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How to Install, Use, Restore, Recover and Repair Windows 7 - Win7: How It Differs from Windows XP and VistaLast updated on 5 July 2010
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. There is too much information on this page to provide a brief index, so please just scroll down the page slowly and read the headings. You should be able to find what you are looking for in particular and get a good idea what the other coverage is. 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. Fix Windows XP, Windows Vista, Window 7 Black Screen of Death problemDecember 4, 2009. - If you start up your Windows XP/Vista/7 computer and you are greeted by a black screen, this is a problem that has affected many thousands of computers. Here are the details: Microsoft Windows 7 'Black Screen of Death' blamed on malware - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/6709584/... An affected computer will work in Safe Mode, which can be accessed by pressing the F8 key repeatedly just before Windows starts to load. The best solution is to use System Restore in Safe Mode to restore a restore point that predates the problem. One of my computers went down with this problem today (4 December) and I restored a restore point created on 3 December successfully. Introduction to Windows 7The 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. Here are the versions and their upgrade/full version prices in the UK - Windows 7 Home Premium £80 until 31 December (£100 thereafter)/£150 - Windows 7 Family Pack (Windows 7 Home Premium on three desktop or laptop computers) £150 [this version has now been dropped] - Windows 7 Professional £190/£220 - Windows 7 Ultimate £200/£230. Those are the official prices, but they have already been reduced considerably on websites such as amazon.co.uk. The Family Pack was particulary good value, but is now no longer available in the UK and the USA. Microsoft kills $150 Windows 7 Family Pack deal - http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141858/... 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, while it was available, this is the retail version of Windows 7 Home Premium that can be installed on three computers. 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/newegg-reveals-windows-7-oem-prices.ars http://www.windowssecrets.com/2009/11/19/02-Your-Windows-7-migration-problems-solved There is a version called Windows 7 Starter, but it is available only when preinstalled on a new netbook computer. 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.tiscali.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
The first page on Microsoft's website that you should visit if you intend to upgrade to a version of Windows 7 is the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx You have to download it 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.tiscali.co.uk/video/8338/technology/Windows-7-first-look/... 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 The safest way to upgrade RAM memory: Use the UK and US Crucial Memory AdvisorsPaul Mullen, who was the highly-respected computer guru of the Helpfile at ComputerShopper.co.uk - "I have recently been buying my memory only from Crucial Technology. I would rather pay the extra cost than waste time trying to track down the obscure program faults that bad memory can cause." The best way to choose RAM memory for a brand-name desktop or laptop computer, or memory for a paricular make/model of PC motherboard is to make use of the Crucial Memory Advisors (provided under the brief guideline on the minimum memory requirements for Windws XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7). If the Crucial memory you receive does not work, you are guaranteed a refund and standard shipping is free. The memory requirements of the versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7Most of the versions of Windows Vista require more RAM memory to run optimally on a computer that doesn't use memory-hungry applications than Windows XP. A video-editing application is an example of memory-intensive software. Only Windows Vista Home Basic has a recommended minimum amount of memory of 512MB, which is the same amount recommended for Windows XP. Windows Vista Home Premium, the most popular version, and Windows Vista Ultimate require a recommended minimum of 1GB (1024MB) of memory, which is twice the amount of minimum memory recommended to run Windows XP. Note that if you are using a 64-bit version of Windows, up to 4.0GB, it requires twice the amount of memory as a 32-bit version, which can only use a maximum of about 3.5GB. For more information on computer memory, read the RAM pages of this site, which includes information on the lower memory requirements of Windows 7.
