Windows7 Superguide

Windows 7
2009 version
SuperGuide
ediuGrepuS
superGuide pcworld.com
installation
4 How to Move Up
to Windows 7
How to get up and running with out headaches.
performance
22 Windows 7 Makes Some
Strides Over Vista
PC World Labs reports benchmark performance, boot time, and battery life.
42 Customize Windows 7
Tweak the interface to simplify menus and start up faster.
46 Manage All Your Media in

Windows 7
Heres how to get started with new entertainment features.
9 How to Upgrade From XP to

Windows 7
The move from XP will be harder than upgrading from Vista.
networking
28 Set Up a
Home Network
How to set up file sharing, media streaming, and more.
52 Prepare Your PC to Play

Manage, tweak, and control your gaming experiences.
10 3 Key Tweaks for Windows 7

Vista has a few features you still may want to keep.
55 Optimize Your Windows 7 PC

Squeeze the best performance out of your system without upgrading hardware.
illusTrATions: keiTh negleY
inside the os
12 A Worthy Successor
to Windows XP
The new OS gets the basics right. Heres what youll love and what youll still complain about.
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31 Put Windows 7 to Work for

Your Business
A close look at the networking features found in Windows 7.
59 Master Windows 7
Keyboard Shortcuts
Must-know keystrokes to speed up your work in Windows 7.
27
Fine-Tuning
35 Manage Multiple
Users
Use built-in tools to oversee multiple users on your network.
39 Secure Your Windows 7 PC

How to lock down your system and protect your data.
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superguide
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installation
Whether youre moving from Vista or from Xp, well help you get up and running on Windows 7 without headaches.
3
pcworld.com superguide
illusTrATion: keiTh negleY
The smartest Way to upgrade
How to Move Up to Windows 7

You can upgrade your PC without losing functionality or gaining gray hairs. Heres how.
LincoLn Spector
PgrAding yOUr OPerATing system is always fraught with problems and anxiety, and quite often with disaster. But by taking the right precautions, gathering the needed materials, and hoping for the best while preparing for the worst, you can move to Windows 7 painlessly. im here to tell you how. Since youre reading this, ill assume youve already made the decision to upgrade, have checked to make sure your hardware is compatible, and have purchased your upgrade. if you havent yet checked your hardware, download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (as a general rule, if youre running Vista, you probably already have Windows 7-capable hardware).
Prepare Your PC
youve got a few chores to do before you insert that Windows 7 dVd. First, consider the driver issue. if youre upgrading from Vista, chances are youll have no driver problems. if youre currently on XP, you almost certainly will. Make sure you can get Windows 7 or Vista drivers for
you have one other early decision make: do you want to upgrade your current Windows installation, or go for a clean, fresh install? The upgrade is certainly easieryour applications, your settings, and your data travel with you, and theres little you have to do after the install The Free upGrade advisor utility checks your pcs hardware and software to ensure that itself is complete. After a clean they will still work with windows 7. or fresh or (Microsofts word) custom install, youll have to set up your users and network, reinstall your drivers and proyour display, audio, and networking adapters. if you use a grams, and move your data back into place. wireless keyboard or mouse, youll need to check drivers for those, as well. if youre not sure what these are, check A custom install is cleaner than an upgrade. Windows device Manager: in XP, select Start, right-click My Computaccumulates garbage as you use it, and flushing it out er, select Properties, click the Hardware tab, and then the every so often makes sense. So does starting a new verDevice Manager button. in Vista, click Start, type device mansion of the OS with a clean slate. ager, and press <Enter>. youll also want to check for your printers and scanners. if youre currently using XP, the choice has been made for you. The custom install is your only option. Once you know the devices, how do you find the drivers? Check the Windows 7 Compatibility Center At press time, These instructions are for both kinds of installs. ill let you that site was still coming soon, but the Vista equivalent know when instructions are only for one group or the is a good substitute until its ready, especially for XP-toother. Windows 7 upgraders. you can also check your devices manufacturer Web sites.
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Speaking of hardware and visiting manufacturers Web sites, now would be a good time to update your firmware, especially if youre not in the habit of doing this on a regular basis. go to your system manufacturers site for system firmware updates. See Firmware and you: A Comprehensive guide to Updating your Hardware for details. no matter how good your precautions, operating system upgrades can go horribly wrong. Some important program or device wont work in the new environment. Windows 7 wont boot. Maybe you just dont like the new interface. Whatever the reason, you need a way to go back to where you were before. An image backup of your hard drive offers an easy, dependable way to do just that, since it restores everything on the hard drive: Windows, applications, data, and even the Master Boot record. To create one, youll need an external hard drive, and an image backup program. i recommend the free version of Macrium reflect for image backup, although others will do. Plug in the external hard drive before you create the image, and select that drive as the Backup destination. Also, be sure to create the bootable rescue Cd (this option is on Macrium reflects Other Tasks menu) before you start the upgrade. An image backup of a really big hard drive can take hours. run the backup overnight, with plans to do the upgrade the following morning. good morning. if youre doing a simple upgrade, youre done with prep work and can skip down to the run the Upgrade section. But if youre planning a clean (aka custom) install, youve got more preparation to do. you need to gather up installable versions of all of the programs on your hard drive that you want to keep. if you bought a program as a physical package, youll need the disc. if you downloaded the program, youll have to either find the installation file or download the latest version (really your best option). i suggest you make a stack of physical programs, and put the downloaded files into a folder in My documents. youll also need the license or product id numbers that prove you purchased the program. if you bought the program as a physical package, this number is probably on the disc sleeve or somewhere else on the box. if you purchased and downloaded the program online, its probably in an e-mail that you hopefully didnt delete. What if you cant find the license? Open the program and select HelpAbout. Theres a good chance your license or
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product id will be displayed there. Jot it down and triplecheck it for accuracy. Or contact the vendor and see if they have it. A utility called Product Key explorer 2.2.1 might also help, although in my experience it doesnt always. The free, demo version cant print or save what it finds, so youll have to either write the numbers down by hand (be sure to double-check them) or pay the $30 registration fee.
Run the Upgrade

Are you ready? now its time to take a deep breath, bite your lip, and take that step forward into the next generation of Windows computing. There are two ways to start the installation: you can boot from the Windows 7 Upgrade dVd, or you can insert the dVd while in your current version of Windows and start from there. if youre doing an upgrade installation, youll have to start from inside Windows. For a clean install, either way is fine. exactly what pages the installation wizard displays, and in what order, will depend on how you started the installation, whats already on your PC, and what choices you make. But here are some of the major options you will see along the way:
1. early on, youll get the option to check for compatibility online or install. That first option just brings you to the Web page for the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. you should have run that by now. Click Install Now and get on with it.
2. After agreeing to the 5545-word end-User Licensing

Agreement (no, i havent read it either, but as someone whos paid by the word, im envious), you have to make the big decision: an Upgrade or a Custom (aka: clean) install. ive explained the reasons to pick one or the other above.
3. you might be asked to pick a partition. Unless youre

planning on a multiboot system, pick the one with your current version of Windows.
4. if youre doing an upgrade install, youll receive a compatibility report. it will warn you about certain issues (for instance, if you use Windows Mail, it will inform you that the program is no longer included). it may also tell you to cancel the upgrade and uninstall a particular, problematic program or driver. its best to do what it says.
5. if youre doing a clean install, a warning box will tell

you that youre about to lose your existing version of Windows. youre not; youve got that image backup. The
warning will also reassure you that you wont lose your files. Theyll be moved to a new folder called C:/Windows. old. Be glad they are. When the installing Windows box appears with its list of automated tasks (Copying Windows files, expanding Windows files, and so on), get up, jog, read a book, or take a nap. it could easily be an hourmaybe morebefore youre needed. The wizard will eventually come back, this time running in Windows 7 on your hard drive. The new set of questions will be pretty self-explanatory, but a couple are worth noting:
its really quite lovely. Unless, of course, the resolution is too low and all the objects on screen are too big. if thats the case, right-click the desktop and select Screen resolution to fix the problem. you may have to do this again after reinstalling your video drivers, but you might not and its easy enough to do twice. Check the lower right corner (where the system tray used to be) for a flag icon. if you see it, click it for a problem report. it will probably just tell you that you need antivirus software (you know that) and that Windows defender has yet to scan your computer. But it might give you some actual, useful advice. With that taken care of, its time to deal with your drivers. if you did an upgrade install from Vista (the only version you can do that from), youll probably just check device Manager and discover that everything is fine. if you did a clean upgrade from Vista, any problems you encounter should be easy to fix. But if you started with XP, expect some major challenges. However you upgraded, select Start, type device manager, and press <Enter>. do the following for any item accompanied by a yellow exclamation point: double-click the item, then click the Update Driver button. Select Search automatically for updated driver software and wait for the results. Hopefully, that will fix the problem. if it doesnt, and you did a clean install from Vista, click the Update Driver button again. This time, click Browse my computer for driver software. For the path, enter C:\Windows. old\Windows, make sure that Include subfolders is checked, then click Next. Chances are, this will work.
6. you dont have to enter the Product Key when asked,

although you will have to enter it eventually. if you click Next with the field blank, then click No, the install will continue. you can always enter the Key and activate Windows once its running and youre sure you like it.
7. One page, titled Help protect your computer and

improve Windows automatically, offers options for how Windows will update itself. i recommend the middle option, install important updates only. When the wizard is done, your PC will reboot (not for the
From visTa, you can choose between upgrading your existing installation, or wiping it out and performing a clean (custom) install of windows 7.
first time in this install, but for the last), and bring you up in a full, interactive version of Windows 7. Congratulations. youve installed Windows 7. if you did an upgrade install, youre almost done. But if you did a clean install, you still have a ways to go.
Why? Because along with your data, the installation program moved all of your Windows files to C:\Windows.oldincluding all, or at least most, of your old drivers. But the installation program doesnt know enough to look for drivers where it put them. This wont work if you upgraded from XP, even though the old drivers are still in subfolders of C:\Windows.old. Windows XP drivers arent compatible with Vista. So what can you do about drivers if you upgraded from
Some More Steps and Tweaks

With Windows 7 up, lean back and admire the new look.
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XP? Before you go any further, install and update your security softwareantivirus, firewall, and so on. youre about to do some heavy Web surfing, and you need protection. Then go back to the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor and look up the device there. if that doesnt help, search on the device name and Windows 7 driver. Or even the device name and Vista driver. if you did an upgrade install, youre pretty much done, although you should skip down to Final reminders for additional advice. But if you did a clean install, you still have work to do. And your first job is to reinstall all of your programs. i told you to gather them up before the upgrade; now its time to dig into that pile. The downloaded files, which i
told you to store in a subfolder of My documents, is now in a subfolder or C:\Windows.old\documents and Settings\logon\My documents. Start with your security software, if you havent installed it already. do the others in any order. Make sure you have the licenses and product ids handy. And as soon as a program is installed, check for updates. you created a logon for yourself near the end of the installation, but if other people use your PC and have had their own log-ons in the past, youll need to re-create them. if you cant remember all the user names, use the folders inside c:\windows.old\users (c:\windows.old\documents and settings if you upgraded from XP) as a reference. To create additional user log-ons, select StartControl Panel, and click Add or remove user accounts.
windows 7: upgrade checklist

This checklist can help ensure a smooth transition to Windows 7.
Confirm that you have all of the following at hand before you start the upgrade. A compatible PC: Chances are that if your machine is running Vista, it will be able to run Windows 7. But to make sure, or if your system is currently running Xp, download and run the Windows 7 upgrade Advisor.
4 Upgrade disc and product ID: sorry, but youll have to buy the upgrade in order to get
the upgrade.
4 Image-backup software: if the installation goes horribly wrong, an image backup can take you back where you came from. i recommend using the free version of Macrium reflect.
4 An external hard drive: You will need something on which to put that 4
image backup. look for an external drive that has at least as much storage capacity as your computers internal hard drive does. Pencil and paper: You will have to jot a few things down as you go along.
Time: if youre lucky, you could have Windows 7 up and running in a couple of hours. But it could take all dayand that will be a day youll be near your computer while having little or no access to it. Make sure you can afford that block of time.
4 A good book: Youll be spending a lot of that time waiting.

7
Lincoln Spector
Your programs in installable form: You can skip this one if youre doing an upgrade install, but if you want to start Windows 7 off with a clean slate, youll need to reinstall every program currently on your pC that you want to keep.
you dont have to create a Public or shared account. its already there. now youre ready to restore your data. Luckily, thanks to the above-mentioned C:\Windows.old folder, this is actually pretty easy. Select Start, type C:\users, and press <Enter>. if you dont already have the c:\windows.old\ users (or c:\windows.old\documents and settings) folder open, open it now. At this point, you have two explorer windows open. The windows.old one, which ill refer to as the source, contains your data. The C:\users window, which ill call the target, is where your data should end up. do the following for each folder named for a person who uses your PC: Open the respective folders in each explorer window (so that the source window is open to C:\Windows.old\ Users\yourname and the target to C:\Users\yourname). Make sure that hidden folders are truly hidden. if you see an Appdata folder in the target, select OrganizeFolder and search options. Click the View tab. Select Dont show hidden files, folders, or drives, and click OK. (you can change it back later.) drag all the foldersbut not the individual filesfrom the source to the target. youll get a lot of questions as the files move. When Windows tells you that you need administrator permission, make sure Do this for all current items is checked and click Continue. if told that The destination already contains a folder named..., check Do this for all current items and click
Yes. And if told that theres already a file with the same
name, check Do this for the next nn conflicts and click Move and Replace. Windows XP keeps pictures, music, and videos inside folders within My documents, while Vista and 7 store them separately. youd expect that to cause problems, but Windows 7 is smart enough to put everything in the right place. When youre done with the user folders, repeat those steps one more time for the Public folders. if you upgraded from XP, your source wont have a Public folder, but it will have a shared folder, and you should move the folders from there to the targets Public folder. At this point, Windows is ready to use. But keep the Windows.old folder around for a few months. There may still be something important insideespecially in the hidden Appdata or Applications data folder.
Final Reminders
if you didnt enter your product id and activate Windows 7 during the installation, now would be the time to do it. Select Start, type activate, and press <Enter>. Click Activate Windows online now and follow the prompts. At this point, all you ex-Vista users should check out 3 Key Tweaks for Windows 7 for suggestions on retrieving some Vista features that might actually be missed.
One last suggestion: Once Windows 7 is set up the way you
Choose Your Version of Windows 7

Windows 7 is available in six different versions, but only three will be sold as retail upgrades. heres a quick look at what each one offers.
VErsion Upgrade Price
$119.99
like it, create another image backup, and keep this one as long as you have the PC. That way, should you ever need to reinstall Windows, you can simply restore the image and skip several steps.
Features
Windows Media Center, HomeGroup networking Everything in Home Premium, plus Windows XP Mode, business domain network support, network backup Everything in Professional, plus BitLocker data encryption and advanced support for 35 languages.
Home Premium
Professional
$199.90
Ultimate
$219.99
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superguide
How to Upgrade from XP to Windows 7

