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How to Install, Use, Restore, Recover and Repair Windows 7 - Win7: How It Differs from Windows XP and Vista - Page 1

This section of this website provides detailed information on the versions of Windows 7 (Win7), with the emphasis placed on information likely to be most useful to the home user, such as the most useful features, the new features and those that are missing compared with Windows Vista and Windows XP, the available methods of installation, recovery and repair, etc. There is too much information on the two long pages of this article to provide a brief index, so please just scroll down both pages slowly and read the headings. That way you should be able to find what you are looking for in particular and get a good idea what the other coverage is - and you'll probably find a lot of interesting and very useful information on Win7 that isn't made widely available by Microsoft or on the web. A separate section of this website called Fixing Windows 7 Problems provides solutions tothe probems that users have encountered. If you only want to know what the various ways of installing or reinstalling Win7, click How to install, repair and recover Windows 7 to visit that section of this website.

That latest versions of Windows are called Windows 7. The main versions for the home user are Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows Professional (the equivalent of Windows Vista Business for home and small-to-medium-sized business use), and Windows 7 Ultimate. Windows 7 Enterprise is the version designed for large business enterprises. The forerunners of these versions are called Windows Vista.

February 9, 2011 was the release date of the first Service Pack. The easiest way it to update to Windows 7 SP1 is via Windows Update. If you haven't updated, opening Windows Update in the Control Panel should provide it as an optional update.

Note that if you had created a backup of the system or a master image of the system, you could just restore it if you were to run into a seemingly irrecoverable software problem (backups and images can't solve problems caused by failed hardware). Visit the Backup section of this website for the various methods of creating backups and system images.

If you have deleted a file or folder and you need to get it back but cannot recover it from the Recycle Bin, there is no need to restore it from a backup, because Windows Vista and Windows 7 provide a Restore previous versions feature, which is linked to the System Restore feature, which can only create as many daily restore points as it has been allocated reserved hard-disk space. Windows deletes old restore points to create new ones when the reserved disk space runs out, so you can only recover a previous version of a file or folder if a restore point exits that contains the version that you want to restore. System Restore allows you to set the amount of reserved disk space it can use. The more disk space it has, the more daily restore points it can create.

Previous versions of files: frequently asked questions -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/...

You can also use your web browser's search facility, which in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox is under the Edit menu (Find on this page and Find respectively). For example, enter the term Windows XP Mode to locate information on the feature on this page that allows Windows XP programs to run in Windows 7.

Introduction to Windows 7

The versions of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7, are a marked improvement over the equivalent versions of Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Information on how to install (and repair) the Windows 7 Upgrade versions on a desktop or laptop computers running Windows XP and Windows Vista is provided on this page, including information on how to create a dual-boot system with Windows XP and Windows 7, which many users may be interested in doing given that some of the software and hardware that they are using with Windows XP may not run on Windows 7.

Windows 7 is available in four versions for the home user - Windows 7 Home Premium - Windows 7 Professional - Windows 7 Ultimate - Family Pack (three user licences for Windows 7 Home Premium).

October 4, 2010. - Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack is available again -

The Family Pack that provides three user licences for Windows 7 Home Premium is available in the UK again, having been discontinued after a few months of availability when Windows 7 first became available in October 2009. It is currently selling for £120.99 on amazon.co.uk with a three-copies-per-user limit. The Upgrade Edition, which can be used to upgrade Windows Vista or replace Windows XP, with a single user licence is selling for £89.91 and the Full Version is selling for £95.99, so considerable savings can be made by buying the Family Pack even if you only use two of the licences. Apparently, the offer is once again time-limited without an end date being given.

Visit amazon.co.uk or amazon.com to find out if the Windows 7 Family Pack is still available in the UK and USA. If amazon.co.uk can't sell it, it is no longer available in the UK.

Windows 7 Family Pack discount deal returns [Provides US price] -

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9189259/...

You can purchase cheaper OEM versions of Win7, which are tied to being installed only on the first computer that they are installed on. But if you bought, say, the Family Pack, which is now available again (for a limited unknown time period) having been withdrawn from sale, if one of those three computers is removed from use, you can install the unused licence on another computer. If all three of the original computers are no longer in use, you can install this retail version on another three computers. In short, you can install a retail copy of Win7 as many times as you like as long as only the number of computers that its licence covers are being used. Read the details of the OEM versions in these articles:

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/...

http://www.windowssecrets.com/2009/11/19/...

