sizes before you reach an optimal setting that is eye pleasing.
ClearType Tuner:
Click: Start (Windows Orb)/Search/ClearType and click on ‘Adjust ClearType text’ in the results window.
Alternate Methods: You can access the ClearType tuner via the Control Panel and Search
Control Panel: Click Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items
Search keyword: Click Start and enter the word “Clear” (without the quotation marks)
Next click on ‘Display’, then in the left hand pane click on ‘Adjust ClearType text’
The ‘Turn on ClearType’ option should be checked and then click ‘Next’.
From this point on you will see a series of boxes with sample text to pick from as you did in XP. Now you should have a clearer view of what’s coming next.
Secret: I use my eyes to read the sample text and also a small magnifying loop or glass to visually inspect the test quality close up. Look at both the horizontal and vertical part of several characters and you may be able to distinguish any unwanted articfacts.
Windows 7 System Information:
‘Windows Key’ + ‘Pause/Break’ key, or you can click on the Control Panel’s ‘System’ icon.
Alternate Method for a more detailed view: Start/All Programs/Accessories, scroll down and click on ‘System Tools’, and click on ‘System Information’.
Ease of Access:
‘Windows Key’ + ‘U’ key, or you can click on the Control Panel’s ‘Ease of Access Center’ icon. Here you will find the settings necessary to make your computer easier to use.
Control Panel:
Click: Start/Control Panel.
Change the default ‘View by Category’ mode to something more Windows XP like by selecting the ‘View by Large icons’ or ‘Small icons’, this gives you a more XP friendly display of your control panel.
Some icon titles you will recognize, others are renamed, Examples: ‘Printer and Faxes’ in XP is now ‘Devices and Printers’ and Add or Remove programs is now part of ‘Programs and Features’ in Windows 7.
Security:
The ‘Security Center’ is gone and instead is split into ‘Windows Update’, ‘Windows Firewall’ and ‘Internet Options’. The control panel ‘Action Center’ is where you will find Virus protection options.
Change back to ‘View by Category’ and in the upper right corner you will find the ‘System and Security’ category. Notice that the category view attempts to logically group control panel items by category. It’s less cluttered than using either of the ‘View by Icon’ options but not necessarily optimal or logical in the groupings.
Search keyword: Security
This displays your Local Security Policy options.
My Computer:
XP’s ‘My Computer’ is named ‘Computer’ in Windows 7.
Click: Start/Computer. To make it part of the Desktop right click and choose ‘Show on Desktop’. If you right click on the icon you will find the same options that were available in XP except for ‘Search’ which in now part of the Start menu.
Alternate Method:
Start/Control Panel/ Note: if you are still in the view by Category mode, then use the ‘Address Bar’ (upper left) and move the mouse cursor over the pull down arrow and select ‘All Control Panel Items’, then ‘Administrative Tools’ and double click on ‘Computer Management’.
My Documents:
Start/YourAccountName. In the left pane of the Windows Explorer under your account name you will find all the ‘My’ subfolders and more. The right pane view can be set to one of several options including the default folder view and more useful ‘Details’ option.
Create a ‘Desktop’ icon by right clicking on your account name and click ‘Show on Desktop’.
Documents:
Start/Documents. This will open the ‘Documents’ Library again with all the by now familiar ‘My’ folders displayed. But Libraries are special as you will find out next.
Libraries:
The subject of a full article, but for now just know that there a library is already created for each new account. Libraries do not contain files but a pointer to files that can be physically located in a folder on your current partition or drive or other partitions or drives. Libraries are a convenient way to group a bunch of folders and files that are scattered throughout you hard drive or multiple drives in one location were they can be easily accessed. Just keep in mind that these are not shortcuts but a link, if you delete the file in the library you also may end up deleting the file from it’s physically location. You can however remove the root folder from a personal library you created without actually deleting the real folder and its associated files.
Search keyword: type “lib” (without the quotation marks and press the enter key).
For more information about libraries see the link at the end of this article.
Improve the ‘Computer’ and Windows Explorer layout:
Start/Computer/Organize (Upper left, just below the menu toolbar), left click and pick the ‘Layout’ option, click on the ‘Navigation Pane’ option to checkmark this option.
Start/All Programs/Accessories/Windows Explorer/Organize/Layout/, check ‘Menu Bar’, ‘Details pane’ and ‘Navigation’ pane. In the Menu bar select ‘View’ and ‘Details’.
Get back the ‘Run’ command:
Right click on the ‘Taskbar’, select ‘Properties’, click on the ‘Start Menu’ tab, click the ‘Customize…’ button, scroll down the list of item and place a checkmark in the ‘Run command’ box., click the ‘OK’ button until the properties windows is closed. The run command is on a user by user basis.
Now click Start/Run and enter: devmgmt.msc
Alternate method: “Windows Key +R” and then right click on the taskbar icon and choose ‘Pin this program to taskbar’
Get back the ‘Address Bar’:
Right click on the ‘Taskbar’, select ‘Properties’, click on the ‘Toolbars’ tab, place a checkmark in the ‘Address’ box. Click ‘Apply’ and then the ‘OK’ button.