Upgrading from XP will be harder than upgrading from Vista.
LincoLn Spector
OU HAd gOOd reason to stick with XP and skip the Vista experience entirely. But now that the folks at Microsoft have created a new operating system thats worth moving to, they havent made the upgrade easy, because you have to perform a clean install of the OS. Here are the issues you need to be aware of, and how to handle them. Then read the main article, Windows 7: The Smartest Way to Upgrade for more information on the process.
Hardware: your hardware may not be
But XP Mode may not work on your PC. it requires a CPU with virtualization capabilities. Browse to Microsofts page of instructions on how to find out whether your CPU has this feature and, if it does, how to turn it on. XP Mode doesnt ship with Windows 7, but its available as a free download. it also comes with a full version of XP.
One XP-to-7 issue is just something to be aware of: These two
versions of Windows store your data files in different locations. The XP folder C:\ documents and Settings is now
up to the task of running Windows 7and even if it is, your drivers wont work. Unfortunately, a simple upgrade install is out of the question, too; Microsoft requires that XP users do a clean install. its a good idea for anyone contemplating the upgrade to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor first; for XP users, this step is absolutely vital.
movinG From Xp to windows 7 gives you only one option, which is to perform a clean installation of the os.
Upgrading your motherboards firmware also becomes more important; check your system manufacturers Web site to see if an upgrade is available.
Windows 7 cant use XP drivers: Check the Windows 7 Com-
C:\Users. Application data is now the abbreviated Appdata. Local Settings\Application data is now Appdata\ Local. And your Music, Pictures, and Videos folders now sit be side My documents rather than inside it. The Windows 7 installation program moves all of your old folders to a folder called C:\Windows.old. you may need to remember, as you try to get your new program installations together with your old data, that the Outlook.pst file that is now in C:\Windows.old\documents and Settings\yourlogon\Local Settings\Application data\Microsoft\Outlook belongs in the new location C:\Users\yourlogon\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\Outlook. For more information about Windows 7, sign up for PC Worlds Windows news and Tips newsletter.
patibility Center, which was still in its coming soon phase at the time of this writing. in the meantime, the Vista version of the Compatibility Centerlook for a link on the pagecan help, since Vista drivers work in XP, but the fit isnt perfect. Some Vista drivers download as .exe files that run exclusively in Vista. not all XP applications work in Vista, or in Windows 7, either. Again, the Compatibility Centers can tell you what works, what doesnt, and where you can download the necessary patches.
Windows XP Mode: Windows 7s XP Mode could be the
solution to your application compatibility problems. This mode runs XP in a virtual machine inside 7, although the user interface is more integrated than in most virtual machines. For instance, XP and 7 applications appear together on the same desktop.
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3 Key Tweaks for Windows 7

Vista may be gone without tears, but it had a few features you may want to keep.
LincoLn Spector
As an environment to work and play in, Windows 7 beats Vista, hands down. But it isnt perfect, and you may find yourself missing a few features that have disappeared. Heres how to get them back.
Recover missing programs: Windows 7 lacks the bundled-
Pick your favorite folders (and remove Microsofts): if youre viewing a folder you frequently visit, right-click Favorites in the left pane and select Add current location to Favorites. if the Favorites list is too long, right-click an item you dont visit often and select Remove. dont worry; it wont delete the folder, just remove it from this list. One thing you DOnt have to do: Fortunately, you dont need
with-Vista applications Windows Mail, Movie Maker, and Photo gallery. Microsoft offers newer and supposedly better versions of these programs free at its Windows Live essentials download site. As i write this, the Live version of Movie Maker is still in beta.
Bring favorite programs back to the Start menu: The Vista
to turn off the Sidebar as you did in Vista. Microsoft wisely removed that pointless resource hog.
Start menus left pane contained a list of favorite programs on top of one for recent programs, but Windows 7
once The upGrade has finished, move your old files back to their original locations by dragging them from the external disk to the appropriate folders on your hard drive.
lists only the recent ones. To restore the favorite-program list, click All Programs, then drag a favorite program to the Back link at the bottom of the panel, hold it there until the recent list reappears, and drop it at the top of the list. (you can pin a program to the taskbar that way, too.)
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superguide
inside the os
not Flashy, Just effective

11
Microsofts new os wont blow you away with major innovations, but it gets the basics right. heres what youll love about Windows 7and what youll still complain about.
A Worthy Successor to Windows XP

Microsoft revamps the Taskbar, the System Tray, and other key interface features.
Harry Mccracken
HAT iF A new version of Windows didnt try to dazzle you? What if, instead, it tried to disappear except when you needed it? Such an operating system would dispense with glitzy effects in favor of low-key, useful new features. rather than pelting you with alerts, warnings, and requests, it would try to stay out of your face. And if any bundled applications werent essential, it would dump em. its not a what-if scenario. Windows 7 has a minimalist feel and attempts to fix annoyances old and new. in contrast, Windows Vista offered a flashy new interface, but its poor performance, compatibility gotchas, and lack of compelling features made some folks regret upgrading and others refuse to leave Windows XP. Windows 7 is hardly flawless. Some features feel unfinished; others wont realize their potential without heavy lifting by third parties. And some long-standing annoyances remain intact. But overall, the final shipping version appears to be the worthy successor to Windows XP that Vista never was. Microsofts release of Windows 7 also roughly coincides with Apples release of its new Snow Leopard; for a visual comparison of the two operating systems, see our slideshow Snow Leopard Versus Windows 7 read on here for an in-depth look at how Microsoft has changed its OSmostly for the betterin Windows 7.
or desktop to the Taskbar, and Windows will pin it there, so you can launch the program without rummaging around in the Start menu. you can also organize icons in the Taskbar by moving them to new positions. To indicate that a particular application on the Taskbar is running, Windows draws a subtle box around its iconso subtle, in fact, that figuring out whether the app is running can take a moment, especially if its icon sits between two icons for running apps. in Windows Vista, hovering the mouse pointer over an applications Taskbar icon produces a thumbnail window view known as a Live Preview. But when you have multiple windows open, you see only one VErY good preview at a time. Windows 7s verWindows 7 Ultimate | Microsoft sion of this feature This workmanlike operating is slicker and more system is a practical, wellefficient: Hover the designed, and slightly faster pointer on an icon, upgrade over Vista. and thumbnails of street: $320 the apps windows glide into position above the Taskbar, so you can quickly find the one youre looking for. (The process would be even simpler if the thumbnails were larger and easier to decipher.) Also new in Windows 7s Taskbar is a feature called Jump Lists. These menus resemble the context-sensitive ones you get when you right-click within various Windows applications, except that you dont have to be inside an app to use them. internet explorer 8s Jump List, for example, lets you open the browser and load a fresh tab, initiate an inPrivate stealth browsing session, or go directly to any of eight frequently visited Web pages. nonMicrosoft apps can offer Jump Lists, too, if their developers follow the guidelines for creating them. Other Windows 7 interface adjustments are minor, yet so sensible that you may wonder why Windows didnt include them all along. Shove a window into the left or right edge of the screen and itll expand to fill half of your desktop. nudge another into the opposite edge of the screen, and itll expand to occupy the other half. That
Interface: The New Taskmaster

The Windows experience occurs mainly in its Taskbar especially in the Start menu and System Tray. Vista gave the Start menu a welcome redesign; in Windows 7, the Taskbar and the System Tray get a thorough makeover. The new Taskbar replaces the old small icons and text labels for running apps with larger, unlabeled icons. if you can keep the icons straight, the new design painlessly reduces Taskbar clutter. if you dont like it, you can shrink the icons and/or bring the labels back. in the past, you could get one-click access to programs by dragging their icons to the Quick Launch toolbar. Windows 7 eliminates Quick Launch and folds its capabilities into the Taskbar. drag an apps icon from the Start menu
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Meet the New Windows 7 Taskbar
Aero Peek hides windows so that you can see the desktop.
Jump Lists provide instant access to program features.
The new System Tray lets you hide icons and alerts.
A box shows that the app is running.
Thumbnails show you all of a running apps windows.
New Taskbar icons are larger and unlabeled.
makes comparing two windows contents easy. if you nudge a window into the top of the screen, it will maximize to occupy all of the displays real estate. The extreme right edge of the Taskbar now sports a sort of nub; hover over it, and open windows become transparent, revealing the desktop below. (Microsoft calls this feature Aero Peek.) Click the nub, and the windows scoot out of the way, giving you access to documents or apps that reside on the desktop and duplicating the Show desktop feature that Quick Launch used to offer. getting at your desktop may soon become even more important than it was in the past. Thats because Windows 7 does away with the Sidebar, the portion of screen space that Windows Vista reserved for gadgets such as a photo viewer and a weather applet. instead of occupying the Sidebar, gadgets now sit directly on the desktop, where they dont compete with other apps for precious screen real estate.
OlD TRAY, neW TRICkS: Windows 7s Taskbar and window
tem Trayaka the notification Areahave a huge positive effect. in the past, no feature of Windows packed more frustration per square inch than the System Tray. it quickly grew dense with applets that users did not want in the first place, and many of the uninvited guests employed word balloons and other intrusive methods to alert users to uninteresting facts at inopportune moments. At their worst, System Tray applets behaved like belligerent squatters, and Windows did little to put users back in charge. in Windows 7, applets cant pester you unbidden because software installers cant dump them into the System Tray. instead, applets land in a holding pen that appears only when you click it, a much-improved version of the overflow area used in previous incarnations of the Tray. App lets in the pen cant float word balloons at you unless you permit them to do so. its a cinch to drag them into the System Tray or out of it again, so you enjoy complete control over which applets reside there.
management tweaks are nice. But its changes to the Sys13

More good news: Windows 7 largely dispenses with the
onslaught of word-balloon warnings from the OS about troubleshooting issues, potential security problems, and the like. A new area called Action Centera revamped version of Vistas Security Centerqueues up such alerts so you can deal with them at your convenience. Action Center does issue notifications of its own from the System Tray, but you can shut these off if you dont want them pestering you. All of this helps make Windows 7 the least distracting, least intrusive Microsoft OS in a very long time. its a giant step forward from the days when Windows thought nothing of interrupting your work to inform you that it had detected unused icons on your desktop.
place. By default, you get Libraries labeled documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos, each of which initially directs you to the OSs standard folders for storing the named itemssuch as My Pictures and Public Pictures. To benefit from Libraries, you have to customize them. right-click any folder on your hard drive, and you can add it to any Library; for instance, you can transform the Pictures Library into a collection of all your folders that contain photos. you can create additional Libraries of your own from scratch, such as one that bundles up all folders that relate to your vacation plans. Libraries would be even more useful if Microsoft had integrated them with Saved Searches, the Windows feature (introduced in Vista) that lets you create virtual folders based on searches, such as one that tracks down every . jpg image file on your system. But while Windows 7 lets you add standard folders to a Library, it doesnt support Saved Searches.
HOMeGROUPS, SWeeT HOMeGROUPS: Closely related to
File Management: The Library System

Compared to the Taskbar and the System Tray, explorer hasnt changed much in Windows 7. However, its left pane does sport two new ways to get at your files: Libraries and Homegroups. Libraries could just as appropriately have been called File Cabinets, since they let you collect related folders in one
Windows 7 vs. Vista

windows sysTem Tray had devolved into an ugly hangout where unwanted applets told you unnecessary things. windows 7 finally fixes it. VISTA
Libraries are Homegroups, a new feature designed to simplify the notoriously tricky process of networking Windows PCs. Machines that are part of one Homegroup can selectively grant each other read or read/write access to their Libraries and to the folders they contain, so you can perform such mundane but important tasks as providing your spouse with access to a folderful of tax documents on your computer. Homegroups can also stream media, enabling you to pipe music or a movie off the desktop in the den onto your notebook in the living room. And they let you share a printer connected to one PC with all the other computers in the Homegroup, a useful feature if you cant connect the printer directly to the network. Homegroups arent a bad idea, but Windows 7s implementation seems half-baked. Homegroups are passwordprotected, but rather than inviting you to specify a password of your choice during initial setup, Windows assigns you one consisting of ten characters of alphanumeric gibberish and instructs you to write it down so you wont forget it. To be fair, passwords made up of random characters provide excellent security, and the only time you need the password is when you first connect a new PC to a Homegroup. But its still a tad peculiar that you cant specify a password youll remember during setupyou can do that only after the fact, in a different part of the OS. More annoying and limiting: Homegroups wont work unless all of the PCs in question are running Windows 7, a scenario that wont be typical anytime soon. A version that also worked on XP, Vista, and Mac systems would have been cooler.
visTas sysTem Tray rapidly fills up with icons and continually interrupts your work. WINDOWS 7
windows 7 leTs you block icons from settling in the Tray and allows you to hide their alerts.
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Federated Search, a new Windows explorer feature, feels incomplete, too. it uses the Open Search standard to give Win 7s search connectors for external sources. That capability allows you to search sites such as Flickr and youTube from within explorer. Pretty neatexcept that Windows 7 doesnt come with any of the connectors youd need to add these sources, nor with any way of finding them. (They are available on the Web, though. Use a search engine to track them down.)
Security: UAC Gets Tolerable

Speaking of annoying Windows features, lets talk about User Account Controlthe Windows Vista security ele-
ment that was a poster child for everything that rankled people about that OS. UAC aimed to prevent rogue software from tampering with your PC by endlessly prompting you to approve running applications or changing settings. The experience was so grating that many users preferred to turn UAC off and take their chances with internet attackers. People who left User Account Control active risked slipping into the habit of incautiously clicking through every prompt, defeating whatever value the feature might have had. Windows 7 gives you control over UAC, in the form of a slider containing four security settings. As before, you
windows 7s 10 Best Features

Microsofts new operating system improves on Windows Vista in many ways. Here are the ten things we like best about Windows 7.
1. The Taskbar reloaded: Windows 7s version of the Taskbar is less cluttered than Vistas, and it handles both running and nonrunning apps with equal aplomb.
7. User Account Control that you control: if youre okay

with this security features raison dtre but cant stand the
2. Slicker, quicker Taskbar previews: now they show you

all of an applications open windows, all at once.
3. The convenience of Jump lists: These context-sensitive

Taskbar menus let you start accomplishing things in applications before you even open them.
4. A System Tray you can love: new controls prevent the

system Tray from overflowing with unwanted apps and distracting you with unhelpful, irrelevant messages. rapid-fire prompts in Vista, take heart: You can tune Windows 7s versions to make them less paranoid and intrusive.
5. A more media-savvy Windows Media Player: love Apples

iTunes store but hate iTunes? new file-format support enables Windows Media player 12 to play back unprotected audio and video from Apples online store.
8. library privileges: You can bundle folders from locations

all across your hard drive into libraries designed to provide one-click access from the left pane of Windows explorer to related files.
9. Reasonable hardware requirements: historically, new

versions of Windows have gobbled up twice the amount of Cpu power and rAM that their predecessors did. But Windows 7 runs a bit better than Vista on the same system; its even tolerable on a netbook.
6. Alerts via Action

Center: Windows 7s version of Vistas security Center queues up system messages so that you can respond to them on your schedulenot when Windows feels like interrupting you.
10. The potential of touch: Windows 7s support for multitouch input doesnt change anything overnightbut it does lay necessary groundwork for third-party developers to build their own software. if they build killer touch apps, Windows 7 deserves some of the credit. Harry McCracken
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can accept the full-blown UAC or elect to disable it. But you can also tell UAC to notify you only when software changes Windows settings, not when youre tweaking them yourself. And you can instruct it not to perform the abrupt screen-dimming effect that Vistas version uses to grab your attention. if Microsoft had its druthers, all Windows 7 users would use UAC in full-tilt mode: The slider that you use to ratchet back its severity advises you not to do so if you routinely install new software or visit unfamiliar sites, and it warns that disabling the dimming effect is not recommended. Speak for yourself, redmond: i have every intention of recommending the intermediate settings to most people who ask me for advice, since those settings retain most of UACs theoretical value without driving users bonkers. Other than salvaging UAC, Microsoft has made relatively few significant changes to Windows 7s security system. One meaningful improvement: BitLocker, the drive-encryption tool included only in Windows 7 Ultimate and the corporate-oriented Windows 7 enterprise, lets you encrypt USB drives and hard disks, courtesy of a feature called BitLocker to go. its one of the few good reasons to prefer Win 7 Ultimate to Home Premium or Professional.
Windows 7 vs. Vista

user accounT conTrol, new in vista, was supposed to keep users safe from malware, but its constant prompts and screen dimming angered many users. VISTA
visTas uac FeaTure has two settings: on and off. WINDOWS 7
windows 7s uac has two intermediate settings to keep its security value but reduce its intrusiveness.
internet explorer 8, Windows 7s default browser, includes many security-related enhancements, including a new SmartScreen Filter (which blocks dangerous Web sites) and inPrivate Browsing (which permits you to use ie without leaving traces of where youve been or what youve done). Of course, ie 8 is equally at home in XP and Vistaand its freeso it doesnt constitute a reason to upgrade to Windows 7.
Applications: The Fewer the Merrier