There is a version called Windows 7 Starter Edition, but it is available only when preinstalled on a new netbook computer. The desktop wallpaper can't be changed, the screen size is limited to 10.2 inches, Windows Media Center is not available, the multiple monitors feature is not supported, so expanding the desktop to a external monitor from the netbook is not possible, hard disk drive support is limited to disks no bigger than 250GB, the processor has to be single-core below 2.0GHz and fitted RAM memory is limited to 1GB. Otherwise , it is completely usable.

Another version is called Windows 7 Home Basic, which is not available worldwide, because it has been specifically created to be sold only in emerging (third-world) markets.

The following webpage provides a good video introduction to Windows 7.

Windows 7 first look [Video] -

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/video/8338/technology/Windows-7-first-look/...

To access the main Windows 7 support pages, visit the following page:

Windows 7 Support Centre -

http://support.microsoft.com/ph/14019/en-gb#tab0

Parental controls

Most parents with young children are aware of the highly undesirable material that can be accessed by anyone from a computer that is connected to the web.

Windows 7 makes it relatively simple for parents to limit the ways in which their children access the web. The parental controls are under the User Accounts and Family Safety heading in the Control Panel. Time limits can be set for web access, access can be restricted to certain websites, games and programs, but first a user account for each child has to be created by clicking Add or Remove User Accounts in User Accounts and Family Safety.

You are the Administrator for those user accounts and so Windows makes you set a password so that only you can make changes to the settings. Even young children can be very computer savvy, so you can't leave any settings open so that any user can change them. Then setting the controls is simply a matter of clicking on the user account that you want to set. The links provided for Time, Games and Allow and Block Specific Programs settings provide the settings that are simple to understand and set. To change the settings for a user account just visit the same area of the Control Panel and click on the user account that you want to alter.

Click here! to watch the video on the Win7 parental controls on Microsoft's website.

The pages on Microsoft's website that you should visit if you intend to upgrade to a version of Windows 7 are:

Windows 7 system requirements -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor -

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx

You have to download the Upgrade Advisor and run it on the desktop or laptop computer that you intend to upgrade. It produces a report telling you which of your hardware and software is or is not likely to be compatible with Windows 7 and what to do if any of it is not.

The following webpage provides a good video guide of how to use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. An old computer was used so that any incompatible hardware and software would be revealed. You should have all of your devices, such as printers and scanners, attached and switched on so that they can be accessed for compatibility with Win7 by the program.

Windows 7 Video Guide: Can You Upgrade? -

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/video/8338/technology/...

Note well that Windows 7 requires a graphics/video card/chip that supports DirectX 9.0. For example, a Dell Dimension 3000 has an Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2 graphics chip built into the PC's motherboard, which only has three PCI slots (no AGP or PCI Express slots for an AGP or PCI Express graphics card.) The integrated graphics chip only supports DirectX 8.0, so when Windows 7 is installed it will only be able to start up in Safe Mode, because it won't be able to install usable device drivers.

Safe Mode uses the Microsoft Standard VGA driver that will be used by the Win7 setup in any case until it can install the device drivers for a graphics card that supports DirectX 9 or higher version of DirectX. The standard driver only supports a low screen resolution of 640 by 480 pixels with low 8-bit colour, so everything appears larger and less distinct and colourful than usual on the screen.

To find out which version of DirectX your computer is using, enter dxdiag in the Start => Run box (Windows XP) and the Start => Start Search box (Windows Vista). DirectX 9.0c is the highest official Microsoft version that Windows XP can run (DirectX 10.0 for XP is available as third-party downloads if you search for xp directx 10). Only Windows Vista and Windows 7 can run DirectX 10.0 and, so far, only Win7 can run DirectX 11.0, but an update should soon be available that allows Vista to run DirectX 11.0.

Microsoft DirectX 11 -

Provides information on the new features, such as Tessellation, Multi-Threading (which allows the full power of dual-, triple- and quad-core processors to be used) and DirectCompute. -

http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/aboutGFW/pages/directx.aspx

This is what the Windows 7 compatibility report says about the graphics on a Dell Dimension 3000 - a desktop PC from 2006:

"Windows Aero. Not capable. Your current graphics adapter won't support the Windows Aero user interface. Contact your PC manufacturer or retailer to see if an upgrade is possible."

Dell used a cheaper DirectX 8 chip in this 2006 computer. That shows the weakness in the compatibility report. It should have said that the graphics chip only supports DirectX 8.0 and that Windows 7 cannot be used unless the graphics card can be upgraded to a DirectX 9.0 card.