How to Use the Crucial Memory AdvisorFor example, if your computer has an Asus motherboard, open the menu, scroll down to ASUS, and click GO. If, say, you have a Dell computer, scroll down to DELL, and do likewise. You will be taken to the relevant information on Crucial's website. If you don't know the make and model of the motherboard installed in your computer, here is a good free utility - Belarc Advisor - that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. Another utility that also provides detailed information on the memory itself is CPU-Z. 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 graphics card, so, after a PCI graphics card that suppotrs 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 a webpage showing the Control Panel's layout: 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 deafult 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 09] 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 7As 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:
Blu-ray data-disc and movie support in Windows 7Windows 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 7Windows 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 PersonalizationIf 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 GadgetsThe 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 ControlsIf 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 MagnifierWindows 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 taskbarOne 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 ActivationDuring 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/2009/08/20/01-Use-any-version-of-Windows-7-free-for-120-days 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. New features in Windows 7How to use the new Windows 7 disc-burning features to burn data and ISO files to recordable CD/DVD/Blu-ray discsWindows 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 HomeGroupsHomeGroups 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 7By 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 toolsWindows 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 walkthroughsWindows 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 utilitiesWindows 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. Enter the words problem steps in the Search box in Start => Help and Support. This is how the information there begins: "How do I use Problem Steps Recorder? - You can use Problem Steps Recorder to automatically capture the steps you take on a computer, including a text description of where you clicked and a picture of the screen during each click (called a screen shot). Once you capture these steps, you can save them to a file that can be used by a support professional or someone else helping you with a computer problem." To bring the recorder up, enter problem steps in the Start => Search programs and files box. The following walk-through of the new feature is provided on Microsoft's website: Windows 7 Walkthrough: Problem Steps Recorder - "Brief Description: Explore the Problem Steps Recorder in the Windows 7 operating system." - http://www.microsoft.com/DownLoads/... 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 in the Google Search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled). Windows 7 Anytime UpgradeNote 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/... How to install and repair Windows 7When you receive the installation pack of your choice - Upgrade or Full version - both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Win7 are provided on separate discs. Most people have a 32-bit version of Windows installed. If you are going for an in-place upgrade, you have to install the 32-bit Upgrade version over a 32-bit version of Windows XP or Windows Vista; the 64-bit version won't upgrade a 32-bit installation. However, if you are installing the full product as a clean installation, you can choose the 64-bit version - if your computer has a 64-bit processor, which most computers have had since 2005. 64-bit device drivers must be available for all of the computer's hardware in a 64-bit installation, which are not available for relatively old hardware, so if you want to avoid problems, it's best to install the 32-bit version. 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/... Note also that you cannot upgrade an installation of Windows that is using the FAT32 file system; it has to be the NTFS file system, which is the default file system for Windows XP and Vista. Your computer could be using the FAT32 file system if you upgraded Windows 98/Me, which use FAT32, to Windows XP. The setup will inform you of this problem if you have a FAT32 system. To find out how to use the Command Prompt to perform the conversion, enter convert to ntfs in the Search box of Start => Help and Support. How to determine whether a computer is running a 32-bit version or 64-bit version of the Windows operating system - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827218 Note that the 64-bit versions of Windows can use as much RAM memory as you can install on the motherboard, but they also require twice as much memory to run as well as the 32-bit versions. You can boot the system with the installation disc and install Win7, or install it from within a running copy of Windows XP/Vista. If it is an Upgrade version, it has to be installed on a partition that has a valid installation of Windows XP or Vista on it. A Custom install has to be used to replace an installation of Windows XP. Vista can be upgraded or overwritten.