Heres a startling indication of how different an upgrade Windows 7 is: rather than larding it up with new applications, Microsoft eliminated three nonessential programs: Windows Mail (ne Outlook express), Windows Movie Maker (which premiered in Windows Me), and Windows Photo gallery. if you dont want to give them up you can find all three at live.windows.com as free Windows Live essentials downloads. They may even come with your new PC, courtesy of deals Microsoft is striking with PC manufacturers. But since they are no longer tied to the leisurely release schedules of Windows, they are far less likely than most bundled Windows apps to remain mired indefinitely in an underachieving state.
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Still presentand nicely spruced upare the operating systems two applications for consuming audio and video, Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. Windows Media Player 12 has a revised interface that divides operations into a Library view for media management and a now Playing view for listening and watching stuff. Minimize the player into the Taskbar, and you get mini player controls and a Jump List, both of which let you control background music without having to leave the app youre in. Microsoft has added support for several media types that Media Player 11 didnt support, including AAC audio and H.264 videothe formats it needs to play unprotected music and movies from Apples iTunes Store. Media Centernot part of the bargain-basement Windows 7 Starter editionremains most useful if you have a PC configured with a TV tuner card and you use your computer to record TV shows la TiVo. Among its enhancements are a better program guide and support for more tuners. Windows Vistas oddly underpowered Backup and restore Center let users specify particular types of files
to back up (such as Music and documents) but not specific files or folders. Though Microsoft corrects that deficiency in Windows 7, it deprives Windows 7 Starter edition and Home Premium of the ability to back up to a network drive. That feels chintzy, like a car company cutting back on an economy sedans airbags. it also continues the companys long streak of issuing versions of Windows that lack a truly satisfying backup utility.
The new version of Paint has Office 2007s ribbon toolbar and adds various prefabricated geometric shapes and a few natural-media tools, such as a watercolor brush. But my regimen for preparing a new Windows PC for use will still include installing the impressive free image editor Paint.net. The nearest thing Windows 7 has to a major new appli-
10 Things That still need Fixing

Flawless? Windows 7? Of course not. Think of these ten areas as constituting a working to-do list for Windows 8.
1. Overall consistency: For a Microsoft product, Windows 7 is quite refined. But it still suffers from needless inconsistency. Why do most of its tools place menus on the left, while internet explorer 8 and the help system shove them over to the opposite end? does the new media-sharing feature (homegroup) have zero, one, or two capital letters? Why does office 2007s ribbon interface show up only in paint and Wordpad? 2. The names of things: Too often, Microsofts naming decisions confuse rather than clarify. user Account Control has nothing to do with the feature it supposedly describes; Action Center sounds like ron Burgundys local TV newscast. And an os that already has a feature called device Manager shouldnt call a new feature devices and printers. 3. Windows Update: The operating systems built-in patching capability is essential. But Windows update is also the oss most irritating carryover feature. Tell it to download and install everything without your further intervention (as Microsoft recommends), and it may still insist on rebooting when you are in the middle of important workor deny you access to your computer altogether while it installs updates. 4. Search: Windows 7s Federated search lets you add external sources like Flickr and YouTube to Windows explorer searches. But the os doesnt help you find those sources and doesnt mention Federated search in its help system. 5. Help: help...needs help. some sections target nerdy command-line aficionados; others address clueless newbies. Few sections focus on intelligent-but-busy users of intermediate experience. 6. Flip3D: press Windows-Tab, and you get Vistas fancy
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3d task switcher, which pointlessly requires you to cycle through tasks one by one. This duplicates the functionality of Alt-Tab instead of enabling you to get to any task in a couple of clicks, as Apples similar expos does.
7. Backup: Win 7s Backup and restore Center no longer requires you to devote an external hard drive to a full system backup. And Microsofts decision to put network backup only in Windows 7s priciest editions is just silly. 8. Versionitis: having multiple versions of Windows is fine in theory. But in reality, their minor, subtle, and arbitrary differences invite confusion. Misleading names like Windows 7 home premiumthe only Windows 7 home version available in the united statesdont help. 9. Internet explorer 8: Windows 7s bundled browser is perfectly adequate. But its playing catch-up with innovative competitors such as Firefox and googles Chrome, not setting new standards.
10. Document viewing: like Vista, Windows 7 lets you create application-independent documents that use Microsofts pdF-like Xps format to retain their original formatting. But pdF is pervasive and Xps hasnt caught on, so wouldnt it be infinitely more convenient if Windows 7 supported pdF out of the box?
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cation has the intriguing moniker Windows XP Mode. its not a way to make Windows 7 look like XPyou can do that with the Windows Classic themebut rather a way to let it run XP programs that are otherwise incompatible with Win 7. Unfortunately, only Windows 7 Professional, enterprise, and Ultimate offer it, and even then it comes as an optional 350MB download that requires you to have Microsofts free Virtual PC software installed and that only works on PCs with intel or AMd virtualization technology enabled in the BiOS. Once active, XP Mode lets Windows 7 run apps that supposedly arent compatible by launching them in separate windows that contain a virtualized version of XP. Microsoft clearly means for the mode to serve as a security blanket for business types who rely on ancient, often proprietary programs that may never be rewritten for current OSs.
even if device Stages take off, most of their benefit may come as you invest in new gizmosMicrosoft says that its encouraging manufacturers to create device Stages for upcoming products, not existing ones. At least some older products should get device Stages, though: Canon, for instance, told me that its planning to build them for most of its printers. And Microsoft says that when no fullfledged device Stage is available for a particular item, Windows 7 will still try to give you a more generic and basic one.
Input: Reach Out and Touch Windows 7

The biggest user interface trend since Windows Vista shipped in January 2007 is touchscreen input; Windows 7 is the first version of the OS to offer built-in multi-
Windows 7 vs. Vista

windows 7s Backup and resTore cenTer improves on vistas, which didnt let you choose folders and files. But only 7s pricier editions permit backup to a network drive.
Device Management: Setting the Stage

Windows 7 offers you numerous ways to connect your PC to everything from tiny flash drives to hulking networked laser printersUSB, Wi-Fi, ethernet, slots, and more. devices and Printers, a new section of the Control Panel, represents connected gadgets with the largest icons ive ever seen in an operating system. (When possible, theyre 3d renderings of the device; the one for Sansas Clip MP3 player is almost life-size.) More important, the OS introduces device Stageshardware-wrangling dashboards tailored to specific items of hardware, and designed by their manufacturers in collaboration with Microsoft. A device Stage for a digital camera, for instance, may include a battery gauge, a shortcut to Windows image-downloading tools, and links to online resources such as manuals, support sites, and the manufacturers accessory store. you dont need to rummage through the Control Panel or through devices and Printers to use a device Stagethat features functionality is integrated into Windows 7s new Taskbar. Plug in a device, and it will show up as a Taskbar icon; right-click that icon, and the device Stages content will at once appear as a Jump List-like menu. Unfortunately, device Stages were the one major part of Windows 7 that didnt work during my hands-on time with the final version of the OS. earlier prerelease versions of Win 7 contained a handful of device Stages, but Microsoft disabled them so that hardware manufacturers could finish up final ones before the OS hit store shelves in October. The feature will be a welcome improvement if device manufacturers hop on the bandwagonand a major disappointment if they dont.
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VISTA
visTas Backup permiTs you to select only general types of documents for backing up. WINDOWS 7
windows 7 Gives you file-by-file control.
touch support (see Windows 7 Hardware: Touch Finally Arrives). Windows 7s new touch features are subtle on a touchcapable PC and invisible otherwise. Swipe your finger up or down to scroll through document files and Web pages; sweep two fingers back and forth to zoom in and out. dragging up on icons in the Taskbar reveals Win 7s new Jump Lists. The Taskbar button that reveals the Windows desktop is a bit bigger on touch PCs for easier use. i installed the final version of Windows 7 and beta touchscreen drivers on an HP TouchSmart all-in-one PC. The touch features worked as advertised. But applications written with touch as the primary interface will determine whether touch becomes useful and ubiquitous. Until they arrive, Windows will continue to feel like an OS built chiefly for use with a keyboard and mousewhich it is.
Windows Vista and/or XP, so ive had a choice each time i turned the computer on: Should i opt for Windows 7 or an older version of the OS? The call has been easy to make, because Win 7 is so pleasant to use. So why wouldnt you want to run this operating system? Concern over its performance is one logical reason, especially since early versions of Windows Vista managed to turn PCs that ran XP with ease into lethargic underperformers. PC World Labs speed benchmarks on five test PCs showed Windows 7 to be faster than Vista, but only by a little; ive found it to be reasonably quick on every computer ive used it oneven the Asus netbook, once i upgraded it to 2gB of rAM. (Our lab tried Win 7 on a
you might have expected Microsoft to reinvent familiar tools such as Paint and Media Player for touch input. But the closest it comes to that is with the Windows 7 Touch Pack, a set of six touch-based programs, including a version of Virtual earth that you can explore with your finger, and an app microsoFTs collaGe Tool shows off the power of touch-based input to good that lets you assemble photo collages. effect. The Touch Pack isnt part of Windows 7, but it will ship Lenovo S10 netbook with 1gB of rAM and found it to be with some Win 7 PCs, and its a blast to play with. a shade slower than XP.) Still, ultimately, the Pack is just a sexy demo of the interfaces potential, not an argument for buying a touch computer today. Third-party software developers wont start writing touch-centric apps in force until a critical mass of PCs can run them. That should happen in the months following Windows 7s release, as finger-ready machines from Asus, Lenovo, Sony, and other manufacturers join those from HP and dell. And even then, touch input may not become commonplace on Windows 7 PCs. But if a killer touch app is out there waiting to be written, we may know soon enough. Heres a rule of thumb that errs on the side of caution: if your PCs specs qualify it to run Vista, get Windows 7; if they arent, avoid it. Microsofts official hardware configuration requirements for Windows 7 are nearly identical to those it recommends for Windows Vista: a 1-gHz CPU, 1gB of rAM, 16gB of free disk space, and a directX 9-compatible graphics device with a WddM 1.0 or higher driver. Thats for the 32-bit version of Windows 7; the 64-bit version of the OS requires a 64-bit CPU, 2gB of rAM, and 20gB of disk space. Fear of incompatible hardware and software is another understandable reason to be wary of Windows 7. One unfortunate law of operating-system upgradeswhich applies equally to Apple Macs and to Windows PCsis that they will break some systems and applications, especially at first. Under the hood, Windows 7 isnt radically different
Bottom Line: Is Windows 7 Worth It?

reading about a new operating system can tell you only so much about it: After all, Windows Vista had far more features than XP, yet fell far short of it in the eyes of many users. To judge an OS accurately, you have to live with it. Usually, ive run the OS in multiboot configurations with
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from Vista. Thats a plus, since it should greatly reduce the volume of difficulties relating to drivers and apps compared to Vistas bumpy rollout. i have performed a halfdozen Windows 7 upgrades, and most of them went off without a hitch. The gnarliest problem arose when i had to track down a graphics driver for dells XPS M1330 laptop on my ownWindows 7 installed a generic VgA driver that couldnt run the Aero user interface, and as a result failed to support new Windows 7 features such as thumbnail views in the Taskbar. Waiting a bit before making the leap makes sense; waiting forever does not. Microsoft took far too long to come up with a satisfactory replacement for Windows XP. But whether you choose to install Windows 7 on your current systems or get it on the next new PC you buy, youll find that its the unassuming, thoroughly practical upgrade youve been waiting forflaws and all. For more information about Windows 7, sign up for PC Worlds Windows news and Tips newsletter.
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performance
Much slimmer, slightly Faster

LAB TES
TED
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Windows 7 is efficient enough to run even on netbooks with puny processors, but its only marginally faster than Vista, according to tests by pc World Labs.
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Windows 7 Makes Some Strides Over Vista

Find out how the operating system fared against Vista on boot time, battery life, and benchmark performance.
nick Mediati
indOWS ViSTA neVer was particularly speedy in most peoples eyes. Whether it deserved the reputation or not, the word on the street was that Vista was both slow and bloated. given that, its no wonder that improving performance was one of Microsofts design goals with Windows 7. Many reviewers have said that the new operating system feels faster than Vista. in our extensive PC World Labs evaluations comparing the two, we found an increase in speed, though the overall improvement wasnt dramatic. We installed Windows 7 on five computers (two desktop systems, two laptop PCs, and a netbook), and put the systems through our
Windows 7 vs. Vista

in our worldBench 6 nero tests, windows 7 showed big improvements. performance nearly doubled on average over vista, which indicates that the new os enhances hard-disk performance.
WorldBench 6 benchmark suite, which consists of a number of tests that assess a machines performance in popular, real-world applications. We also ran timed tests to measure how the two OSs affected boot-up and shutdown times, laptop battery life, and launch times for several common apps. (For more information, see Windows 7: How We Test.) The verdict? Windows 7 makes some performance strides over Vista, though in some cases we saw no clear-cut winner, and in one area Windows 7 lagged considerably behind its predecessor. For more of PCWs Windows 7 coverage, read our in-depth Windows 7 review.
792
SeCONDS
424
SeCONDS
VISTA
WINDOWS 7
*Average of results from six test pCs. lower time equals better performance.
Windows 7 vs. Vista: Speed Test Results
The pC World labs put both Windows 7 and Windows Vista through extensive performance testing and found that the new operating system makes incremental improvements over its predecessor overall. Below are select results from the WorldBench 6 suite.
WorldBench 6 (overall) directX 3d rendering Firefox nero WinZip Higher scores are better. Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows 7 Lower times indicate better performance; all times are reported in seconds. Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Vista
TEsT sYsTEm
E&C Black Mamba (64-bit) HP Pavilion a6710t (32-bit) HP Pavilion a6710t (64-bit) Gateway T-6815 (32-bit) Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 (32-bit) Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 (64-bit)
144 106 103 64 84 83
139 104 96 58 83 79
244 375 399 719 563 572
263 378 404 1093 515 532
169 262 264 443 371 373
171 256 271 431 305 320
203 313 314 667 517 530
218 365 688 1648 703 1127
147 203 208 449 252 253
153 222 219 495 313 291
CHART NOTES: Bold text indicates better performance. All tests performed by the PC World Test Center in August 2009, using the final release version of Windows 7 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2. We tested the HP Pavilion a6710t and the Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 first with the 32-bit Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 Ultimate, and then again with the 64-bit versions of both OSs.
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WorldBench 6 Test Results

Overall, Windows 7s performance improvement over Windows Vista is slightbut the important thing is that there is an improvement at all. For a breakdown of some of the performance scores, see the chart. On our e&C Black Mamba desktop (with a 2.66gHz intel Core i7 processor, overclocked to 3.8gHz), Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit earned a WorldBench 6 mark of 144, edging out Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit, which scored 139. Here Windows 7 was roughly 3.6 percent faster than Windows Vista. When comparing the two versions of Windows on the HP Pavilion a6710t desktop (with a 2.6gHz Pentium dual Core e5300 CPU), we tested both the 32-bit and 64-bit
editions of Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows 7 Ultimate. running the 32-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7, the a6710t saw its WorldBench 6 score increase only a little, from 104 on the former to 106 on the latter. But on our WorldBench 6 tests comparing the 64-bit versions, it enjoyed a somewhat larger boost with Windows 7, going from a score of 96 on Vista to a mark of 103. We saw similar incremental performance improvements on our portable test PCs as well. With the 32-bit versions of Vista Home Premium and Windows 7 Home Premium, our gateway T-6815 laptop went from a WorldBench 6 score of 58 on the older OS to a result of 64 on the newer one. Our Lenovo ideaPad y530 laptops WorldBench 6 score improved by only one point with Windows 7 in our comparison of 32-bit Ultimate editions (going from 83
windows 7: how we Test