Fortunately, PCI graphics cards, one of the oldest standards, that support DirectX 9.0 are still available. Here is a good example of one you can purchase in the UK:

ZOTAC 256MB GEF FX5200 PCI RET Graphic card -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ZOTAC-256MB-FX5200-Graphic-card/dp/B000VG4J64

The purchaser reviews on that page provide useful information.

Some of those purchasers had to take extra steps apart from installing the card and connecting the monitor cable to it to get their graphics card to work, but all I did to get out of Safe Mode was open the case with the computer switched off (but still connected to the mains so that it remains earthed), insert the graphics card in a PCI slot, disconnect the VGA D-sub monitor cable from the graphics connection to the computer's motherboard and start up. Windows 7 then started up using the basic graphics driver that it uses in Safe Mode. The computer was connected to its broadband router by an Ethernet cable so that it could go online immediately. Windows 7 went online and obtained and installed the new graphics card's drivers and the drivers for the wireless adapter card installed in one of the other PCI slots. After I had disconnected the Ethernet cable, the computer detected the wireless connection to the router and asked for its encryption key and hey presto I was online wirelessly.

There was no need to disable the graphics chip on the motherboard in order to be able to use the new graphics card. However, some motherboards that have an integrated graphics chip have an option in the motherboard's BIOS to disable the onboard graphics when a graphics card is installed.

Windows 7 could not install the drivers for a DirectX 8.0 graphics card, so, after a PCI graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0 was installed in a PCI slot on the computer's motherboard, when Windows 7 had installed the drivers for the new graphics card, the onboard graphics chip of the Dell Dimension 3000 appeared in the Device Manager under the heading Other devices called Unknown PCI device with a yellow exclamation mark beside it, because Windows 7 could not install drivers that it does not support.

To rectify the situation, I opened the Device Manager by entering device in the Start => Search programs and files box and clicking the link to it that is provided. Then you just have to right-click the mouse with its pointer on the device in question and click on Disable to disable it. After that Win7 stops flagging that you have a video problem in the Action Center (flag icon) in the bottom right notification area.

Note that you have an option to turn off any item that is being flagged in the Action Center, which appears under Notification Area Icons in the Control Panel.

This US webpage provides several suitable PCI graphics cards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...

I upgraded a desktop computer that I built in 2005 without any device driver issues. This was no doubt because its integrated PCI Express graphics chip supports DirectX 9.0. When it was installed, Win7 went to Windows Update and downloaded and installed the graphics card and sound card drivers that it knew were required. The following article investigates how far back you can go to have a successful upgrade.

Windows 7: How low can you go? -

"Rejuvenating your 7-year-old PC with Windows, not Linux, can now make technical and fiscal sense." - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136192/...

If you are upgrading a brand-name computer (Dell, HP, MSI, Acer, etc.), its device drivers will have been tested by the Windows Hardware Quality Labs and will therefore be made available from Windows Update, which the installation process visits for missing drivers if you are online during the installation. Therefore, you shouldn't experience any driver problems after the upgrade - if there aren't any incompatibilities in the upgrade report that cannot be overcome. -

WHQL Testing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHQL_Testing

The report on my computer said that the computer's graphics card might not be able to run the Aero feature (that produces windows that have transparent areas around the edges), but it could do so after I just entered the word aero in the Start => Search programs and files box. A link within the Start Menu box was produced which ran a tool when clicked that examined the graphics system. It told me that the integrated graphics chip was set to reserve 64MB of system RAM memory and required 128MB to run the Aero feature. When a computer's motherboard has the graphics chip integrated on it instead of as a separate graphics card, there is usually an option in the BIOS that can increase or decrease the amount of system memory that it can reserve. My computer's BIOS had a maximum setting of 128MB, so I set it at that and ran the graphics tool again. It enabled the Aero feature.

The Search facility in Win7 is now so good that you just have to enter a search term in it to be provided with the links you need to find what you're looking for. For example, you just have to enter dev and Win7 brings up a link to the Device Manager. Gone are the days when you had to follow an elaborate click path or enter a particular search term, which is devmgmt.msc for the Device Manager in XP and Vista. Likewise, just enter disk management in order to obtain a link to Disk Management that provides all you need to manage the hard disk drive(s). Just right-click with the mouse on the graphical representation of a drive or partition to access the available options.

