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How To Do Practically Anything in Windows 7

Josh Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:08:37 +0000

For the past month Andre, one of our knowledgeable bloggers, has been working to introduce readers to Windows 7. His very detailed and easy to follow guides cover everything from choosing what version of Windows 7 fits your needs to a guided tour of the new operating system. This post brings all of his guides to one central location so that you can learn how to do practically anything in Windows 7.

Andre’s Windows 7 posts on Notebooks.com:

A Look at the Windows 7 Editions: If you’re trying to figure out which version of Windows 7 is right for you this is a great place to start. This guide covers everything from editions and versions to pricing and upgrade paths.

How to Install Windows 7: This guide walks you through the installation process highlighting important steps and providing pictures to guide you through installing Windows 7.

How to Upgrade to Windows 7: If you aren’t installing from scratch then this guide is for you. It contains a walkthrough of an “in-place” upgrade and information about how to fix compatibility issues.

How to Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7: Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 brings many improvements but it’s not as easy as an upgrade from Vista. This guide will provide you with tips to make it easier.

Using Windows Easy Transfer in Windows 7: Windows Easy Transfer makes moving your files and settings from an old computer to a new one easy. This guide walks you through how to use Windows Easy Transfer to get your files to your windows 7 computer.

A Guided Tour of Windows 7 for New Users: If this is your first time looking at Windows 7 than this walk through is a must. Andre highlights the changes and helps you find out where things have moved to in the new operating system.

Using the Improved Taskbar and Start Menu in Windows 7: Some of the biggest changes users will notice in Windows 7 are on the Taskbar and in the Start Menu. Check out all of the changes and how to use them to your advantage.

Using the Windows 7 Desktop – Fun Time Savers: This guide explores the additional time savers and “pizzazz” that the Windows 7 Desktop brings to your new computer.

Windows Explorer – What’s new in Windows 7: Another area in Windows 7 that has changed significantly is Windows Explorer. Explorer is what you see when you click on My Computer and is generally how you interact with files on your computer. Come learn about the refreshing cleaner look it has in Windows 7.

A Tour: Windows 7 Desktop, Windows Explorer and Control Panel: This tour will quickly get you up to speed on some of the improvements found in Windows 7 and give you a better understanding of how to navigate the new operating system.

Improved Windows 7 Applets: Come learn how the included productivity apps in Word can be used. This guide includes a look at; the Scenic Ribbon, WordPad, Paint, Calculator, XPS Viewer and Sticky Notes in Windows 7.

Networking Made Easy with HomeGroups in Windows 7: In past versions of Windows setting up a home network to share files, printers and more was an involved process. Now, with HomeGroups in Windows 7, networking your computers is easier than ever and this guide shows you how it’s done.

Improved Recovery Options in Windows 7: Past versions of Windows have included the ability to use a Recovery Console to fix some computer problems but most of the time it didn’t work well. Windows 7 has an improved Recovery Console that can help you repair startup, do a System Restore, recover from backup backup and more. Come look at these repair options in more detail.

A Tour: Windows 7 Desktop, Windows Explorer and Control Panel

Andre — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:03:32 +0000

The Windows 7 Desktop puts a lot of power in your view, for Windows XP users in particular, I would like to get you up to speed on some of the improvements. I hope to make this a series of post touring the changes that have been introduced in this release. Lets see what’s new.

Click HERE to enlarge and see a bigger view of the Windows 7 Desktop Tour

Click HERE to enlarge

Click here to enlarge

Control Panel contains a collection of new items that help be more productive, keep your information and computer secure and easily maintained.

As we approach the final release of Windows 7 coming this October, there is a lot to expect, these early previews are just glimpses of some of the powerful capabilities users will be able to immediately taking advantage of. Windows 7 promises to truly redefine how you work with your personal information and the view from the desktop has never been more fun.

Windows Explorer – What’s new in Windows 7?

Andre — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:58:46 +0000

Windows Explorer has gone through some significant enhancements in Windows 7, featuring a more refreshing, cleaner design that focuses on simplicity and accessibility. In this article we take a look at some of the changes and improvements such as the new text only Command Bar buttons and Libraries which focuses on aggregating data from desperate locations shared between multiple PC’s within your home network. Windows Vista introduced changes to how you navigated Explorer. The Bread Crumb address bar introduced in Vista featured a great way to move between folders and different paths within a folder hierarchy, nothing has changed here but the Address bar is more customizable allowing users to resize the Search box or Address Bar region. The Navigation pane has been simplified into multiple categories such as Favorites, Libraries, Home Group, Local Computer and Network, while the details pane at the bottom of the window is much thinner in height.

The improved Windows Explorer shell in Windows 7

The Search Field in each Explorer shell now features the name of the area in which you’re searching, for e.g. Search Documents, Search Music, Search Pictures etc. Activating the Search form also reveals small improvements such as saved searches called Search Scopes criteria based filters for content in the different Explorer shells, such as Authors, Date Taken, delivering more accurate results. Command bar in the shell folders seem radically different, over the years Microsoft has adopted a slightly improved look and feel with each release of Windows, Windows 98 introduced a web inspired Command Bar and Vista featured a more static less controlling change. Windows 7 is not much of an improvement; menus are now text only arranged on the left with buttons on the right for configuring icon previews and window layout.