Testing Windows performance isnt rocket science. Heres how the PC World Labs compared Windows 7 and Vista.
WORlDBenCH 6 TeSTInG We ran our WorldBench 6 test suite on a set of five different pCs: two desktop systems (the high-end e&C Black Mamba pC and the mainstream hp pavilion a6710t), two laptop systems (the budget gateway T-6815 and the mainstream lenovo ideapad Y530), and one netbook (the lenovo ideapad s10-2). on the two desktops and two laptops, we compared Windows 7 against Windows Vista. unlike many benchmark tools, our WorldBench 6 test suite is a real-world benchmark. We test systems by running actual, commonly used applications, not synthetic, arbitrary benchmarks, to give you a better idea of how well a machine will perform in daily, regular use. BATTeRY lIFe To test laptop battery life, we alternate
between 15 minutes of typing and 15 minutes of full-screen video playback. We repeat the process until the battery dies. We run the test twice and then average the scores. If the scores differ by more than 10 percent, we run the test a third time and take the closest two scores for the average.
appear). We measure shutdown times from when we click the start menus shut down button until the pC completely powers down and the power lights (if present) go dark. APPlICATIOn lAUnCH TIMeS To test application launch times for our Windows 7 performance Tests article, we used Microsoft Word 2007 and excel 2007, plus Adobe photoshop Cs4. photoshop Cs4 opened in 32-bit mode on 32-bit systems, and in 64-bit mode on 64-bit pCs. For Word, we launched the program and then opened a two-page document. We used a similar process for excel and photoshop, except that we opened a 10-page document in excel and we opened both a pdF file and a Jpeg image in photoshop Cs4. We ran these tests three times per application to ensure consistent results. When measuring app launch times, we began timing from when we clicked the app or documents icon to when the program was fully loaded and usable. neTBOOk PeRFORMAnCe on the lenovo netbook, we compared Windows 7 with Windows Xp, since Xp is the operating system that most netbook models ship with today. For more on the performance results we achieved with those two oss, see Windows 7: Can Your netbook handle it?
LAB TES
TED
SPeeD For boot-up and shutdown times, a member of the pC World labs hand-times our speed tests. To ensure consistent results in these tests, we repeat each test ten times and then calculate the average for each. We measure startup times from when we press the computers power button until the Windows desktop loads (defined for these purposes as when the mouse pointer and the desktop background
Nick Mediati
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to 84); when we tested the 64-bit editions of the two OSs, we again saw a modest boost, with the y530s score increasing from 79 to 83.
Windows 7 vs. Vista

BaTTery-liFe TesTs were a wash. while one of our pcs gained 15 minutes of run time with windows 7, the other improved by 1 minute. your
Windows 7 makes big gains in disk mileage may vary. performance, however. For example, in our hard-disk-intensive Worldin our boot-up tests using one desk3:14 3:1 2 3:13 Bench 6 nero testin which we cretop and one laptop, though, we saw 2:58 ate a series of images of an optical mixed results. On our gateway disc and then save themevery PC T-6815 laptop, Windows Vista we tested showed an improvement. Home Premium (32-bit) had the in our comparison of the 64-bit veradvantage, booting up in 39.6 secsions of Vista and Windows 7, the onds on average. Windows 7 Home ideaPad y530 performed the test Premium (also the 32-bit edition) Lenovo laptop Gateway laptop twice as quickly with the newer OS. took slightly longer, averaging 43.6 Meanwhile, our gateway T-6815 seconds. On our HP Pavilion a6710t was almost two and a half times fast*Times are in hours:minutes. test desktop, the outcome was er, going from a time of 1648 seclonger times indicate better performance. reversed. The 64-bit edition of Winonds to complete the test on Windows Vista Ultimate edition booted dows Vista to a time of 667 seconds in 55.2 seconds, whereas Windows on Windows 7. We had noticed a similar speedup on disk7 Ultimate edition 64-bit came out slightly ahead, booting intensive tests in our earlier evaluation of the Windows 7 in 48.3 seconds. release candidate; such gains may be due to updated harddisk drivers under Windows 7. At first, we couldnt explain why the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 improved the boot-up time over Vista (on the One particular result worth noting: in our testing, the HP desktop) while the 32-bit edition of the new OS 64-bit versions of Vista produced poorer disk perforlagged behind its predecessor (on the gateway laptop). in mance than the 32-bit Vista editions subsequent testing, however, we did. With Windows 7, however, discovered that the 32-bit version of Windows 7 vs. Vista Microsoft brought the 64-bit verWindows 7 exhibited a similar launchinG phoToshop took two to sions disk performance more in line speedup on our HP desktop, going three times longer on the new os, but with that of the 32-bit versions. That from an average of 54.5 seconds on that isnt a big dealthe difference explains the larger WorldBench 6 Vista 32-bit to 47.7 seconds on Winwas still just a few seconds. score advantages over Vista that we dows 7 32-bit. The upshot: Whether saw from 64-bit Windows 7 comWindows 7 will start faster than 9.71 pared with 32-bit Windows 7. Vista for you will likely depend on 9.55 your particular computers setup.
at system boot, Bluetooth now starts up when you use a Bluetooth device with your PC. reducing the number of services that start at boot is supposed to reduce boot-up time.
windows 7
Boot-Up and Shutdown Times
windows 7
vista
vista
Microsoft says that in Windows 7 it changed the way the operating system handles starting up processes when you boot your computer. For some processes and services, Microsoft employs a scheme called triggerstart services. These are system services and processes that under Vista would have started up when you booted your PC, but now kick in only as needed. One example Microsoft gives is Windows 7s handling of Bluetooth: instead of launching
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5.32 windows 7 2.68 vista windows 7
Gateway laptop
HP desktop
*Times are in seconds. shorter times indicate better performance.
As for shutdown times, in our tests we observed no significant difference between Windows 7 and Windows Vista. On our gateway T-6815 laptop, the 32-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium shut down in 11.72 seconds on average. The 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium took 11.57 seconds to shut downan improvement of a mere 0.15 second. The results were just as tight on our HP a6710t desktop. The 64-bit Vista Ultimate shut down in 9.1 seconds on average, while the
vista
64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate took 9.0 secondsa negligible difference of just 0.1 second. To say that such results are too close to call would be an understatement: The difference between the two is so minor that you likely wouldnt notice it even if you had the OSs running side-by-side on identical hardware. Granted, boot-up and shutdown times arent as important today as they once were, now that many people use their computers sleep or hibernate mode instead, but in either case youll probably find only slight differences, if any.
Microsoft is introducing technology aimed at reducing the computers energy consumption and boosting laptop battery life. For instance, in a procedure that the company calls timer coalescing, Windows 7 will simultaneously perform certain routine tasks that require the processor, which in turn allows the computer to spend more time in lower-power mode. In our tests, the Gateway T-6815 laptop gained an additional 15 minutes of battery life on average with Windows 7. Running under Vista, the Gateway lasted 2 hours, 58 minutes on a single battery charge; under Windows 7 it ran for 3 hours, 12 minutes. Our Lenovo Y530, in contrast, eked out an insignificant 1-minute improvement with Windows 7.
Battery Life Tests

Another important aspect of performance for Windows 7 is energy efficiency. With the new operating system,
windows 7: can Your Netbook Handle It?

Thinking of upgrading your tiny portable to Windows 7? Microsoft promises that the new OS will run smoothly on netbooks. But is it really worth taking the plunge?
editions of Windows 7 (starter, Home basic, and Home premium) on a lenovo ideapad s10-2 netbook with a 1.6gHz intel atom processor, and we discovered that Windows 7 ran Microsoft, however, stresses slightly slower than Xp did. that Windows 7 will run perWindows 7 starter, intended for fectly fine on netbooks. in fact, use on netbooks (or as MicroMicrosoft now gears Windows soft puts it, low-cost small 7 starter edition toward netnotebook pCs), managed to books (Windows vista startreach a score of 31 in our er was available in only Worldbench 6 test suite, emerging markets). while the other two Winthough Windows 7 dows 7 editions topped starter edition isnt out at a mark of 30. by quite as crippled as its comparison, Windows Xp vista counterpart was IN our tests using a lenovo Ideapad s10-2, we looked at how on the lenovo earned a hooray, no more pesky the performance of three different windows 7 editions comscore of 33. three-application limit!it pared with that of windows Xp. still arbitrarily disables a three-point decline in certain features. (no ability to change the desktop backWorldbench 6 score on a normal laptop isnt much of a ground? lame!) if you own a netbook, you might want to drop, but on a netbook it represents a difference of roughly consider purchasing a less-hamstrung (translation: more 10 percent. so while it looks as though Windows 7 will run expensive) edition of Windows 7 instead. on a netbook, you may want to take the operating system for a spin on a demo netbook at a store before you decide to on the other hand, you may want to stand pat with Winupgrade. dows Xp. We tested Windows Xp Home edition and three Nick Mediati
Most netbooks available as of this writing ship with Windows Xp. the few models that offer Windows vista have performed sluggishly in our tests.
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pHotograpH: robert Cardin
Of course, your individual system-performance gain will depend to a large extent on your setup, but our results were still encouraging. At best, your laptop will gain a few extra minutes of run time; at worst, the battery life will be about the same as it was under Windows Vista.
Odd One Out: Application Launch Times

As our tests demonstrate, Windows 7 makes many modest performance strides beyond its predecessor. Our evaluations of the two OSs also uncovered one notable exception, however: Windows 7 is consistently slower than Vista at launching applications. in every timed application-launch test we performed, Windows 7 took anywhere from a trivial 0.7 second to nearly 7 seconds longer than Vista to open a program. The biggest difference involved the launching of Adobe Photoshop CS4 on our HP Pavilion a6710t desktop running the 64-bit versions of Vista and of Windows 7. Under Windows Vista Ultimate, Photoshop CS4 took 2.7 seconds to open, on average. Under Windows 7 Ultimate, Photoshop launched in 9.6 seconds. in the other application-launching tests, the difference was no greater than 3.7 seconds on averageall in Windows Vistas favor. Keep in mind, though, that while the percentage difference is sizable, the actual difference is only a few seconds. you may notice the slowdown, but it isnt as big a deal as the numbers might suggest.
A Faster OS
Though Windows 7s performance improvements may not blow anyone away, Microsofts new operating system proved speedier overall with every computer we tested it on. Of course, our tests were limited to five machines out of thousands of possible configurations available on the market, so your day-to-day results may vary. even so, the most important part of our conclusion stands: Windows 7 is faster than Windows Vista. in a world where upgrades are often performance downgrades, this may be the biggest Windows 7 feature of all.
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networking
Share files, internet connections, multimedia, and more with Windows 7s built-in tools.
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Connect to a home or office network
Set Up a Home Network

Windows 7 is packed with features that make home networking easier and more fun than before. Heres how to get started with file sharing, media streaming, and more.
tony BradLey
eTWOrKing iSnT JUST for business anymorethese days, home networks are the norm. in response, Microsoft is offering the Windows 7 Family Pack, which includes three licenses for Windows 7 Home Premium at a discounted price. The multilicense bundle isnt Microsofts only move: in Windows 7 the company has made networking home PCs and sharing their files and folders much simpler. Whether you need to connect to the network, to share printers and resources, to access and play music, or to do anything else across the network, Windows 7 makes the entire process more seamless and intuitive than it was in either Windows Vista or Windows XP.
Managing Network Connections

in Windows 7, Microsoft has improved the network and Sharing Center (introduced in Windows Vista) to provide greater functionality and make it the go-to place for man-
windows 7 provides simple wizards to guide you through setting up different types of network connections.
At the top is a visual representation of the current connection; youll also find a link that displays the full map of your network, visually. if you lose your connection, the graphic will show the broken connection so that you can easily identify which portion is down. you can click Troubleshoot problems at the bottom of the network and Sharing Center to initiate diagnostic tests that will help you identify and resolve the issue. you can also establish new wireless-network or VPn connections by
windows 7s neTwork and sharing center is the launch point for all things network-related.
aging all aspects of network connectivity. The network and Sharing Centerwhich is available in the Windows 7 Starter, Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editionsallows you to find new networks and create new network connections, verify connection status, and troubleshoot network connectivity issues.
windows 7 leTs you configure unique firewall profiles for the different nework location types
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clicking Set up a new connection or network and following the prompts in the wizard. The left side of the network and Sharing Center provides links to more-advanced networking functions such as changing adapter settings or managing the Windows Firewall. One significant enhancement in Windows 7 gives you the ability to configure unique firewall profiles for the different location types (Home, Work, and Public); as you move from one location to another, Windows 7 will automatically apply the firewall rules for the appropriate location type.
HomeGroup
The next significant enhancement in Windows 7 is the Homegroup. Microsoft designed the Homegroup to mimic the way people generally protect their homes: you keep the outside doors locked to deter unwanted visitors,
windows 7 auTomaTically assigns a password for the newly formed homeGroup.
grant guests access to the network to connect to the internet, without inviting them to join the Homegroup. you have a few different ways to create a Homegroup: you can select Homegroup in the Control Panel, you can use the Homegroup link at the bottom left of the network and Sharing Center, or you can click the Choose Homegroup and sharing options link from the network and Sharing Center console. regardless of how you get there, click the Create a Homegroup button to begin the process. Select the Libraries you want to share with other members of the Homegroup by checking or unchecking the appropriate boxes. After you click next to create the Homegroup, Windows 7 will automatically generate a password, which other
selecT The Types of content that you wish to share with the homeGroup.
but you keep the interior doors unlocked to allow free passage for family members. When guests visit your home, you give them access to common areas such as the living room, but typically you dont let them venture into bedrooms or other private areas. in previous editions of Windows, resources that are shared on the network are generally available to all, so a guest who is allowed to use the networkor an attacker who gains access through weak wireless-network securityis able to access all of the same resources as your family members can. (Be sure to practice good network security by making sure that encryption is enabled on your router and that you have a secure password.) The Homegroup allows you to share resources, such as files and printers, only with those who join the Homegroup by entering the proper password. you can still
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you can selecT the libraries to share with the homeGroup, or choose the files and folders to exclude from homeGroup access.
users will need in order to join the Homegroup and share the resources. The password is intentionally complex to provide better security; if you wish, however, you can change it after you set up the Homegroup, by again
going to Choose Homegroup and sharing options from the network and Sharing Center. Once you have joined a Homegroup, you can click Choose Homegroup and sharing options to reach controls for determining what resources to share from your computer, or for excluding specific files and folders that you dont want other computers in the Homegroup to access. All versions of Windows 7 can participate in a Homegroup, but Windows 7 Starter and Windows 7 Home Basic versions cannot create a Homegroup on their own.
you can view music or recorded TV shows from remote libraries and play them by streaming the material across the network. Or, if you want to watch a recorded TV show during, say, a flight, you can easily transfer it to your laptop so that you have a local copy for viewing. With the PlayTo feature you can select songsor even whole playlistsand direct them to stream to and play on connected devices. For example, you can choose a playlist on your Windows 7 PC and have it play on your streaming-compatible stereo system in your living room. A PlayTo icon is at the top of the playlist pane, on the right side of the Windows Media Player console. you can also rightclick on Music and video files and choose PlayTo from the menu to select the devices to which you want to stream the media. From Windows 2000 to XP to Vista, Microsoft has made steady improvements in the operating systems networking features and functionality. years from now, though, Windows 7 will be remembered as the version that finally got it right, making networking simple enough that the average user can manage without having to invite the family tech guru over for dinner.
you can conFiGure whether to allow media streaming with your computer in windows media player.
Unfortunately, Homegroup does not work with prior versions of Windows, so any Windows XP or Windows Vista systems will be unable to participate.
Sharing Media
Though Homegroup takes the headache out of sharing resources, the really cool network sharing feature in Windows 7 is the OSs ability to share music between devices and to stream media to any connected device on the network. you can turn on the media-streaming functionality through Windows Media Player. Click Stream and choose from the options available in the drop-down menu. in this menu you can allow other devices to play media from your computer, permit other devices to control your Windows Media Player remotely, or allow streaming of media to and from the internet, making your music available from anywhere. This interconnected media network, which can also include devices such as Zune media players or the Xbox 360 game console, enables you to share and access all of your media from virtually anywhere on the network, as if it were all part of a common pool.
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Put Windows 7 to Work for Your Business