Using Disk Management in Windows 7 and Vista -

http://hubpages.com/hub/Using-Disk-Management-in-Windows-7-Vista

Unfortunately, I lost the Hibernate feature on my 2005 computer, which was replaced by a hybrid Sleep and Hibernation mode, called Sleep, that saves the complete state of the computer to memory and can still restore it as Hibernation does, but it keeps the computer in a low-power state instead of shutting the system down as Hibernation does. Apparently, the computer doesn't have the hardware to run the new Hibernation system, so the option for it does not appear. The Dell Dimension 3000 desktop computer with the new PCI graphics card had Hibernation but Sleep mode was greyed out, so Hibernation must be connected to the capabilities of the graphics card. My 2007 laptop PC, which I also upgraded, can use Hibernation and Sleep. I upgraded it from Windows Vista, also without any problems.

Any software or hardware that can run on a Windows Vista system will almost certainly be able to run on a Windows 7 system, so, for most users, there is not much point in having a dual-boot Vista/Win7 system.

The full product of one of the versions of Windows 7 cannot be used to upgrade and existing installation of Windows XP or Vista; it has to be clean installed on a new computer, hard disk drive on an computer already in use, or on its own partition on a hard disk drive that already has a version of Windows installed on it.

If you are familiar with the ways in which Windows XP and Windows Vista work, then you should have no difficulty adapting to Windows 7, because its features are set up well enough in the Control Panel - the heart of the system. I think that the layout could be improved, but when I look I usually find what I'm looking for sooner or later.

Here is the Windows 7 Control Panel with the View by: set to Category:

Here is the Windows 7 Control Panel with the View by: set to Small icons (Large icons is an alternative) that provides a listed view of the options:

Note that the Device Manager (4th entry in the first column) is now available, a useful Troubleshooting option (itself broken down into several categories) has been added and there is an item called Notification Area Icons that allows you to control how they are displayed. System Restore is available under Recovery. All of the available tools, such as the Memory Diagnostic, are under Administrative Tools. As in Windows Vista, programs are uninstalled under Programs and Features. System remains as it was in Windows XP and Vista. Otherwise, the categories explain themselves.

Here is a webpage showing the Control Panel's various layouts:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/262-control-panel-view-category-icons.html

There is no Classic View of the Control Panel that reverts to the way the it was displayed in Windows XP, but there is an option called View by: that allows you to view by Category (the default option) and Large icons and Small icons, which both provide a list of all of the items in the Control Panel.

If you need to access a feature, you just have to enter the name in the Start => Search programs and files box and a list of features come up. For example, if you enter just device in the search box, a shortcut to Device Manager is provided plus links to information pages on it.

There is the usual Help and Support on the main Start menu, which can inform you of how to access or use a feature, such as Homegroups, which sets up sharing on a home network that many people use to share an Internet connection.

The main versions for the home user are Windows 7 Home Premium, which is available in a Family Pack [discontinued in December 2009 and made available again in October 2010] of three licences (can be installed on three desktop or laptop computers), the equivalent of Windows XP Home Edition and Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional (the equivalent of Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Business), and Windows 7 Ultimate, the equivalent of Windows Vista Ultimate.

As with Vista, The Home Premium version of Windows 7 is all that most home users need, so don't waste your money on the higher and more expensive Professional and Ultimate versions unless you need the extra features.

Windows XP cannot be upgraded to Windows 7. In other words, Windows 7 cannot build itself on Windows XP; an in-place upgrade cannot be achieved. You have to use the Custom install that installs itself over an active installation of Windows XP, wiping it out. However, in the process, a Windows.old file containing all of the files and folder in Windows XP is created and can be accessed, making it possible to transfer the files to folders, such as Documents in Windows 7. Note that every time you use the installation disc in a Custom install, even if you are only reinstalling Win7 over itself, it creates a Windows.old file. If you didn't delete the first one, the next one will be named Windows.old.001, etc. The file is many gigabytes in size, so you should delete it if you don't need it. To do so just click Start => Computer and click of the entry for Windows 7. Scroll down the list of files until you find it.

The chart on this page shows which versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista require an Upgrade installation or a Custom installation. The writer has clarified it and produced a better chart.

Microsoft blunders with a confusing Windows 7 upgrade chart -

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1246

Although you can't perform an in-place upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you can transfer your files and settings. The following article tells you how this is done.