Now enter ‘notepad’ in the address bar to launch Notepad.
Enter: devmgmt.msc for device manager.
Notepad and Sticky Notes:
Start/All Programs/Accessories/Notepad
Start/Sticky Notes
Search keyword: type “sticky” (without the quotation marks and press the enter key.
Drag the sticky note to a more convenient location on the desktop if the default location is not acceptable.
Pin the sticky note icon to the taskbar by right clicking on the taskbar icon and then click on the ‘Pin this program to taskbar’ option. Deleting an old stick note from the desktop will not delete the stick note icon in the taskbar.
Stick Notes use a font that may look nice but doesn’t make for easy cut and past of your notes to MS Word. Unfortunately you can not change the fonts for stick notes, You can however “wash” the text by copying from the note and pasting to ‘Notepad’ and then copying from Notepad and pasting to MS Word.
For more information see: Using Sticky Notes
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Using-Sticky-Notes
The Ctrl+N to create a new note only works if you have an existing stick note on your desktop which is why I suggest pinning the sticky note icon to the taskbar.
Add or Remove programs:
Now named: Uninstall or change a program
Control Panel when in ‘Category View’
Start/Control Panel/Programs/Programs and Features/Uninstall a program.
Control Panel when in ‘View by ‘Small Icons’
Start/Control Panel/Programs and Features
Search keyword: “Add or”
Looking for Device Manger or Disk Manager:
Click Start, mouse over to ‘Computer’ and right click and select ‘Manage’.
Alternate Method: Start and click on ‘Control Panel’. Next in the Control Panel’s ‘View By’ option in the upper right click on the pull down arrow to the right of ‘Category’ and from the list select: ‘Small Icons’.
Now click on ‘Administrative Tools’. From the items listed in the ‘Name’ column, double click on ‘Computer Management’. Wow, too much work, their must be a simpler way: Instead of double clicking, right click and select ‘Send to’ and ‘Desktop’ to create a shortcut.
Pin ‘Computer Management’ to the ‘Taskbar’:
Do this when you have the ‘Computer Management’ window open, then right click on the toolbar icon and select ‘Pin this program to taskbar’. See ‘Jump Lists’ later in this article for even more useful tips on getting to where you want to go quickly.
Pin ‘Computer Management’ to the ‘Taskbar’, ‘Start Menu’ or create a shortcut.
Do this when you have the ‘Administrative Tools’ window open, then in the ‘Name’ column right click on ‘Computer Management’ and select ‘Pin to taskbar’, ‘Pin to Start Menu’ or to create a desktop shortcut pick the ‘Send To’ option.
Control Panel:
Start/Control Panel
With the Control Panel Window open, notice the icon in located in the Task Bar. Right click on the icon and select ‘Pin this program to taskbar’. Later I’ll show you how to make use of the Windows 7 ‘Jump Lists’ feature.
Disk Cleanup:
Click Start and type cleanmgr.exe in the ‘Search’ box, click and use the pull down to select the drive letter you want to cleanup. When Cleanup is done analyzing the drive, check the box for each category of files you want to delete and click the ‘OK’ button and then the ‘Delete Files’ button.
Alternate Methods:
1) Click Start and enter cleanmgr and press the ‘Enter’ key.
2) Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup.
3) Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items, click on ‘Performance Information and Tools’. In the left pane click on ‘Open Disk Cleanup’.
Task Manager, Disk Defragmenter, Event logs and more:
Task Manager: Ctrl+Alt+Del and select ‘Start Task Manager’
Disk Defragmenter: Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items, click on ‘Performance Information and Tools’. In the left pane click on ‘Advanced Tools’, ‘Open Disk Defragmenter’.
Event Logs: In the ‘Advanced Tools’ window click ‘View performance details in Event log’. Now resize the window to increase the display area for the left, center and right panes. In the left explorer pane select and expand the ‘Windows logs’ folder. Click on the ‘Application’ icon to view the events displayed in the center pane. Note that the right hand ‘Actions’ pane provides some event log options you can perform.
Action Center:
Check your ‘Security’ (Spyware, Virus, Windows Update, Windows Defender status) and ‘Maintenance’ information.
Reliability Check: Part of the Action Center’s ‘Maintenance’ group, expand the list by clicking on the down arrow button , located in the ‘Check for solutions to problem reports’ you will find a link labeled ‘View reliability history’ (last link on the right). Click on the link to display the ‘Reliability Monitor’, which includes any application, Windows and miscellaneous failures and warnings.
System Restore – Take out the guesswork:
XP users could never be absolutely certain what is going to be restored. Windows 7 has a ‘Preview’ mode that provides some information that may help you choose the best restore point to use. Click Start/Control Panel/System. In the left pane click ‘System protection’, and click on the ‘System Restore’ button to start the restore process. Now in the Sysem Restore window click ‘Next’, pick a restore point and then click the ‘Scan for affected programs’ button. If the selected restore point is not the one you want close the information window and select another restore point.