Windows 7s advanced networking features let you connect and work from anywhere.
tony BradLey
HeTHer yOUre WOrKing from home or at the office, Windows 7 lets you connect and get things done. Clearly, the trend is toward remote and mobile computing, and its important for an operating system to provide the tools necessary to remain connected and productive from anywhere. Microsoft is incorporating a variety of new networking features in Windows 7 that simplify connectivity and help users access network resources no matter where they are connecting from. Here well take a closer look at some of the innovative networking features to be found in Windows 7 (we may get a little bit technical at times).
Payload) packets. eSP is part of the iPSec security architecture that provides confidentiality, authentication of data origin, and connectionless integrity. in situations such as viewing streaming video over a VPn connection while riding on a commuter train, users typically lose all buffered data and have to start the video over every time connectivity is lost. The features of the iKev2 iPSec tunnel and eSP help ensure a persistent connection even if the iP address changes during the reconnect and allows the streaming video to resume from the point it was at when VPn connectivity was lost.
VPN Reconnect
roaming users rely on VPns (virtual private networks) to provide a secure connection between their computer and the internal company network. When a user is sitting in a hotel room, or in a conference room at a customer site, and establishes a VPn connection, the users PC will generally remain connected unless there is some other network issue that interrupts the connection. However, users who rely on wireless broadband connectivity to establish a VPn connection while on the move are faced with frequent dropped connections and a cumbersome process for reauthenticating and reestablishing the VPn connection each time.
DirectAccess
Whats better than a VPn that automatically reconnects and retains its connection state? How about not needing a VPn in the first place? directAccess is one of the most compelling and game-changing features of Windows 7, both for users and for administrators faced with a remote and roaming work force.
The VPn reconnect feature allows Windows 7 to automatically reestablish active VPn connections when internet connectivity is interrupted. As soon as Windows 7 reconnects with the internet, Windows 7 will also reconnect with the VPn. The VPn will still be unavailable as long as the inter- direcTaccess uses split-tunnel routing to intelligently route data to the proper net connection is down, and the process destination. of reconnecting will take a few seconds after internet access becomes available again, but VPn reconnect will ensure that users stay connected with the Aside from the issues mentioned above for users trying to network resources they need access to. stay connected on a VPn and access internal network resources, roaming users also pose a problem for adminisVPn reconnect is basically an iPSec tunnel using the trators. Mobile computers that arent connected to the iKev2 (internet Key exchange) protocol for key negotianetwork miss out on security updates, software patches, tion and for transmission of eSP (encapsulating Security and group Policy updates. They will get the updates
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when they eventually connect, but days or weeks might go by with those remote systems missing critical updates. directAccess provides a persistent and seamless bidirectional connection between the internal network and the Windows 7 system, as long as that Windows 7 system can connect to the internet. With directAccess, remote and roaming users experience the same access to corporate shares, intranet sites, and internal applications as they would if they were sitting in the office connected directly to the network.
directAccess uses split-tunnel routing to intelligently route network traffic based on the intended destination. Only traffic destined for the corporate network is routed through the directAccess server, while traffic intended for resources on the public internet is routed directly to its destination. Split-tunneling ensures that the resources of the directAccess server are not consumed by unnecessary network traffic.
TrouBleshooT direcTaccess connectivity problems using the built-in wizard.
Windows Server 2008 R2 Required
directAccess works both ways. not only can the computer access the network seamlessly across any internet connection, but the iT administrator can also connect to directAccess client computerseven when the user is not logged on. With directAccess, iT Administrators can monitor, manage, and deploy updates to directAccess client computers as long as they are connected to the internet. directAccess uses iPsec for authentication and encryption. directAccess can also integrate with network Access Protection (nAP) to require that directAccess clients be compliant with system health requirements before being allowed to connect to the network. iT administrators can restrict access through directAccess and configure the servers that users and individual applications can access.
directAccess cannot function in a vacuum on a Windows 7 system. it requires a directAccess server to connect to, and a directAccess server means Windows Server 2008 r2. The directAccess server must have two network interface cards: one connected to the public internet and one to provide access to the internal intranet resources. directAccess also requires at least two consecutive iPv4 addresses on the network interface card connected to the internet. The iPv6 translation technologies mentioned above (6to4, Teredo, and iSATAP) must be implemented on the directAccess server. Only a PKi (Public Key infrastructure) environment can issue the necessary certificate for
Built on IPv6
iPv6 is required for directAccess. directAccess connectivity is built on the foundation of globally routable iP addresses that iPv6 provides. iPv6 has been around for a while, and most systems and network devices are iPv6capable, but the actual adoption of iPv6 as a replacement for iPv4 networking has been slow.
By usinG url-Based Qos, traffic intended for pcworld.com can be given a higher priority than traffic headed for tonybradley.com.
Microsoft was aware that iPv6 is not available everywhere, so the company designed directAccess to take advantage of iPv6 transition tools such as 6to4, Teredo, and iSATAP. Within the network, directAccess relies on nAT-PT (network Address Translation-Protocol Translation) to provide connectivity between directAccess and iPv4 resources.
authentication and security, and a dnS server running on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 r2 is required as well. if you experience problems connecting to directAccess you can use the appropriate troubleshooting wizard to identify and resolve problems. Open the Network and
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Sharing Center and click on Troubleshoot problems; then select the Connection to a Workplace Using DirectAccess wizard to
begin troubleshooting.
URL-Based QoS
no matter how much network bandwidth an organization has, it is safe to assume it is not unlimited. As more users access the network, or more users connect to bandwidthintensive data like streaming audio and video, the network bandwidth is nibbled away until it is gone, forcing the router to queue data, which in turn slows down network communications. even without maxing out the internal network capacity, this type of queuing often takes place where the internal network meets the external network. The internal network may be operating at 1gBps speeds, but the connection to the public internet might be 10MBps. network packets from the internal network are queued by the router and transmitted on a first-come-first-serve basis as bandwidth becomes available on the external connection. not all network destinations are created equal, though, or treated equally. requests to an application server used to process orders or data being sent to a mission-critical database should take precedence over traffic destined for google or Facebook, say. Administrators can configure Quality of Service (QoS) to prioritize the traffic and ensure that the high-priority traffic gets preferential treatment. Windows will assign outgoing packets a dSCP (differentiated Services Code Point) number that the router can use to determine the priority of the packets. As the network gets bogged down and packets are queued up, the default first-in-first-out functionality is overridden, and high-priority packets are sent out first. The QoS functionality has been a part of previous versions of Windows, but it required that priority be assigned based on specific iP addresses and port numbers. However, multiple Web sites may use the same iP address, and one Web site may have multiple iP addresses, making QoS difficult to utilize in some instances. With Windows 7, Microsoft has added an ability to configure QoS based on UrL. Administrators can ensure that traffic intended for intranet applications or important Web sites gets processed ahead of lower-priority traffic (see the last figure above) without having to configure the precise iP address and port of the destination sites. UrL-based QoS can also be used to intentionally down33
grade the priority of nonbusiness-related sites such as eSPn or Facebook. Assigning these UrLs a low priority will force those packets to be handled with even less urgency than normal traffic.
Fine-Tuning
Safely share your pc with everyone in your home or office, customize the interface, get the best performance, and more.
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Working With the new os
Manage Multiple Users

Use Windows 7s built-in tools to oversee multiple users on your PC and your network.
MicHaeL ScaLiSi
COMPUTer rUnning Windows 7 might be used by a single person, by a group of people in an office, or by a family in a home. Fortunately, Windows 7 was designed from the ground up to be a multiuser operating system. The new OS is flexible and can support many different scenarios, with each user having appropriate permissions and a customized environment. every person using Windows 7 must log in with an account, and each account has a personalized desktop,
tor permissions with a Windows security icon. Standard users are permitted to log on to the computer, run programs, customize their accounts, and save files in their user folders. Users are restricted from making systemwide changes.
The First User

When Windows first installs, it asks you for a user name and password, which it then uses to create your first account. This account joins the Administrators group, which has the highest set of privileges. From this account you can create and manage all other user accounts. When one person is the sole user of a computer, this first account is sometimes the only one ever created. However, even if you are the only user, a recommended practice is to create a second, standard account for daily use, so that you have it separate from your account with administrative privileges for managing the system. if you want to install software or make other system changes while logged in as a standard user, never fear: When you attempt to make the change, Windows will prompt you to authenticate your administrator account so that you wont need to log on with it.
The user accounTs and Family safety control panel provides a straightforward interface for managing users.
Start menu, documents folder, history, favorites, and other customizations. All of that stuff resides in the Users folder on the root of the system drive, where each account has a subfolder named after it. The two main tools ill describe in this article are the User Accounts and Family Safety wizardbased tool, which you can find in the Control Panel, and the traditional Local Users and groups tool, which is available in Computer Management.
Creating a New Account

To create a new account, open Control Panel and choose
Account Types
Before you start creating new users on your Windows 7 computer, you should understand the difference between the two main account types. Administrators have full control over the system. They can install software programs and hardware drivers, and they can create and modify new users and groups. Additionally, they can reset passwords, set policies, and edit the registry. The OS identifies tasks that require administracreaTe a new user with the create new account wizard.
User Accounts and Family Safety, Add or remove user accounts. Click on Create a new account. Type in the new account name, select either the Administrators or Standard Users user type, and then click Create Account. By default, Windows
assigns no password; you can make one by clicking on

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that users icon and selecting Create a password. Alternatively, you can leave it blank to allow the user to set a password when they first log on.
7s parental controls will offer the option to force that person to set a password at the next log-on. Turn on parental controls by selecting On, enforce current settings, and then modify each setting as appropriate.
Time limits: if you want Windows to boot your child off the
editing Accounts
Once youve created an account, you can customize it further by editing. To edit an account, open Control Panel once again and select User Accounts and Family Safety, Add or remove user accounts. This takes you to the Manage Accounts window, where you can select an account to edit by clicking on its icon. in this window, you can change the account name, create or remove a password, change the picture, set up parental controls, change the account type, or delete the account. Be cautious when removing a password, since it will cause that user to lose any encrypted files, personal certificates, and stored passwords.
computer after, say, 10 p.m., this is where you can explicitly permit or deny computer usage by time and by the day of the week.
Games: Here you can define whether the account is per-
mitted to play games, which game ratings are acceptable, and whether unrated games are allowed. you may also allow or block particular games.
Allow and block specific programs: if you want to limit your
If You Accidentally Delete Your Last Administrator Account

Windows 7 has a built-in Administrator account that has no password and is hidden by default. Like all other administrator accounts, it has full control of the system; for you to use it, however, it must be the only remaining administrator account, and you must start the computer in Safe Mode.
childs computer use to certain applications, this is where you choose them. Windows 7s parental controls can work in conjunction
Parental Controls
Concerned parents are often wary about letting their children have free rein on the family computer. Windows 7s parental controls offer parents a way to keep their childrens Web surfing or gaming in check. To arrange parental controls, go to Control Panel and select User Accounts and Family Safety, Set up parental controls for any user. Click on the user for which you want to set controls. Since all administrators can disable these controls, if an administrator account doesnt have a password, Windows
a sTronG password should include a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters.
with the downloadable Windows Live Family Safety, which allows you to set parental controls on Web content.
Changing Your Password

The simplest way to change your password when you are logged in is to press Ctrl-Alt-del and click Change a Password. in this window, you simply type in your old password and your new one, and then confirm it. Administrators may also overwrite the user name and change the password for another user.
Changing Your Picture

aT 10 p.m., windows will log Jeffrey off automatically if he is still on the computer.
Windows 7 allows you to choose a picture to associate with your account. This is the image you click to log on to the computer. To change it, open Control Panel and
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choose Users Accounts. Under Users, click Change your Account Picture. you can select from a number of built-in images, or you can browse to one of your own images.
On the general tab, you may modify the following settings by checking the appropriate box: User must change password at next logon User cannot change password Password never expires Account is disabled Account is locked out (to unlock an account that Windows has locked in response to a users entering an incorrect password too many times, as specified by the local security policy, clear this check box) A note about disabling user accounts: A common administrative practice is to disable an account rather than delete it when an employee leaves. That way, if another user replaces that staffer, you can simply rename and reenable the account, and the new employee will have all the same settings as the previous one.
The Guest account: Windows 7 includes an account named
Creating a Password-Reset Disk

A password-reset disk is useful if you forget your password, but the catch is that you have to create it while you are logged inif you have already forgotten your password, its too late. you probably dont have a floppy drive on your PC, but a USB drive will work just fine. To create a password-reset disk, open Control Panel and select User Accounts and Family Safety, User Accounts. Click on Create a password reset disk in the left pane. A wizard will guide you through the procedure, asking you on which drive to place the password key as well as what your current password is. Be careful where you store the disk or USB driveanyone who can access it can use it to gain entry to your account.
Resetting Your Password Using the Password-Reset Disk

if you enter your password incorrectly when you attempt to log on to your computer, Windows will display a Reset password link under the password box. Click it to launch the Password reset Wizard. When prompted, select the drive that contains the password key, and then type in a new password and password hint.
guest, which has a bare minimum of permissions and is
Using the Local Users and Groups Tool

Though the Windows 7 wizwindows provides many groups for specific tasks. ard-based user-management tools are great and easy to use, some people will prefer the legacy tool, called Local disabled by default. if you want to use this account, click Users and groups. This tool has changed little since its Local Users and Groups, expand Users, double-click on the introduction in Windows 2000. To access it, right-click Guest account, and clear the Account is disabled check box. Computer on the Start menu, and select Manage. This will open Computer Management. From there, expand Local Managing groups: every Windows account is a member of Users and Groups. at least one group. group membership defines what set of permissions each account has. Most people use the Creating a new user: right-click on Users, select New User, and groups built in to Windows (called Account Types when then enter the user name. Optionally you may supply a youre in the Create User wizard), but you are free to crefull name, description, and password. Click Create to make ate and customize your own. groups exist to make the account. administration of a computer easier by allowing the administrator the flexibility to apply permissions and polModifying users: in Local Users and groups, expand Users icies to more than one account simultaneously. and double-click on the appropriate user name.
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Besides Users (or Standard Users) and Administrators, youll find a multitude of other groups in Windows 7. Some of these are intended for backward-compatibility, while others are designed for specialized purposes such as allowing access to back up and restore files, to read log files, or to connect through remote desktop.
Creating a new group: right-click on Groups in the Local
Users and groups tool, and select New Group. Specify a name and description, and click Add to add the members. Finally, click Create.
Managing User Accounts for Domain Members

each computer is a member of either a workgroup or a domain. Computers that are part of a domain usually have a network administrator who manages user accounts. These accounts are not located on individual computers, but in a central database called Active directory. A workgroup is more of an ad-hoc network where each computer is managed separately. Only computers running Windows 7 Professional or greater have the option of joining a domain. When a PC joins a domain, the user-management options change a bit. Parental controls are unavailable, the User Account tool replaces the User Accounts and Family Safety tool, and you may create local users only through the Local Users and groups management tool.
Adding a domain user to a local group: in the Control Panel,
open User Accounts, and click on Give other users access to this computer. From there, type in the persons user name and the domain (or click Browse to select it from Active directory), click Next to add them to a group, and then click Finish.
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Secure Your Windows 7 PC

Lock down your system, protect your data, and safeguard your network with Windows 7s security tools.
tony BradLey
nTiL nOW, WindOWS Vista was the most secure version of the Windows operating system. Windows 7 picks up where Vista left off, and improves on that foundation to provide an even more secure computing experience. Microsoft also incorporated user feedback about Vista to enrich the user experience and to ensure that the security features are intuitive and user-friendly. Heres a look at some of the more significant security enhancements in Windows 7.
most people have perceived UAC as a security feature. When users think of UAC, they typically associate it with the access-consent prompts it issues. Though Microsoft has made significant progress since Vistas introduction in reducing the types and number of events that trigger the UAC prompt (or that prevent standard users from executing tasks entirely), UAC has still been the subject of a great deal of negative feedback for Vista. With Windows 7, Microsoft has again reduced the number of applications and operating system tasks that trigger the prompt. it has also incorporated a more flexible interface for UAC. Under User Accounts in the Control Panel, you can select Change User Account Control Settings to adjust the feature with a slider. The configuration slider lets you choose from among four levels of UAC protection, ranging from Always notify (essentially the level of UAC protection that Windows Vista provides) to never notify. Obviously, youll get the most protection with Always notify. The advantage to setting the slider to never notify as opposed to disabling UAC completely is that the prompt is only one aspect of what UAC does. Under the never notify setting, though UAC pop-ups will no longer interrupt you, some of UACs core protections will remain, including Protected Mode internet explorer.
Core System Security