Upgrade from XP to Windows 7 -

"The best way to move to Windows 7 is always a clean install, as it ensures everything is precisely how Microsoft designed it to be from the start. However, that can be a real pain if you already have an XP PC set up to your liking. Thankfully, Windows 7 provides an easy way to move your files and settings to the new operating system." -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/tutorials/352699/upgrade-from-xp-to-windows-7

If you purchased a full version of Win7, it has to be installed on its own partition on a hard disk drive or on a separate hard disk drive. It cannot be used to upgrade a version of Windows Vista.

Getting started with Windows 7

As soon as you have Windows 7 installed, you can view Start (button) => Getting started, which provides the following videos that cover using the new features:

• Discover Windows 7
• Go online to discover what's new in Windows 7
• Use homegroup to share with other computers in your home
• Backup your files
• Personalize Windows
• Choose when to be notified about changes to your computer
• Transfer files and settings from another computer
• Go online and get Windows Live Essentials
• Change the size of text on your screen

Blu-ray data-disc and movie support in Windows 7

Windows 7 can play Blu-ray data discs, but, unfortunately, it cannot play Blu-ray movies, because it lacks the appropriate codecs. These codecs are not available for free, so you need third-party software such as Cyberlink's PowerDVD. If you are upgrading a computer from Windows Vista, it will probably have come with an installation file for some third-party DVD-playing software, which you should save to a CD/DVD before you perform a clean installation. If you perform an in-place upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7, your files should be left intact in their folders, but just in case something goes wrong, you should back them up to discs or an external hard disk drive. If you are upgrading from Windows XP, you have to perform a clean installation, because there is no in-place upgrade path to Windows 7 from Windows XP. Detailed information on upgrading and installing Windows 7 is provided further down in this article.

Windows Explorer in Windows 7

Windows Explorer - the mode that gives to access to the folders and files in Windows - can still be opened by right-clicking on the Start button and then clicking on Open Windows Explorer in the menu that opens. You can also find it by clicking Start => All Programs => Accessories =>Windows Explorer. But, remember that in Windows 7 the easiest way to find or open a feature is to enter its name (e.g., windows explorer) in the Start => Search programs and files box.

You will probably find it frustrating using the new layout that is divided into categories instead of a left window pane containing the folders and a right window pane containing the files of a selected folder as in Windows XP/Vista. You can still click on the individual drives under Computer in the bottom of the left-hand window pane to bring up the same view of folders and files as in Start => Computer.

This can leave you unable to view the full folder structure in either window pane without expanding it manually. It beats me why Microsoft did this, but, fortunately both problems are easily solved. Just click on Organize (in the top left corner of the Windows Explorer window), click on Folder and Search Options, and place check marks in both the Show all folders and the Automatically expand to current folder boxes and click OK.

By default Windows 7 hides drives that are empty, including CD/DVD and floppy disk drives and memory card, so a drive's position in the list cannot tell what it is. However, You can disable this feature by clicking Tools => Folder Options => View and clearing the check mark in the Hide empty drives in the Computer folder box with the mouse pointer. If you prefer not to display empty drives, note that the setting is overridden by the Show all folders option mentioned above.

If you work on a folder regularly, you should select it in the right-hand window pane, right click on Favorites (in the top of the left pane with a yellow star beside it) and select Add current location to Favourites. The folder then appears at the bottom of the current list, making it easy to access.

How to add items to Favorites Windows 7 Explorer folder -

http://www.webtlk.com/2009/02/23/...

You can also replace Windows Explorer with a third-party version such as the free Xplorer2 lite (a paid-for professional version with more features is available). The free version looks similar to older versions of Windows Explorer but it provides many more features, a full list of which can be found on the download page: http://www.zabkat.com/x2lite.htm.

Personalised settings are in the Control Panel under Appearance and Personalization

If you want to change settings such as making Windows show hidden files, folders and drives, show the full path to files in Windows Explorer, etc., you open Appearance and Personalization in the Control Panel and then open Folder Options and look for the setting under the View tab of the window that comes up. If you have chosen to use the View by: Large icons or Small icons option in the Control Panel, its items are listed instead of categorised. Folder Options is one of the listed options.

Remember, that you can use the Start => Search programs and files box to locate anything in Windows 7. Entering Folder Options provides you with a link that, when clicked on, opens appropriate window.

Windows 7 Gadgets

The Sidebar that was installed by default in Windows Vista is no longer available in Windows 7. If you want to use the gadgets and features that are made available by default in the Sidebar in Windows Vista plus some new gadgets, just right-click an empty space on the Windows Desktop and you should see Gadgets in the drop-down menu. Alternatively, access them via the Control Panel.