When the installation disc runs the first screen it produces is called Install language, time, currency format and keyboard. You should set all of these to the UK options if you live in the UK. The US options are set by default. The next screen has these choices:
If you haven't checked the compatibility of Win7 with your system, you should do that first. Next, the message Windows is loading files... appears with the usual method of showing that loading is busy taking place. This takes about two minutes. Then the Starting Windows message appears followed by a screen with these options:
Note that if you have previously set up a dual-boot system with Win7 and an earlier version of Windows, running installation disc as far as this will remove the boot manager. You will have to reinstall Win7 all the way to get it back. If you click on Repair Your Computer, the following options are provided:
When Win7 is up and running, you have the option at long last of creating a System Repair Disc that provides recovery tools. To do so requires a CD or CD/DVD drive that can burn data to recordable CD/DVDs. All you have to do is enter repair in the Start => Search programs and files box and click on Create a System Repair Disc, put a recordable CD/DVD disc in the optical drive, and then label the disc something like Windows 7 Repair Disc and then put it in a safe place. The following article provides information on each of the above-mentioned System Recovery Options: What are the system recovery options in Windows 7? - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows7/... Performing a repair installation/install of Windows 7If none of the above recovery options works to repair your installation of Windows 7, you can perform a repair installation. An illustrated guide on how to go about doing a repair installation is provided on the following webpage: Windows 7 - Repair Install - "Do a Repair installation if: A System Restore did not help fix your Windows 7. There is no other easier option left that can fix your Windows 7. You DO NOT want to do a Clean reinstall of Windows 7. You DO want to preserve your user accounts, data, programs, and system drivers." - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html
With regard to the Install now option, Win7 states that you should be connected to the web during the installation so that updates can be installed and missing device drivers for components such as the graphics and sound cards/chips can be obtained from Windows Update and then be installed automatically. The installation takes about 20 minutes on a computer with a dual-core 2.0GHz processor. The computer restarts twice and creates an accessible Windows.old file that contains all of the files from the previous installation of Windows (usually Windows XP). You can open it and copy the files you want to folder(s) in Win7. It is advisable to delete it when it is no longer required because it takes up several gigabytes (GB) of hard-disk space. My installation created an 8GB file. Note that if you have to reinstall Windows 7 over itself, it creates another such file that will be called Windows.old.001 if the original Windows.old has not been deleted. It will use even more disk space that the first file. In the next screen, you can choose a name for the computer (required if you are going to use it on a network) and a password for your account. If you set a password you have to enter it every time Win7 starts up, otherwise it just boots up. You have to enter a password hint that should remind you what the password is should you forget it. Remember, the password is case-sensitive, so it won't work if the Caps Lock key is engaged unless all of the password is in capital letters. In the next screen, you have to enter the Product Key (25 characters long looking like this: M29H6-WG6X3-H2LB9-7VWZW-J9HFD (not a valid key). It provided inside the case that holds the installation discs. The dashes in the key are entered automatically, so just enter it. Just enter lower case letters - they are entered as capital letters. The option called Automatically activate Windows when I am online is enabled by default. You can remove the check mark in the box beside it if you want to activate Windows later. Activation is required by Windows Product Activation. In the next screen the following options appear:
The next screen allows you to review your time and date settings, which in the UK is: UTC, Dublin, Edinburgh, London. The next screen provides the following options: Select your computer's current location
A note is added that says: "If you are unsure, select Public network." If you are connected to the web and you chose to install updates, Windows visits Windows Update, which identifies any missing device drivers. My installation required the drivers for the computer's ATI graphics card and sound card. After the additional drivers are installed you have to click a button to restart the computer. You should now be able to access the web. If not, you will probably have to install drivers for an ADSL modem and the latest drivers for any wireless network cards, etc. I had no problems getting online. No drivers had to be installed for my router. All I had to do was enter my wireless network encryption key. However, if you need to visit the manufacturer of a component's website for device drivers, if there are no drivers specifically for Windows 7, you can try installing the drivers for Windows Vista, because Win7 is closely related to Vista. The Belarc Advisor creates an analysis of all of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. You can use the information to identify the make or make/models of hardware installed in the computer in order to locate their manufacturers websites, which provide the latest drivers. The Windows Firewall (accessed via the Control Panel) is enabled by default. You can install your own software firewall (Comodo, ZoneAlarm, etc.), but, if you do, you should disable the Windows Firewall, because you should not have more than one type of security software