As it did with Windows Vista, Microsoft developed Windows 7 according to the Security development Lifecycle (SdL). it built the new OS from the ground up to be a secure computing environment and retained the key security features that helped protect Vista, such as Kernel Patch Protection, data execution Prevention (deP), Address Space Layout randomization (ASLr), and Mandatory integrity Levels. These features provide a strong foundation to guard against malicious software and other attacks. A few key elements are worth noting.
enhanced UAC
youre probably familiar with UAC, or User Account Control. introduced with Windows Vista, the feature is meant to help enforce least-privileged access and to improve the total cost of ownership by allowing organizations to deploy the operating system without granting administrator access to users. Though Microsofts primary intent with UAC was to force software developers to use better coding practices and not expect access to sensitive areas of the operating system,
Integrated Fingerprint Scanner Support

Many Windows users configure the operating system to log them in without a user name and passwordbut thats the computer equivalent of leaving the front door of your house wide open with a neon sign flashing enter Here. i highly recommend that you assign all user accounts in Windows 7 a relatively strong password or passphrase (that means your dogs name or your favorite basketball team dont count). even passwords arent all theyre cracked up to be. Passwords are secure only until theyre cracked, and cracking a password is more a matter of when than if, assuming an attacker is sufficiently dedicated. experts recommend two-factor authenticationsin other words, adding another layer of protection on top of the password
windows 7 allows you to configure the level of uac protection.
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come into possession of your computer can access any sensitive data it contains. The risk of sensitive information being lost or stolen is even greater with the proliferation of tiny USB flash drives and other portable media capable of holding more and more data. Windows 7 retains Vistas data-protection technologies, such as eFS (encrypting File System) and support for Ad rMS (Active directory rights Management Services). in addition to minor updates to those technologies, Windows 7 significantly improves on Vistas BitLocker drive encryption technology, and it adds BitLocker to go for encrypting data on removable media.
encrypting Drives With BitLocker

enroll FinGers To register them for user authentication.
for better security. Many computers, laptops in particular, come equipped with built-in biometric security in the form of a fingerprint scanner. With Windows 7, Microsoft provides much smoother integration between the operating system and the fingerprint-scanning hardware. Windows 7 has better driver support and more reliable fingerprint reading across different hardware platforms. Configuring and using a fingerprint reader with Windows 7 for logging in to the operating system, as well as for authenticating users for other applications and Web sites, is easy. Click on Biometric Devices in the Control Panel to access the console for enrolling and managing fingerprint data and customizing biometric-security settings. The Biometric devices console will display any detected biometric devices. if the fingerprint reader is not yet configured, the status will display not enrolled. Click on that status to access the console. you can add scans of one finger or all ten. Adding multiple fingers allows you to continue using the biometric security even if your primary finger is in a bandage, for instance, or if your hand is in a cast. On screen, select the finger you want to add, and then place your finger on the fingerprint reader (or slowly drag your finger across the reader, depending on the type of hardware you have). you will have to scan each finger successfully at least three times to register it in the database, similar to how you have to reenter a password to confirm that you entered it correctly.
When BitLocker made its debut with Windows Vista, it was capable only of encrypting the primary operating system volume. Windows Vista SP2 (Service Pack 2) extended the functionality to encrypt other volumes, such as additional drives or partitions on the primary hard drive, but it still did not enable users to encrypt data on portable or removable disks. Windows 7 brings BitLocker to go for protecting data on portable drives while still pro-
The BiTlocker drive encryption console displays available drives and the current encryption state.
viding a means for sharing the data with partners, customers, or other parties. Before you can begin using BitLocker drive encryption, your disk volumes have to be configured properly. Windows requires a small, unencrypted partition to contain the core system files it needs to begin the boot process and authenticate the user to access the encrypted volumes. Most people dont consider that when theyre setting up the drive partitions initially, so Microsoft has created a tool to move things around and to repartition the drive to prepare it for BitLocker encryption. you can learn more about the BitLocker drive Preparation Tool and
Protecting Data
Thousands of computers, particularly laptops, are lost or stolen each year. if you dont have appropriate safeguards and security controls in place, unauthorized users who
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download it from Microsofts site. Once your drive is properly partitioned, you can encrypt it with BitLocker. Click on BitLocker Drive Encryption in the Control Panel. The BitLocker console will display all of the available drives and their current state (whether BitLocker is currently protecting them). you will notice that the display separates the drives by whether they are fixed drives to be encrypted with BitLocker or removable drives to be protected with BitLocker to go. Click on Turn on BitLocker next to any unencrypted drive to begin the encryption process. The utility will ask you to assign a password for unlocking the encrypted data, or to insert your smartcard if you prefer to for authentication. BitLocker then offers an opportunity for you to save the BitLocker recovery Key, either as a text file or printed out. you must have the BitLocker recovery Key to unlock the data if you forget the password or if the authentication fails in any way. Once the process begins you can go about using Windows as you normally would, and the tool will encrypt the data in the background. After it encrypts the drive, you can click on Manage BitLocker and opt to unlock encrypted drives automatically when you log on to Windows.
option is not necessarily intuitive or easy. To use BitLocker without a TPM chip, follow these steps:
1. Click the Windows logo at the bottom left (the Start
button).
2. in the Search Programs and Files field at the bottom of
the Start menu, type gpedit.msc and press <Enter>.

3. Under Computer Configuration, navigate to Administra-
tive Templates, Windows Components, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Operating System Drives.
4. double-click on the Require additional authentication at start-
up option.
5. Select the Enabled radio button at the top and check the
Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM check box.

6. Click OK.
Protecting Mobile Data With BitLocker to Go

Windows Vista was able to protect the drives and volumes that are part of the computer, but it could not encrypt data on removable drives. Windows 7 addresses that glaring lack of functionality with BitLocker to go. While you can continue working during the encryption process, when you initially encrypt a removable drive you must be sure not to remove it during the encryption process. if you do so before the process is complete, it may damage the data on the drive irreparably. if you must shut down or remove the drive prior to the completion of encryption, use the Pause button to halt the process first. Using BitLocker to go, you can protect data on USB thumb drives and other removable media. if you need to share sensitive information with other people, you can give them the encrypted data on the USB thumb drive and choose a password that you can share with them to unlock the contents. For additional protection, you can require a smartcard to unlock the data, and deliver the encrypted drive and the smartcard separately. BitLocker to go also gives administrators the ability to control how removable media can be used, as well as to enforce policies for protecting data on removable drives. Through group Policy, administrators can make unprotected removable storage read-only and require that the system apply BitLocker encryption to any removable storage before users can save data to it.
Using BitLocker Without a TPM

By default BitLocker requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip to store the BitLocker encryption keys and facilitate the encryption and decryption of the BitLocker-protected data. Unfortunately, many desktop and laptop computers are not equipped with a TPM chip, but all is not lost. Microsoft has included the option to use BitLocker drive encryption without a compatible TPM, but accessing that
you musT modiFy the Group policy setting to use Bitlocker without a compatible Tpm.
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Customize Windows 7
Tweak Windows 7s interface to simplify menus, start up faster, and make your files and apps easier to find.
rick Broida
WeAKerS, reJOiCe! WindOWS 7 offers more customization options than any previous version of Windowsfrom total control over annoying pop-up system messages to homebrew search connectors that let you run Web searches right from Windows explorer. A few of these options require third-party software, but theyre all freebies and all easy to use. Most of the tweaks, however, can be accomplished with a few simple clicks. So get ready to make a good OS even better by adding some personal customization touches.
background is in place, you can preview it at full-screen size by clicking Test. if you want the old wallpaper back, click Revert to Default Logon Screen.
Tweak the User Interface

remember TweakUi, the old Microsoft utility that let you fine-tune the Windows interface? The Windows Clubs Ultimate Windows Tweaker, its unofficial successor for Windows 7, goes so far as to bill itself as a Tweak Ui utility.
Change the Log-on Screens Wallpaper

Windows 7 has a lovely blue log-on screen, but it gets a little boring after awhile. Wouldnt it be nice if you could customize it the way you can Windows desktop wallpaper? you can, without visiting the registry. All you need is the Tweaks.com Logon Changer for Windows 7, a free utility that lets you turn any image into your log-on screen background.
The heir apparenT to Tweakui, ultimate windows Tweaker gives you control over every windows 7 setting imaginable.
Tired oF The same old log-on screen? logon changer lets you replace it with the image of your choice.
Like TweakUi, UWT provides a kings ransom in customization controls, from changing what appears in the Start menu to optimizing performance by disabling various Windows features (like Aero and Tablet PC). Tired of Windows automatically rebooting after an unattended system update? you can turn off that option and countless others. UWT even lets you wrangle internet explorer 8: no more warnings when youre about to close multiple tabs, for example. granted, you can reach many of the same settings by delving into the Control Panel, registry, and other areas. But Ultimate Windows Tweaker puts every imaginable option (and some you never imagined) under one convenient roof. its a must-have tool for any serious Windows tweaker.
run the program, click Change Logon Screen, and then navigate to the folder containing the image you want. if its too large (Windows limits image size to 245KB), Logon Changer will offer to copy and resize it. Once the new
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/playslideshow immediately plays a slideshow of all your
photos.
/playslideshowwithmusic immediately plays a slideshow
with music.
/mcesuperbar://tv?live=true goes directly to live TV
(assuming you have a tuner). getting back to our initial example, suppose that you want to bypass the startup animation and go straight to live TV. Heres how the Target field should read (make sure to leave a space before each switch):
a simple Tweak makes windows media center start the way you want it to.
Change Windows Media Center Startup Options

if you use Windows Media Center, youve probably wished for a way to bypass the startup animation and go straight to live TV. Or to start playing your music favorites immediately. Fortunately, by flipping a few hidden switches, you can configure WMC to start exactly the way you want. Click Start, All Programs, find and right-click the Windows Media Center icon, and then choose Properties. Place your cursor at the end of the Target field, where youll see this line: %windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe. now its time to tack on one or more of the following switches:
/nostartupanimation disables the startup animation so you
you can easily add your downloads folder to your systems start menu.
%windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe /nostartupanimation /mcesuperbar://tv?live=true
Add Your Downloads Folder to the Start Menu

By default, the files you download land in the downloads folder. So why doesnt Windows make that folder easier to find? Heres how to add it to the Start menu:
get into WMC a few seconds faster.

/playallmusic immediately plays your music library. /playfavmusic immediately plays your music favorites.
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1. right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
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2. Click the Customize button. 3. Scroll down until you find the entry for downloads.
Then enable either Display as a link or Display as a menu. The former will open your downloads folder in a new window; the latter will display the contents as a fly-out menu.
commands, you can make a connector for just about any sitesay, pcworld.com. Copy the XML code into notepad, replace the bolded bits with the appropriate info (for instance, sevenforums becomes PC World, and the UrLs become pcworld.com); then save the file with an osdX extension. When you doubleclick the new file, it will install itself in explorers navigation pane.
4.
Click OK, OK, and youre done.
now, click Start and examine the options in the righthand column: youll see downloads ready and waiting.
Turn Off Unwanted Windows Features

if youre running Windows on a netbook or on an older PC, you no doubt want to keep it lean and fit. Like Vista, Windows 7 makes it easy to turn off unwanted features that might slow down the OS. Unlike Vista, Windows 7 also lets you disable high-profile apps such as internet explorer 8, Windows Media Center, and Windows Search. To make changes, click Start, type Features, and then click Turn Windows features on or off. Wait a few seconds for the menu to appear; when it does, clear the checkbox for any feature you want to disable. (netbook users, for example, might want to send Windows dVd Maker packing, and theres no sense keeping Tablet PC Components around if youre not using a tablet or other touchscreen PC.) Click OK when youre done, and wait (a minute or several) while Windows reconfigures itself.
Show More (or Fewer) Items in Your Jump Lists

Jump Lists function like a souped-up recent documents menu, providing quick access to application-specific documents and/or options. For example, right-clicking the internet explorer taskbar icon reveals a list of frequently visited Web sites and available tasks (such as new Tab and inPrivate). Once you get started using Jump Lists, youll wonder how you ever got along without them. Want to change the number of items that appear in your Jump Lists? its 10 by default, but that may be too many or too few for your liking. Fortunately, modifying the number is a snap:
1. right-click the Start button, and then click Properties. 2. Click the Customize button. 3. Just below the options window, youll see number of
recent programs to display in Jump Lists. Use the arrows
Add Internet Search Shortcuts

One of the great things about Windows Vista is the way that search capabilities permeate the OS. From the Start menu to Windows explorer to the Control Panel, search is everywhere. The same is true of Windows 7, of course, but in addition you can install so-called search connectors that let you search various Web sites directly from Windows explorer. if youve ever added search engines to internet explorer 7 or 8, youve encountered a similar idea. in Windows 7, click the type of search you wantAmazon, eBay, Flickr, or whateverand then okay the addition in a few confirmation dialog boxes. When youre done, youll see the new option in the Favorites section of Windows explorer. Start typing in the search field and watch as results appear as you type. you can find a bunch of these connectors over at Seven Forums, where youll also find instructions for creating connectors of your own (to reach them, scroll down to the section titled Create your Own Standard Basic Search Provider). So if youre handy with the copy/paste
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make windows 7 bug you less by tweaking its action center settings.
to adjust the setting, or just type the number you want into the box. (Zero is an option!)
4. Click OK, OK, and youre done.
Tell Action Center to Keep Quiet(er)

Microsoft promised to make Windows 7 less annoying than Vista, starting with issuing fewer User Account Control warnings and pop-up system messages. Windows 7s new Action Center rides herd on the latter and lets you specify which messages you want to see. Heres how to tweak the settings:
1. Click Start, type Action, and click Action Center. 2. Click Change Action Center settings. 3. Clear the checkbox next to one or more of the security
or maintenance options.
4. Click OK and youre done.

Bear in mind that the purpose of these system messages is to keep your PC running safely and smoothly. if you disable them, you may miss an important warning.
Move the Taskbar to the Side of the Screen

Widescreen monitors are great for watching movies and for organizing windows, but a lot of time the space goes to waste. So why not free up some vertical space by moving the Windows Taskbar to the side of the screen? Windows 7 makes this option particularly attractive because it adopts label-free icons. Windows veterans may hate this at first, but its a nice way to gain extra screen real estate in your Web browser, word processor, and other apps.
1. right-click an empty area of the Taskbar, and clear the
checkmark next to Lock the Taskbar.