Other ways to access System Restore:
Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/Recovery/Open System Restore
Start/Computer/Properties/System protection
Change disk space available for restore points:
Start/Control Panel/System and Security/System OR Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/System. In the left pane click the ‘System protection’ option. Wait for Windows to finish the scan for your drives, then click on the drive/disk letter (typically C
, once highlighted click on the ‘Configure’ button. The default is 3%, move the slider to the right to increase the space available for restore points or to the left for less space depending on the size of your hard drive. If you change the Disk Space Usage value, click ‘Apply’ and then the ‘OK’ button.Note: Both Windows 7 and Vista do not create restore points on FAT32 partitions.
System Image:
Creating an "Image Backup" image of your hard drive without using third party software like Acronis True Image Home 2010 or Symantec's Norton Ghost version 15. Both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image have additional features not included with the System Image tool.
Start/Control Panel/Backup and Restore. Next click on the ‘Create a system image’ option located in the upper right. Pick the destination for the xxx file and click next. Now you have the option to select one or more drives and or drive partitions to backup. By default the 100MB system partition and partition (usually C
that contains Windows 7 are already included in the backup. Click ‘Next’, confirm your settings and then click the ‘Start backup’ button. After the backup has completed create a system repair disc (CD or DVD) and test is by booting from the repair disk.The repair disk contains both a ‘System Recovery tools’ option and the ‘Restore your computer using a system image’ option which the option you want to select. A scan for image backups you have created will start and once the scan has completed you can select the system image you want to use to restore your computer, click ‘Next’, ‘Next’ and ‘Finish’.
Power Management Options:
One of the computers which I use to evaluate Windows 7 has the unfortunate side effect that after a “Clean Install” is that it goes into hibernation too quickly for my taste. Some computers will hibernate and never fully wake up again. So I would suggest that useless you like to press the reset button is to disable hibernation, at least try several different settings to see what works and what does not work for you.
Start/Control Panel/ All Control Panel Items/Power Options.
The default power plan is: ‘Balanced’
Click on the ‘Change plan settings’ link and then change ‘Put the computer to sleep’ setting to ‘Never’.
Improve your computer’s Performance by modifying the power plan:
Click on the ‘Show additional plans’ down arrow.
Check the ‘High performance’ button.
Additional options are available by clicking on the ‘Change plan settings link’.
Then click on ‘Change advanced power settings’.
You will find options for your hard drive, wireless adaptor, USB ports, PCI Express, Display and other device options.
Disappointed by your computer’s performance score:
Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items
Click on ‘Performance Information and Tools.
After installing Windows 7 most likely one of the lower numbers is for your ‘Primary hard disk’. You may be able to improve this value by 1 or more points by running ‘Disk Cleanup’ and the defragmenting your hard drive. Do this by clicking on the ‘Advanced Tools’ option located in the left hand pane. Near the bottom of the Advanced Tools list is ‘Open Disk Defragmenter’. It may report that your disk is not fragmented, ignore this and defragment your drive.
Next, close out the window and return back to the Performance Information and Tools window. Located in the lower right hand corner it the option to ‘Re-run the assessment’ click and wait for the new values to be displayed.
Create a new user account:
Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/User Accounts.
Click ‘Manage another account’.
Click ‘Create a new account’.
Enter the user’s account name.
Choose either ‘Standard user’ or ‘Administrator’ based on the user’s needs.
Click the ‘Create Account’ button.
Jump lists:
A replacement for XP’s ‘My Recent Documents’ - Not entirely true but read on for some of the Jump List features.
If you have been reading and performing some of the tips related to using the control panel options, then by now you should have a lot of recent control panel activity, but how to find all the past activity?
When the Control Panel is open simple right click on the Control Panel’s quick launch icon located on the Task Bar. You should now see a list of ‘Recent’ activity. Just click a named item in the list and you “Jump” instantly back to that part of the control Panel. You can pin frequently used control panel items by clicking on the stick pins.
For more information about Jump Lists see the link at the end of this article.
GodMode Folders:
The new TweakUI or call it a super sized Control Panel, GodMode reveals dozens of previously hidden or hard to fine features. Better still is that any item displayed in the GodMode folder can be dragged to the Desktop to create a shortcut icon.
Create a super sized GodMode Control Panel folder:
There is no need to use “GodMode” as part of the folder name, for example:
“Super Control Panel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}”
Right click on the desktop and create a new folder. Next highlight and copy (Ctrl+C) the Super Control Panel folder name above (do not include the quotation marks). Now using the folder you just created right click and select the rename option and press the 'Delete' key to remove the existing text and then paste (Ctrl+V) the text you just copied into the folder name box.
For more information about GodMode folders see the link at the end of this article.
Use Windows help to discover new features:
Click: Start/Help and enter the key words listed below.
Start menu
Pinned programs
Recently opened programs
Jump lists
Address bar
Search bar
Save a search
Search bar without "history"
List of other useful applets and snap-ins:
Add/Remove programs = appwiz.cpl
Device Manager = devmgmt.msc
System Properties = sysdm.cpl
Firewall = firewall.cpl
Display Properties = desk.cpl
There is a lot more to be found and utilized so feel free to try out everything you are curious about. The best way to do this is by creating a new account to be used just for this purpose.
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