More customizable, you can address the Address Bar/Search field region size

An even more simplified Command Bar with simplified layout for organization and customization.

Shell Folders

Common Shell folders such as Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos and Downloads are known as Libraries. Modifications have been made to how data that might be scattered across your hard disk and network locations are viewed and accessed. For instance, the old Shared Documents folder from XP or Vista’s Public folders are less prominent in Windows 7. They still exist and are critical when sharing data with multiple computers on a network. But what has happened is that Libraries makes accessing the data from these disparate locations much easier, a file added to the Public Document folder is automatically aggregated into the Documents Library. Of course, you might say, there are some things I don’t want to have mixed up with my Personal Data and prefer to keep them in separate locations. No worry, you still have access to your Personal Shell folders under your User folder. You can create your own Library too and add specific locations to them and data from those locations will be automatically aggregated from there. Only you can decide whether you want information from your personal Libraries to be shared and you change this setting even after setting up a HomeGroup. Libraries takes advantage of new technologies such as Home Groups and will be an asset especially if you are the type of user who has a laptop that connects to a Domain at work, but still want to access data on your home network without having to mess with your workgroup settings just to do so.

Common Library folders on their pedestals.

Inside of the Documents Library.

More about Libraries

Adding a networked folder to my Library Locations from another PC for easy access and searching.

Libraries are a new experience in Vista that streamlines the process of managing the array of information users have scattered across their PC. Organization was a key focus of Vista, but regardless you tried your best to keep your files in their appropriate locations photos in the Pictures directory, videos in the Videos directory, audio in Music directory, etc. You still ended up having a lot of files stored in folders you either create or parts of the system such as the desktop out of quick convenience. With Libraries, you don’t have to remember exactly where you stored a particular photo or search multiple places to find what you need. You don’t even have to keep multiple copies of the same file around. With Libraries, you can not only organize, but view and manage files that that are stored in more than once place. This reduces the need to view files even when they are stored in different folders. Libraries are so powerful that they even span different disk drives, PCs on your home network. There are a range of options for organizing and browsing, by type, date taken or genre depending on the file type. The power of Libraries grows when combined with rich capabilities of Home Groups, meaning; families can get in on the fun by accessing a shared library with the right permissions setup.

Search Explorer

Windows 7 Explorer Search features expanded search capabilities, options such as Saved Searches and Search Scopes make finding information even more accurate and detailed.

The Search Explorer is very minimalist in Windows 7, showing only a blank canvas with the Search box activated for a few seconds. It’s all about simplicity, previously in Vista, the Search Explorer displayed common criteria’s such as Documents, Pictures and Music. Because of the tight integration with Libraries, you can search beyond the PC right at the Start menu. When Searching across multiple PC’s in a corporate setting, Administrators can fine tune how a search is executed with the ability to define up to five search destinations. All of the search processing is handled on a remote server and results are presented to you within your comfort zone. This sounds complex and it is, but Windows 7 is subtracting the complexity out of it and presenting you only with ease of use part of the equation.

Search highlights – a wicked cool feature that makes criteria based searching a fun activity.

You can even search other locations on the fly while you are at it! Yes, I am a big 80’s fan – so what?!?

The Search engine in 7 uses an improved algorithm to determine relevance and rank results. Within those results, words from the search query you make are highlighted with parts of a file or even a path to it to give you a clearer idea of what’s happening and if its meeting your expectation. Search operates multiple ways by offering results based on multiple Libraries if you search through the Start menu if you search specifically from Windows Explorer; it stays within that particular library. For persons who have data stored on multiple devices, Windows 7 Search is a dream come through, a new feature called Search Federation allows you easily add a location; these include multiple PCs, external hard drives, servers and even websites.

Network Explorer

An even more simplified Network and Sharing Center

Network Explorer in Windows 7 is even more organized. One of the things I didn’t like about Windows Vista’s Network and Sharing Center was the abundance of network related Task a user had to contend with. Windows 7 adds simplicity to this by consolidating Task in the Network and Sharing Center to a separate area called Change your network settings:, here you will find familiar options such as Connect to a network, Setup a new connection or network, Diagnose and repair (now ‘Fix a network problem). Sharing and Discovery now has its own dedicated Explorer shell, located under task called ‘Change advanced sharing settings’.

Conclusion

Windows 7 brings some very welcome changes to working in the Windows interface. Small, subtle changes to Search, navigation and even customization make Windows 7 a joy to work with on a daily basis. Users today have an overwhelming amount of information stored on their PCs and various devices, keeping it all organized and accessible can be a chore, Windows 7 takes the complexity out of that and I think its the gem of this release a lot of users will discover they could never do without.