2. Left-click and hold an empty area of the Taskbar, and
then drag it to the left side of the screen. Once you get close, youll see it lock in, at which point you can release the mouse button. Thats all there is to it! give it a try for a few days, and if you dont like it, you can always drag the Taskbar back to the bottom of the screen.
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Manage All Your Media in Windows 7

From online streaming to all-new library controls, heres how to get more out of Windows 7s new multimedia features.
Zack Stern
HeTHer yOUre LeAPing directly from Windows XP to Windows 7 or you stopped in Vista territory along the way, youll find that the latest version of Microsofts operating system handles media files in several new ways. The methods for photo and video importing, editing, and exporting have been all updated. you have new options for sharing and streaming files between computers. And media libraries become more-versatile vessels for finding and managing media files. ill explain how to get started with these and other entertainment features of Windows 7.
Check Out the Libraries

Windows 7 manages media files differently than previous Windows OSs did. it retains the familiar Pictures, Videos, Music, and documents folders, but you can assign additional library locations in order to collect your media files more dynamically. The libraries in Windows 7 organize file types to help applications find media more easily. By default, programs look to the Pictures, Videos, Music, and documents folders instead of having to scrutinize your whole disk. Windows XP and Vista tied media libraries to those specific folder locations. For example, Windows Media Player watched vigilantly over C:\Users\username\Music. Then, anytime you added new audio files to that folder, Media Player showed them in your music library. if you wanted Media Player to look for media in other areassay, in the iTunes music folder or in another users music library you had to add the new locations manually within the program. in Windows 7, the Pictures, Videos, Music, and documents folders are not the only doors into those libraries; you can add any other disk location you like, and librarysavvy applications will automatically pool media wherever its stored.
use The include in library menu to add any folder to your media libraries.
For example, you can turn a networked folder into an auxiliary library, or even pool music files from a different user on the same PC. Or transform your downloads folder into a library, instantly putting MP3 and video downloads into media applications. Heres how (the process is the same for any of these situations). Open the Start Menu, and click your username. Open the Downloads folder, and pick Include in library, Music. Then select Include in library, Movies. Henceforth, without your having to open them immediately after downloading them, your PC will automatically slurp music and movie files into Windows Media Player. To remove the library status of a folder, open a window in the desktop and then navigate to that library folder in the left pane. in our case, the menu path is Libraries, Music, Downloads. right-click the library-enabled folderDownloadsand choose Remove location from library.
Get Windows Live essentials

Windows 7s standard installation omits some previously bundled Windows software, including Photo gallery and Movie Maker, but you can still download these apps at the Windows Live essentials download page. Click Download on the right side, and save and run the file. in the installer, mark the checkbox for each piece of
Add Libraries
instead of manually curating media in the traditional user folders, you can turn any folder into a library. Applications will know where to find media, and you can keep your computer organized in whatever way you want.
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and introduce your image source (by plugging in a camera, inserting a Flash card, loading a disc of pictures, or whatever). Choose File, Import from camera or scanner. Select the image source, and click Import. The import option lets you pick items individually and even group them by date and time if you wish. The Adjust groups slider at the bottom of the screen lets you divide several photo (or video) sessions in one day by reducing the amount of time allotted to a single group. As a result, if you shot vacation photos at a cathedral in the morning, took a break at lunch, and then resumed snapping later, you can import the two series of photos separately.
iF you are interested in additional software, click options beyond movie maker and photo Gallery.
software you want to add. if youre on the prowl for useful multimedia options, check Photo Gallery, Movie Maker Beta, and Silverlight. (youre likely to encounter Silverlight video-streaming sites such as netflix, so you might as well add it to Windows 7 now.) Click Install, and after several minutes, okay the final prompts to exit the installation. (i skipped changing my default home page and other needyrelationship-style requests.) you can sign up for a Windows Live id if you wish, or just click Close. Windows 7 uses the id to share photos and other media onlineand youll want one for streaming files over the internetbut its not required for most application features.
Use these groupings to your advantage. Click Next and then click Add tags next to any of the groups. enter a few keywords from that particular photo session, separating them with semicolons. Click Import. if you shot rAW files, the program may prompt you to download and install an additional codec. i had to go through that process to accommodate photos from my digital SLr camera; but once youve installed the extra piece of software, Windows 7 can display the higher-end rAW files in the same manner as it does JPegs.
Publish a Photo Gallery Online

your friends and family can view your photos through the Windows Live site. After importing and arranging an album, you can upload the images within Windows Live Photo gallery.
Import Pictures and Video Into Windows Live Photo Gallery

The procedure for importing images or video in Windows 7 is straightforward: Launch Windows Live Photo gallery,
iF you wanT to publish a subset of the images in a folder, selectively click those items while holding down ctrl.
click The links to view all of the items, if you want to import pictures selectively; otherwise, click the left checkbox to add the full group.
Within that application, right-click My Pictures, and pick Create new folder. name the new folder. drag in pictures that you want to publish online. Click the name of the folder within the main window near the top to select all of the pictures. Choose Publish, Online album. Sign into your Windows Live account if needed.
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give the album a title and in the pop-up menu choose who can view the pictures. Change the value for Upload size in the pop-up menu if you wish; Medium gives enough detail for Web viewing; Large and Original allow ample size for displaying on a big TV, printing, and otherwise downloading. Then click Publish. After the photos have finished uploading, the program will prompt you with the option to view them. Click View Album to open the page in your Web browser. if you miss that option, click your account name in the upper right corner of Windows Live Photo gallery, and select View your photos. Copy the link from the Web page, and share it with your friends. if you decide to limit who can see one of your albums, visit that albums Web page, and click Shared with: Everyone (public) at the bottom of the page. Click Edit Permissions on the following page, and uncheck the Everyone (public) box. if youve made friends through the network area of Windows Live, pick the My network box instead. Otherwise, you can add individual e-mail contacts at the bottom. (Press the spacebar to speed up entry of the next address.) Back in Photo gallery, you can add more photos to a published group by selecting the new pictures and choosing Publish, [gallery name]. Hold Shift and click the first and last images to select pictures in sequence, or hold down Ctrl and click pictures to group them in any order you like.
nect a dV camcorder to a Win 7 PC, the capture process should automatically launch outside Movie Maker. Click the Import the entire video radio button, enter a name, and click Next. Click the Import videos as multiple files checkbox, and the tool will splice the tape into your individual shots. Approve the next windows to import the tape; the importing process will take exactly as much time as your footage does to play. Once your PC has captured your media, you have some options for adding clips to a video in Windows Live Movie Maker. From the desktop, drag your photos and videos into the right pane in that program. if that area is blocked, drag the files over the Movie Maker icon in the Taskbar, continue to hold the mouse down, and then drop them into the right pane. Alternatively, select Add above Videos and photos in the software, select the media, and click Open.
Import Photos and Videos Into Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Movie Maker eschews video capture tools in favor of relying on the rest of Windows 7. if you condraG The sliders to trim a videos length, keeping only the best parts.
youll want to rearrange and trim various clips during the editing process, but at this point all of them are part of your movie. if you added too many clips or images, delete them from the storyboard by clicking the files and then clicking Remove.
edit Your Movie

Windows Live Movie Maker cuts the timeline view, focusing instead on arranging clips in a storyboard. Just drag and drop each clip and each image to place them in the desired order within the right pane. Since some video clips run too long, youll need to trim them into shape. Click a video clip to select it; then click the Edit tab at the top of the window, and click Trim. At this point, you can adjust the in- and out-point sliders (which govern the
in addiTion To importing videos into windows live movie maker, you can import photos to create multimedia family productions.
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length of the clip, by trimming from one or both extremities) at the beginning and end of the timeline. Press the spacebar or click the Play icon to view a sample from the full clip, playing only between the edited points. if youre satisfied, click Save and close to finish. youll make the edit here, but the original video file will stay the same, in case you want to reimport it later. you can expand or contract the length of time that an image shows, too. Within the edit tab, click the photo
swap easily BeTween soapbox, youTube, and any other plug-inenabled sites through the stream menu.
Stream Media Over the Internet

Windows 7 adds some great streaming tools, including one that lets you listen to your home music on another Windows 7 PC over the internet. Like other online features, internet streaming requires a Windows Live id. Visit Windows Live home page to sign up for free, if you havent already registered there. Open the User Accounts Control Panel, and choose Link online IDs. Select Add an online ID provider, and click the Windows Live logo in the newly opened Web page. download the file (either 32-bit or 64-bit) that corresponds to your Windows 7 installation. Then run the installer. The host PC (the PC that holds the media files) must be set up in a Home network and a Homegroup. if yours isnt configured this way, click the Stream menu and select Turn on media streaming with HomeGroup. Follow the prompts, or skip this routine if you already have a Homegroup. Select Stream, Allow Internet access to home media. if you dont see that option listed, choose Link an online ID. The User Accounts Control Panel will open again. Select Link online ID, enter your log-in info, and press Sign In. Click Close. Back in Windows Media Player, select Allow Internet access to home media, press Yes, and click OK. Leave this computer running whenever you want to share media. repeat these setup steps on the remote PC: Link the account with your Windows Live id, and activate streaming. Once youve finished, the home media will appear under the Other Libraries heading. you can browse and stream music, pictures, and video there. note that corporate firewalls may block this streaming service if you are at work or on some other high-security network.
a Free pluG-in called liveupload lets you send movies straight to youTube from moviemaker.
and adjust the value for Duration. Click the Home tab to return to the main view.
Publish Movies to YouTube

Windows Live can host your finished movie at Microsoft Soapbox, enabling your friends and family to view it from their Web browsers. But if you already have a youTube presence, you can add a plug-in called LiveUpload to upload to that site from within Movie Maker. Visit the LiveUpload page, and click Download Now to grab the plug-in. Save and run the file, following the installers instructions; the installation takes just a few seconds. restart Movie Maker, open the Home tab if needed, and press the bottom half of Publish. (Click on the word or below it.) Select LiveUpload to YouTube. enter your username and password, and click Sign In. enter a title, add a description, and complete the other details; then click Publish. Movie Maker will prepare the movie and upload it to your youTube account. The process may take anywhere from several minutes to more than an hour, depending on the length of the video.
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(Media Player only works with dVds.) Activate Media Center after installing the necessary thirdparty software; then navigate to the heading, and activate that third-party option. if its the first time youve played
on a home neTwork, check the appropriate boxes to make media appear on other local windows 7 pcs.
Control Media Streaming on Your Local Network

Windows 7 simplifies the process of local streaming with the help of Homegroup networking. youll let only trusted devices into your Homegroup (your local network), and theyll have unfettered access to media files. you can manage these settings within the Homegroup section of the networking and internet Control Panel, including deactivating checkboxes if you want to share only certain kinds of media files. your documents folder, for example, remains private by default. you can turn on streaming in the networking and internet Control Panel, too: Select Stream my pictures, music, and videos to all devices on my home network. Otherwise, you can activate local streaming within Windows Media Player: Select Stream, Automatically allow devices to play my media. Then choose Automatically allow all computers and media devices. networked libraries will show up under the Other Libraries heading within Media Player and Photo gallery.
click The mulTiple-sQuare icon (shown at upper right) in lightweight playback mode to restore the normal windows media player perspective.
a Blu-ray movie, the extra software may still launch to complete installation. Otherwise, you can watch the Bluray disc from within Media Center.
Activate Windows Media Player Lightweight Playback Mode

i often leave Windows Media Player running in the background while i work or surf the Web. But jumping to that app when i want to change a music track, check the name of a file thats playing, or otherwise interact takes a few extra steps. Heres how to proceed: With Windows 7, begin playing a file, and click the icon at the lower right. The Media Player window will shrink, and you can move it into a corner of your display while it continues to run. That way, youll have all of the controls and information nearby. Alternatively, you can interact with media from within the Taskbar. Just hover the mouse over the Media Player icon. youll instantly preview the current file and gain control through simple playback buttons.
Play DVDs and Blu-ray Discs Within Windows 7

Most Windows 7 editions include the codecs for natively playing back many standard video formats, including .mov, divX, and dVds. (Starter and Home Basic omit this extra.) if you want to watch a movie, just pop in a dVd and start it with AutoPlay options, or within Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center. Blu-ray discs dont work natively in Windows 7, so youll have to add Blu-ray-capable software, such as CyberLink PowerdVd or ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre. you can watch high-definition discs within those playback applications, or you can launch Blu-ray discs from within Media Center.
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Push Media to Network Devices

if you sometimes stream media to networked devices, you may be able to push media directly to your speakers, TV screen, or both. For this purpose, Windows 7 includes a new Play To function that instantly broadcasts media without your having to dig through any menus on those devices. This feature works with recent dLnA-enabled streaming devices, though you should check with your specific hardware company to ascertain compatibility. For example,
click The Top button to let other pcs on your network push media to this system.
even though the Xbox 360 isnt dLnA-certified, you can still reach it with Play To. you can activate the Play To feature on Homegroup PCs from within Windows Media Player. The process is handy if you have a PC hooked up to a TV or stereo, or if you want to push media on a networked computer in some other way. Heres how to enable Play To. On the host PC, open Windows Media Player, pick Stream, Allow remote control of my Player, and click Allow remote control on this network. Henceforth, on the remote system that shares the Homenetwork, youll be able to right-click a playlist or file, select Play to, and choose the name of the remote system or media streaming hardware. you can even select Play to by right-clicking within the desktop, instantly starting a file running without additional setup.
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Prepare Your PC to Play

Manage, tweak, and control your PC gaming experience with Windows 7s built-in features.
Zack Stern
indOWS HAS ALWAyS been the PC gamers operating system of choice. As with its predecessor, Windows 7 builds on the franchises gaming pedigree by bringing games and performance tools to the forefront. Behind the scenes, Windows 7s improved resource management delivers some performance enhancements in your favorite games. Heres how to get the best experience from the new OS.
Otherwise, access the games by clicking the Start Menu and then Games. The games browser will show a list of Microsofts preinstalled freebies and most of your installations. Some of my titlesespecially those i downloadeddidnt appear in this menu. To add one manually, just drag the game application into the games browser. (Before you release, an annotation by the mouse will say that it will create a link.) The games browser might include titles that you just dont play, such as Minesweeper. Put those away by going to the right-click menu and choosing Hide This Game or Remove From List.
Start Me Up
if you hate funor play only occasionallyyou can hide the games menu. Click the Start Menu, and right-click an empty area in its upper-right corner. Select Properties. Click the Start Menu tab, and pick Customize. Click the radio button under Games labeled Dont display this item to excise it from the Start Menu. Click OK, and then Apply.
Browse Games
Once the games browser shows the titles you want, you can just begin playing by double-clicking like normal. But the browser includes several other features that can improve the process.
as shown in the right-hand column, the windows experience index rating of 4.8 should be more than enough to play The sims 3.
Click a game, and the Preview Pane will show more details in most situations. The left tab gives the eSrB (entertainment Software rating Board) score. you can use these details to decide which games are appropriate for your kids; click the rating for more information.
click The radio button dont display this item to remove the Games headingor other itemsin the start menu.
The right tab shows the required, recommended, and current Windows experience index scores. This rating has
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been updated since Windows Vista, but follows the same idea, scoring your system speed for the game based on the processor, rAM, video card, and other factors. its not a foolproof way to decide if a game will run well; these ratings dont even appear on game boxes. But you can use them as a rough guide. The eSrB details and hardware requirements are downloaded for each game, but unfortunately, these details might be absent in some situations. For example, all of my manually added gamesand even some that Windows 7 automatically recognized as gameslacked these scores. game updates werent working at press time either, but i like the idea. you can right-click a title, and choose Check online for updates to be sure that youre running the latest version. These problems may eventually get fixes via Windows updates; however, at the time of writing, my results remained glitchy.
under windows seTTinGs, click Time limits to set up further rules, such as a schedule of when this user has computer access.
ume, speaker, and microphone settings. Windows Firewall lets you disable security settings if certain games cant get online. And Programs and Features lets you uninstall a game when youve had enough.
Activate Parental Controls

Parental Controls settings let you restrict certain user accounts from playing games that exceed a specified eSrB rating. While we recommend actually seeing what your kids playtry playing with themthis can help manage which games they can access when youre away. Click Parental Controls to begin, opening up the Parental Controls area of the User Accounts and Family Safety Control Panel. Parental Controls settings work by giving different levels of permission to different users; each family member will need their own user account. When you first open the area, youll likely see only your user account, unless youve already set up multiple log-ins. Click Create a new user account if needed, enter the name, and click Create account. Click one of the user account names to adjust the settings. Choose the radio button for On, enforce current settings, then click Games. in the next screen, click Set game ratings. Pick one of the eSrB ratings. Also, click Block games with no rating to restrict access to unknown titles if desired. Pick any of the additional options to block games with certain content, such as Mild Drug Reference or Blood and Gore. if your game otherwise fits the age rating but triggers one of these flags, itll be blocked. note that nearly all games that go online earn the Online interactions Are not rated by the eSrB warning. (So if you block that, youll probably block everything.) Click OK. if Windows 7 doesnt enable eSrB ratings for all of your gamesthis happened to me in a few casesuse Block or Allow specific games to make manual adjustments. Click OK a few times to return to the Parental Controls screen.
Jump to Game-Related Areas Quickly

youll likely need to tweak certain settings to create the best results for gaming. The games browser thoughtfully puts these frequently visited destinations into the Tools menu. Click Tools to begin.
The Tools menu gives easy access to gamers frequently opened control panels.
Pick Hardware to go to the Hardware and Sound Control Panel. Click Display Devices to adjust your screen resolution. (From there, click the Advanced settings text to update video card drivers.) Input Devices configures and tests gamepads and joysticks. Audio Devices sets the system vol53
The 4.8 processor score is a little soft for high-end games, but the 6.5 for gaming graphics should help run higher-requirement titles.
if your normal account lacks a password, be sure to enable one. These controls lose their purpose if your kids can just access games through your user name. Click User Accounts in the lower-left, and follow those instructions to enter your password.
Update Your Windows experience Index