One of these gadgets is the Windows Media Center that, among other things, allows you to watch TV on your computer or via a TV connected to your computer. There is more information on the Media Center further down in this article.

You can obtain more gadgets online by opening the Control Panel, opening Appearance and Personalization, clicking on Desktop Gadgets and then clicking on Get more gadgets online.

Windows 7 Touch Screen Controls

If you have a desktop PC monitor or a laptop PC the screen of which supports touch-screen control, Windows comes with Touch Screen Controls that allow you to operate the computer by touching the screen. The best way to learn how to use them is to watch a video such as the one on this webpage:

Windows 7 Video Guide: Touch Screen Controls -

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/video/8338/technology/Windows-7-first-look/...

The Windows 7 Magnifier

Windows 7 has a new feature called Magnifier that allows you to zoom in or out of the whole screen. You can tie the magnification to the activity of the mouse or keyboard and you can just magnify a selected area of the screen, leaving the rest of the screen unmagnified. You can also choose to pin the Magnifier permanently to the bottom taskbar so that you just have to click on its icon to be able to use it. For that matter, you can choose to pin any program that you use to the taskbar. Just right-click on the program's temporary icon on the taskbar and choose the option to pin it there. It will remain there - even after a restart.

Zoom In and Out Your Desktop with Windows 7 Magnifier -

http://www.windows7hacker.com/index.php/2009/07/...

The new Windows 7 taskbar that replaces the Quick Launch toolbar on the Windows XP/Vista taskbar

One of the most useful new features is the replacement of the Quick Launch toolbar with the ability to pin any programs that you use to the taskbar. Then you just have to hold the mouse over the program's icon on the taskbar to see mini versions of all of that program's opened windows/pages, which will then enlarge if you hold the mouse within them. The icons on the taskbar can all be unpinned - even the default ones - by right-clicking the mouse with its pointer on them. The icons themselves are large by default. If you want to use small icons, right-click the taskbar and choose Properties. One of the options provided is to use small icons.

Alternatively, right-click on a blank space on the taskbar, choose Properties and choose Combine When Taskbar Is Full from the Taskbar Buttons drop-down menu. You will then have large taskbar icons and each window will have its own icon and small text labels. On a screen with a 1280x800 resolution (that most 15.6" widescreen laptops have), there is enough space to accommodate six or seven icons - enough for most users.

What is missing in Windows 7?

Some features and programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present in Windows 7 or have been changed. Some relatively well-known features and components in Windows Vista have been replaced or are absent in Windows 7, including Windows Ultimate Extras - the additional programs and features that were promised for the Vista Ultimate Edition, but which turned out to be pretty feeble - and InkBall. Four applications that were p;art of Windows Vista — Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar and Windows Mail — are not included with Windows 7, but are available for free in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials.

Other notable changes are:

1. - There is no Classic View of anything (Control Panel, Classic Start menu, etc.) available as are available in Windows XP and Windows Vista; third-party software is required to introduce them.

2. - The Quick Launch toolbar (available in Windows XP by default) is still available, but it's hidden by default. This is the path to it: C:\ Users \ username \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Quick Launch. All oyu have to do to enable it is create a new toolbar by right-clicking with the mouse pointer on an empty space on the taskbar, choose Toobars => New toolbar... and point to this location. You'll have to enable 'Show hidden files' to find it.

If you want to change settings such as making Windows show hidden files, folders and drives, show the full path to files in Windows Explorer, etc., you open Appearance and Personalization in the Control Panel and then open Folder Options and look for the setting under the View tab of the window that comes up. If you have chosen to use the View by: Large icons or Small icons option in the Control Panel, its items are listed instead of categorised. Folder Options is one of the listed options.

However, there is no need to reveal the 'hidden' Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7, because you can right-click any program's icon in the taskbar and select Pin to Taskbar. This will create a permanent icon for that program and place it on the left side of the taskbar. If the program has several pages opened, placing the mouse pointer over the program's icon will reveal small versions of those pages. If you place the mouse pointer over one of those small versions, the large version appears and will remain as the main active page if you click on its small version.

3. - There is no way to copy User Profiles other than the Default User profile, but you can build up the Default User profile, which can be copied. Read how to do that in MS Knowledge Base article 973289: How to customize default user profiles in Windows 7.

4. - The WPA2-Personal wireless security key can be seen in clear text by anyone after it has been typed in, which, in my opinion, isn't very serious because most people use a home network not a public network.