monitoring the system in real time at the same time. There is no virus or spyware scanner installed, so you have to install your own. Visit the Security section of this website for more information on these scanners. You can install the free AVG or Microsoft Security Essentials, which are both combined anti-virus and anti-spyware scanners. I also installed the free CCleaner utility that can remove unnecessary files, cleans the index.dat files that log your Internet access, and clean the Windows Registry. You should visit its Options => Settings to make sure that it is not set to wipe free space on the hard disk drive(s) installed on the computer, because doing that slows the system down. You can set it to clean the computer at startup. Just read the installation options, because it can install a search engine that you don't want to use. An easy way to customise the way that the icons are shown in the Notification Area (System Tray) in the bottom right corner of the screen is to right-click on an empty space on the (bottom) taskbar and then click Properties. Large icons are enabled by default. If you want to use small icons, place a check mark with the mouse pointer in the box beside Use small icons. Contrary to what I read about being provided with a multiple-choice of web browsers as agreed with the EU Commission, Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) was installed by default - as always. I saw no option that allows the browser of your choice to be installed. The first time you use IE8, a window comes up asking you to set it up to your liking or or click on the Ask me later button. You are allowed a choice of search providers and websites that offer services such as language translation, etc. There is also an option to install the default choices, which are mostly provided by Microsoft itself. You should make your choices otherwise this window will keep coming up until you do. If in doubt, say No. Windows 7 Startup - Pressing the F8 key - Repair Your Computer optionsWhen you start up your computer running Win7, the startup screen presents an option to press the F8 key in order to access recovery options. It says: "To specify Advanced Options for this choice [version of Windows], press F8." Note that you can force Windows Vista/7 to start up in Safe Mode from within Windows instead of restarting and pressing the F8 key repeatedly just before Windows starts to load. If you need to know ho to do that, read this webpage: Force Windows 7 / Vista to Boot Into Safe Mode Without Using the F8 Key - http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/... The first screen says: Choose Advanced Options for Windows 7 (Use the arrow keys to highlight your choice). The options, which are described in the description area of the screen, are:
If you click on Repair Your Computer, the following options are provided:
How to use the System File Checker (SFC) tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7The System File Checker (SFC) utility (executable file: sfc.exe), first introduced in Windows 98, is still available in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It can detect and replace corrupted system files with sound copies. The utility requires access to original system files on a Windows setup CD/DVD or from some other accessible location. You should read articles on how to use it before doing so, because it is possible to hose a system by replacing files with ones that don't work or by doing so incorrectly. How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-uk Scannow SFC - http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html How to use Backup and Restore in Windows 7It is always a good idea to back up you computer so that it can be restored in the event of an irrecoverable failure - if necessary to a new computer or hard disk drive. The backup program in Windows 7 allows you to create an image of the system that can be restored - either by reinstalling Win7 or by making use of the System Repair Disc, information about which was provided earlier on this page. It is advisable to create this disc as soon as possible. To do so, just enter repair in the Search programs and files box and click on Create a System Repair Disc. It is best to make use of an external hard disk drive to back up to. You can now buy USB external hard drives inexpensively. I recently bought a 500GB drive for £50 (October, 2009). I use made an image of the whole system (two partitions containing Windows XP and Windows 7), but there are the usual options to make full, differential and incremental backups. You have to enable the backup feature by clicking Start => Control Panel => System and Security => Back up your Computer => Backup and Restore. Alternatively, just enter backup in the Start => Search programs and files box. Back up and restore: frequently asked questions - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/... Backup and Restore [Windows 7] - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/backup-and-restore.aspx Restore your computer from a system image backup - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/... Windows 7: Backing up to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) deviceNote that Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows 7 Home Premium versions cannot be used to back up to a NAS device, because those versions of Windows can't be used to back up to a network share. You can only use Vista Business and Ultimate and Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate versions. However, you can use free third-party software. Here are two suitable programs I found: Freebyte Backup - http://www.freebyte.com/fbbackup/ Microsoft SyncToy 2.1 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/... Further information on Windows 7Windows 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 Google searchesYou 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 the Google search box at the top of this
page (with its Web radio button enabled).
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