The games browser uses Windows experience index benchmarks to gauge how well games will run. results are rough, but you can rerun the score to improve the stats in certain situations. Be sure that you have the latest video card driver. From the games area, open Tools, Display Devices. Click Advanced settings. Click the Adapter tab if needed, and pick Properties. Open the Driver tab. Click Update Driver and Search automatically for updated driver software. in some cases, however, your video card company could have an update that Windows doesnt find. Manually compare the driver version number listed there with the latest software available from your graphics card Web site, and download those files if needed. Open the Performance information and Tools Control Panel to view your Windows experience index scores. Click Re-run the assessment after you install new hardware or update drivers. your score might change, better reflecting the games you can run.
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Optimize Your Windows 7 PC

Squeeze the very best performance out of your PC with these Windows 7 optimization tricks.
daVid MurpHy
indOWS 7 COMeS as a slight performance improvement over its predecessor, Windows Vista. But if you want to get the very best performance possible, you should make a few system tweaks to eliminate resource-hogging programs and features. in this guide, ill show you a few good ways to boost your PCs performance without upgrading your hardware. First, one warning: A quick internet search will lead you to treasure troves of advice for making the most of your OS, but bewaremany of those suggestions are fools gold, myths inherited from Vista and XP optimization guides that could actually do more harm than good for your Windows 7 systems performance. The tweaks and suggestions i offer here wont transform your rusty old junker into a screaming new Porsche, but they will help you squeeze some extra speed and space out of your native Windows 7 installation. if you intend to perform additional modifications to Windows 7 beyond the options i describe here, be sure to run a quick search for Windows 7 performance myths. dont be fooled by the more outlandish tweaking claims and tutorials youll find on the internet. investigate the changes you intend to make to your system before you do anything, or you might find yourself in an undesirable (or even irreparable) situation.
the most important consideration, especially if your systems video and sound are integrated onto the system board. if those components arent integrated in your PC, add drivers for your video card and sound card to the list, followed by your input devices and any additional parts youve attached to your system in some capacity (including, but not limited to, a Wi-Fi card, any PCi-based devices, and printers). if youre not sure what components you have, grab the free program driverMax and use it to scan your system for components and for potential driver updates. Cant find Windows 7 drivers for a product? Try using Windows Vista drivers instead. if you run into trouble, try right-clicking on the executable file and left-clicking Troubleshoot Compatibility. run through the wizard and select the option that refers to the programs running fine in an earlier version of Windows but not in Windows 7. Select Windows Vista as the subsequent operating system, click
Speed Up a Fresh Windows 7 Upgrade

When you reach the first, fresh desktop after completing a successful Windows 7 installation, you might be stunned to find your components in perfect working order. For the most part Windows 7 is quite good about setting up drivers for networking, video, input devices, and other elementsgood, that is, but not great. To maximize your PCs performance, first hunt down and install Windows 7 drivers for all of the critical components attached to your system. Motherboard drivers are
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windows 7s compaTiBiliTy functionality gives you the opportunity to run legacy programs that dont play well with the new os. its also a good way to fool windows 7 into using vista drivers.
Next through the offered prompts, and then run the instal-
lation executable again. Finally, though it might sound odd, dont use the Windows Updater to install drivers for your machineMicrosoft is notorious for releasing old and/or incompatible drivers through this service.
Optimize Your Storage

if you installed Windows 7 as an upgrade from Windows Vista, youll find a folder labeled C:\Windows.old. This folder, as you might expect, holds the full contents of your old Windows Vista system. its huge, and its a waste of space. Scroll through the folders for any files that you want to save in your new Windows 7 OS, and then delete
ediTinG The reGisTry can be a perilous process. make sure that youre editing only the menu delay values, else you might find yourself in a heap of trouble.
menus take to appear. Click on the Windows Start button and type regedit into the Search programs and files box. Welcome to the Windows 7 registrydont touch or modify anything without good reason. Left-click on the expandable arrow next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. expand the Control Panel folder, and then click directly on Desktop in the hierarchy. in the right pane, look for and double-click MenuShowDelay. Change the value from 400 to any lesser number thats 1 or greater; this figure represents the milliseconds of delay between your click and
alThouGh allowinG The system to manage the size of your paging file is the best option, for maximum performance you should move this file to a hard drive that doesnt include your os.
the entire folder from your drive. Space saved. if your PC has multiple hard drives, you can boost performance by moving the location of the systems paging file from the drive containing the C:\ partition to a separate hard drive. To do that, open Control Panel and choose System. From there, click Advanced System Settings. Select the Advanced tab, and then click the Settings button under the Performance category. On the new window that pops up, choose the Advanced tab. Finally, click Change. Uncheck the box labeled Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Select C: from the drive box and switch it to the No paging file option. next, select a different hard drive and choose System managed size. Click OK and restart your computer.
Pushing Your Performance

To create a faster Windows 7 experience, start by modifying the amount of time that mouse-over boxes and clicked
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iF youre willinG to sacrifice the pretty looks of windows 7, you can improve your systems performance by disabling some of its fancier eye candy. either nuke them all, or pick some according to your personal tolerance.
a menus display. restart the computer to apply the changes immediately, or continue to the next tweak. See the folder labeled Mouse (below desktop)? Click that, and then search for and select the MouseHoverTime registry key. Just as before, change this value to any lesser number thats 1 or greater. Close the registry editor, restart the computer, and youll have faster mouseovers. if youre willing to sacrifice looks for speed, you can modify the visual settings of the Windows 7 interface to emphasize performance over presentation. go back to the System section of Control Panel and click on Advanced System Settings again. On the System Properties window that appears, choose the Advanced tab and then click on the Settings box underneath the Performance category. The Performance Options window will pop up. There, youll see a list of checked boxes that correspond to all of the window dressing in the operating system. if you dont mind transforming your OS into a clone of Windows 2000, click the button that tells Windows to adjust its visual settings for best performance. its a harsh step to take, thoughif youd prefer a piecemeal approach, uncheck only the boxes that relate to Windows Aero (such as Aero peek and transparent glass). youll retain a semblance of a pretty desktop while still improving performance a teeny bit.
that they run every time, regardless of whether you intend to use the application during a given session. Click Start and type msconfig into the Search programs and files field. Press <Enter>. in the System Configuration window that appears, select the Startup tab. Move your mouse between the headers of the Manufacturer and Command columns, and shrink the Manufacturer column down; the Command column is the one you care about.
use Black vipers suggested tweaks to windows 7 services to enhance your machines performance. its better that you follow his instructions as opposed to going at it yourself, because certain services are critical to the operating systems functionality.
Conserve Resources
Once youve installed a fair amount of programs on your PCyour core base of apps, as it wereyoull want to
A number of the startup applications that launch on your machine sit in the background, consuming resources. For example, take iTunes: if youve installed this application, youll find iTunes and QuickTime listings in the Startup tab. Both iTunesHelper.exe and QTTask.exe are unnecessary additions to your systemthe former launches when you start iTunes anyway, and the latter places a QuickTime icon in the corner of your system for easy program launching. Uncheck them both. As for the other programs on your list, try running a quick Web search of each applications executable-file name to find out if the program is worth keeping or removing. Once youve checked the programs you want to launch at startup and unchecked the programs you dont, click OK. in addition to startup programs, youll find services on your PC; Microsoft recommends trimming both to squeeze the most performance out of your system. For the services, click Start, type services.msc into the search field, and press <Enter>. Up pops the Services window, a list of options and executables thats even more confusing than the startup window. you cant identify which services to turn off (and which to leave on) without taking a close look at how each
speed up your windows 7 start times by disabling unnecessary programs that rush to load as soon as the os pops up.
check that your system doesnt have any unwanted applications running in the background that could otherwise impede the machines general performance. These programs launch themselves during the operating systems startup process, and are often designed to help you load their corresponding applications faster. The problem is
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one affects your systems overall performance. Thankfully, someone has been doing that exact task since Windows XP: Charles Sparks, under the alias Black Viper, has listed every single permutation of Windows 7s services across all of its versions, along with a safe and tweaked list of which services you should modify and how you should set their parameters. To follow his advice, just double-click on any listed service. you need concern yourself only with the Startup type listing in the screen that appears next. By switching among the Automatic, Manual, and disabled modes, depending on his recommendations, youll be able to control exactly how services launchif at allduring the Windows startup process and during your general use of the operating system. every little bit helps.
Maintain Top Performance

if you want to keep your system fast, be sure to clear out your C:\Windows\Temp folder on occasion. do it as soon as you boot into the OS, or even through Safe Mode, to ensure that you wipe every last unused file from your drive. in the same vein, dont use Windows 7s uninstall function or a programs default uninstall executable to remove the application from your drive. instead, use the free revo Uninstaller utility; this awesome application removes programs using their default uninstall routines, but it also goes one step further by scanning your system and registry to clean away any and all traces of the program from your hard drive. Tweaking the operating system to increase its performance helps you achieve better results with the equipment you have, but the surest way to boost your PCs prowess is to upgrade the hardware. Once youve done that, remember to keep your system free from clutterwhat good is a performance boost on a messy system anyhow?
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Master Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

10 must-know keystrokes to speed up your workflow in Windows 7.
rick Broida
indOWS 7 MAy just be the most keyboardfriendly operating system yet. Without ever laying a finger on your mouse, you can dock windows, quick-launch your favorite apps, enable external displays, and much more. Sure, you have to memorize a few new key-combos, but once youve integrated them into your daily routine, youll wonder how you ever got along without them.
launch hotkey to any installed program. Just right-click the programs icon, choose Properties, and then click the Shortcut tab. Click once in the Shortcut key field, then press the hotkey combo you want to assign (Ctrl-Shift-H, for instance). Click OK and youre done! Assuming you have a good memory, application launching doesnt get any faster than this.
Start-Menu Searches: Windows key

This carryover from Vista is arguably one of Windows must underused and undervalued features. A simple tap of the Windows key activates the Start menu, where you can type the first few letters of a program name, Control Panel setting, Word document, or whatever and then hit enter to launch it. Why reach for the mouse?
Dock Active Windows: Win + Left or Right Arrow

A great shortcut for users with widescreen monitors, this combo docks the active window to the left or right half of the screen (depending on which arrow you tap), at the same time maximizing it top-to-bottom.
Magnify Your View: Win + (+)

Windows 7s built-in magnifier lets you zoom in wherever you place your cursor. Just tap Win-plus (thats the Windows key and the plus key) to enable the magnifier and set a 200% zoom level. When you mouse to any edge of the screen, your view scrolls accordingly. The more you tap the keys, the higher the zoom. Of course, you can just as easily zoom out again with Win-minus.
Minimize (Almost) All Windows: Win + Home

This combo lets you send all open windows packingexcept the one thats currently active. Sure beats clicking Minimize on a bunch of individual windows. When you tap the shortcut a second time, it restores all previously open windows.
Make Windows Transparent: Win + Space

This is the keyboard equivalent of mousing over the transparency tool in the right corner of the System Traygreat for those times when you need to something on the desktop (like a gadget) but dont want to minimize all your windows. After tapping Win-Space, your windows will stay see-through until you let go of the Windows key.
Open Presentation Settings: Win + P

good news for business users constantly struggling to get Windows to cooperate with projectors: A quick tap of Win-P activates a monitor-settings panel. Click Duplicate or Projector only to send your display to the big screen, or Extend if youve connected a second monitor and want extra screen real estate.
Quick-Launch Taskbar Apps: Win + (1-9)

As you know, Windows 7 makes it a snap to pin frequently used programs to the taskbar. But did you also know that these programs are automatically assigned a number and corresponding Windows-key shortcut? Just press Windows-1 to launch the first pinned program (the one closest to the Start button), Windows-2 to launch the next one, and so on. Fastest app-launching known to man! except, of course, for this...
Create a New Folder: Ctrl + Shift + N

Forget the old way of creating new folders. in Windows 7, all it takes is a tap of Ctrl-Shift-N. This works in any open explorer window, but also on the desktop. After the new folder appears, just type in a name as usual and hit Enter.
Bring Gadgets to the Fore: Win + G

now that Windows gadgets are no longer relegated to the Sidebar, theyre free to sit anywhere on your desktop. Of course, that means they can get obscured by other windows. As you now know, a tap of Win-Space makes those windows temporarily see-through, but what if you
Quick-Launch Any App: Hotkey

Like Vista before it, Windows 7 lets you assign a quick59
want to put the gadgets on top of your windows? no problem: Just tap Win-G. Okay, shortcut junkies, get tapping! And be sure to check out the Hassle-Free PC Blog, where youll find more keyboard-driven time-savers and a wealth of other helpful advice.
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Windows7 Superguide

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Windows 7

46 Manage All Your Media in

9 How to Upgrade From XP to

52 Prepare Your PC to Play

10 3 Key Tweaks for Windows 7

55 Optimize Your Windows 7 PC

illusTrATions: keiTh negleY

31 Put Windows 7 to Work for

39 Secure Your Windows 7 PC

illusTrATion: keiTh negleY

The smartest Way to upgrade

How to Move Up to Windows 7

Run the Upgrade

2. After agreeing to the 5545-word end-User Licensing

3. you might be asked to pick a partition. Unless youre

5. if youre doing a clean install, a warning box will tell

6. you dont have to enter the Product Key when asked,

7. One page, titled Help protect your computer and

Some More Steps and Tweaks

windows 7: upgrade checklist

4 A good book: Youll be spending a lot of that time waiting.

illusTrATion: keiTh negleY

Choose Your Version of Windows 7

How to Upgrade from XP to Windows 7

3 Key Tweaks for Windows 7

not Flashy, Just effective

illusTrATion: keiTh negleY

A Worthy Successor to Windows XP

Interface: The New Taskmaster

Meet the New Windows 7 Taskbar

Jump Lists provide instant access to program features.

A box shows that the app is running.

Thumbnails show you all of a running apps windows.

New Taskbar icons are larger and unlabeled.

management tweaks are nice. But its changes to the Sys13

More good news: Windows 7 largely dispenses with the

File Management: The Library System

Windows 7 vs. Vista

Security: UAC Gets Tolerable

windows 7s 10 Best Features

7. User Account Control that you control: if youre okay

2. Slicker, quicker Taskbar previews: now they show you

3. The convenience of Jump lists: These context-sensitive

4. A System Tray you can love: new controls prevent the

5. A more media-savvy Windows Media Player: love Apples

8. library privileges: You can bundle folders from locations

9. Reasonable hardware requirements: historically, new

6. Alerts via Action

Windows 7 vs. Vista

visTas uac FeaTure has two settings: on and off. WINDOWS 7

Applications: The Fewer the Merrier

10 Things That still need Fixing

Input: Reach Out and Touch Windows 7

Windows 7 vs. Vista

Device Management: Setting the Stage

windows 7 Gives you file-by-file control.

Bottom Line: Is Windows 7 Worth It?

Much slimmer, slightly Faster

illusTrATion: keiTh negleY

Windows 7 Makes Some Strides Over Vista

Windows 7 vs. Vista

Windows 7 vs. Vista: Speed Test Results