Windows 7 Product Activation

During the installation of Windows 7, the option to activate it automatically when online is presented as the default setting. You just have to remove the check mark in the box beside that option so that you can choose when to activate. You have 30 days before you have to enter an activation key, but this can be extended to 120 days. The following article provides the information on how that can be done.

To find out how many days you have left, click Start => right-click Computer, and choose Properties. At the bottom of the window that comes up, you should see this heading: Windows Activation. It will say "Windows is activated" and provide the Product ID or provide the number of days remaining of a trial period.

Use any version of Windows 7 free for 120 days -

http://windowssecrets.com/2009/08/20/...

Otherwise, Product Activation (click that link to go to the information on it on this website) is much the same as it is for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Tweaking Windows 7 to optimise/optimize performance - The Windows Experience Index Score

Windows 7 analyses the system it is installed on and creates the Windows Experience Index Score. To obtain it, enter the word experience in the Start => Search programs and files box. Click on the link called Check the Windows Experience Index. The window that presents itself provides the computer’s performance rating, measured on a scale between 1 and 7.9. You can experiment with the options made available from that window to improve performance. Most users won't have to do anything because their computer performs as well as they want it to while using all of the appearance-enhancing features provided by Win7. Most desktop and laptop PCs average between 3.0 to 5.9. Scores for newer computers with 4GB or more of RAM memory and a separate graphics card (or cards) instead of the graphics being integrated into the PC's motherboard or provided by the processor, usually score between 6.0 and 7.0. The score range is scalable to accommodate new technology, making it possible for later computers to score 8.0 and higher.

A desktop PC I have dating from 2005 with its graphics provided from a chip on the motherboard and running an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor with 1GB of DDR memory runs Windows 7 beautifully using the performance setting Let Windows choose what's best for my computer, which uses most of the appearance-enhancing features, but only scored 2.3, so there is no need to despair if your computer produces a score of that kind. It can do all the most popular activities, such as using office and other popular software, accessing the web, playing video, DVD movies, etc., very well.

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The web has many sites that provide PC optimisation information, or that provide or run optimisation programs from their websites. However, you may want to read the information on the following webpages before induging in any performance-tweaking yourself.

Four free programs to help control Windows 7 -

With regard to the startup/boot time, the free Soluto (dealt with in the article) compares what the user loads with its database, allowing even beginners to make intelligent decisions about which programs to have as startup programs. -

http://windowssecrets.com/2011/01/06/...

What is the Windows 7 Experience Index? -

"The Windows Experience Index measures the capability of your computer's hardware and software configuration and expresses this measurement as a number called a base score. A higher base score generally means that your computer will perform better and faster than a computer with a lower base score, especially when performing more advanced and resource-intensive tasks." -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index

Windows tweaking and optimization: myths and reality -

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/2010/08/...

Tweaking Windows for performance [forum thread] -

http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/index.php?showtopic=777499

But if you want to try tweaking your computer for performance, you can make use of a search engine to locate system-tweaking websites. If you are running Windows 7, you could use a search term such as: tweaking windows 7. Here are a few relevant websites that I found:

TweakWin7 [Windows 7] - http://www.tweakwin7.com/

Windows 7 tricks: 20 top tips and tweaks -

"Getting to know Windows 7? Here are 20 ways to get around the interface and make it act the way you want." - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9140414/...

Here is an optimisation/optimization website with a good reputation:

PC Pitstop Optimize -

"Run our free Optimize scan and identify many common problems that plague most computers. Find out what it takes to get a better performing computer without the expense or difficulty of adding new hardware." -

http://www.pcpitstop.com/store/optimize.asp

New features in Windows 7

How to use the new Windows 7 disc-burning features to burn data and ISO files to recordable CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs

Windows 7 provides new disc-burning features. Windows 7 supports Blu-ray discs and ISO image files and direct disc-burning that uses an optical disc in the same way as a USB flash drive (files can be added to and deleted from the disc).

Click here! to open a page on this website containing information on how to use the new features.

How to set up sharing in a home network in Windows 7 by using HomeGroups

HomeGroups is a new way of setting up sharing resources, such as files and printers in a home network.

Click here! to open a page on this website containing information on how to set up and use HomeGroups.

How to improve the Windows Media Center in Windows Vista and Windows 7

By improving how Windows Vista and Windows 7 interacts with Media Center and improving the video and sound quality by the addition of third party software you can enhance the experience of using Media Center considerably and make it play video formats other than videos in the WMV format.

Click here! to read an article on this website called How to improve the Windows Media Center in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Windows 7 troubleshooting tools

Windows 7 comes with some handy built-in troublesooting tools. To learn more about them, visit these webpages:

Troubleshooting Windows 7 With Microsoft's Built-In Tools : It All Began With Firefox 3.5

"The good news: Windows 7 gives you a robust set of tools to track down problems you encounter. We’ll take a look at a number of those tools, and how they can help you in your problem solving." -

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/windows-7-troubleshooting,review-31786.html

Troubleshooting Windows 7 With Microsoft's Built-In Tools -

"Windows 7 is more stable and responsive than Vista, but no operating system is perfect (the same goes for the drivers and apps running on it). We show you a suite of tools built into Microsoft’s shiny new OS to help you troubleshoot your Windows 7 issues." -

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-troubleshooting,2504.html

Detailed information on how to backup, recover, repair and restore Windows 7 is provided further down in this article.

Windows 7 video feature walkthroughs

Windows 7 Feature Walkthroughs -

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/dd320282.aspx

How to use the Problem Steps Recorder (PSR) in Windows 7 (Win7) and how to locate other obscure but useful tools and utilities

Windows 7 comes with a novel way of recording a problem so that screenshots can be assembled into a zip file and sent to someone who knows how to deal with it. The feature is called the Problem Steps Recorder (PSR). In short, you create your own tutorial to explain your problem and it only takes minutes.

To run the tool, enter psr in the Start => Search programs and files box and click on the link called Record steps to reproduce a problem that is produced. The program's small window appears. After clicking on the Start Record button you can reproduce the steps that you take that eventuate in the problem you need to fix. The recording can be paused at any time and resumed.

The following walk-through of the new feature is provided on Microsoft's website:

Windows 7 Walkthrough: Problem Steps Recorder -

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=22292

Obscure Win7 tools [including the PSR] can save you time and trouble -

"Some of Windows 7's best new features aren't so easy to find." -

http://www.windowssecrets.com/2009/12/17/...

There are plenty of webpages and videos on the web on this feature. To find them, enter windows 7 problem steps recorder as the search query in a web search engine.

Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade

Note that there is a version of Win7 called Anytime Upgrade that allows a user to unlock features that are provided by higher versions (Professional and Ultimate versions) instead of having to buy and install those higher versions in order to obtain their features. All of the versions have all of the available features; the features that are not available just have to unlocked. Home Premium can be upgraded to Professional or Ultimate and Professional can be upgraded to Ultimate.

Note that if you have a 32-bit installation you cannot use an Anytime Upgrade to upgrade to a 64-bit version. The only way to move from 32-bit to 64-bit Windows is to clean install.

Note that most programs designed for the 32-bit version of Windows will work on the 64-bit version of Windows. Notable exceptions are many antivirus programs. -

32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/...

To buy a new licence and unlock the version that you want, just click on the Start button and type Upgrade in the Search programs and files box. Select "Windows Anytime Upgrade" from the search results, then select "Go online to choose the edition of Windows 7 that's best for you" to buy a new product key online. Selecting "Enter an upgrade key" allows you to enter the new product key that starts the upgrade process that only takes a few minutes.

Windows Anytime Upgrade: frequently asked questions -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/...

Upgrade to another edition of Windows 7 by using Windows Anytime Upgrade -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/...

Further information on Windows 7

Windows 7 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7

Windows 7 home -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/home?os=winxp

Windows 7 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7

Windows 7 features -

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features

Windows 7: How low can you go? -

"Rejuvenating your 7-year-old PC with Windows, not Linux, can now make technical and fiscal sense." - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136192/...

Windows 7: The complete guide -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/262021/windows-7-the-complete-guide.html

How To Install Microsoft Windows 7 -

"Say goodbye to Vista and XP, and let us walk you through the installation of your new operating system, step-by-step." -

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/...

FAQ: How to upgrade XP to Windows 7 -

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135440/...

Tips, tricks and hacks to make Windows 7 more awesome -

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/...

Troubleshooting Windows 7 With Microsoft's Built-In Tools -

"Windows 7 is more stable and responsive than Vista, but no operating system is perfect (the same goes for the drivers and apps running on it). We show you a suite of tools built into Microsoft’s shiny new OS to help you troubleshoot your Windows 7 issues." -

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-troubleshooting,2504.html

Web searches

You can find additional information on any of the programs, utilities or features mentioned above, or in the rest of this article, by making use of a web search engine.

PC Buyer Beware! Copyright © Eric Legge 2004-2011. All rights reserved.