Windows 7 Quick Ref

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Windows 7

Quick Reference Guide

2011 PC Assist @ Home


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

................................................................................................................................... 31 What's New in Windows 7

................................................................................................................................... 42 Windows Desktop

................................................................................................................................... 53 Start Menu

................................................................................................................................... 64 Windows Explorer

................................................................................................................................... 65 Taskbar

................................................................................................................................... 76 Control Panel

................................................................................................................................... 87 Devices and Printers

................................................................................................................................... 98 Personalization

................................................................................................................................... 99 Connecting to a Network

................................................................................................................................... 1110 System Restore

................................................................................................................................... 1211 Windows Update

................................................................................................................................... 1212 Action Center

................................................................................................................................... 1313 Troubleshooting

................................................................................................................................... 1514 Backup and Restore

................................................................................................................................... 1615 Parental Controls

................................................................................................................................... 1716 User Account Control (UAC)

................................................................................................................................... 1817 HomeGroup

................................................................................................................................... 1918 Libraries

................................................................................................................................... 2119 Gadgets

................................................................................................................................... 2220 Jump Lists

................................................................................................................................... 2321 Windows Mobility Center

................................................................................................................................... 2422 Help and Support

................................................................................................................................... 2523 Ease of Access Center

................................................................................................................................... 2624 Programs & Features

................................................................................................................................... 2725 Windows Experience Index

................................................................................................................................... 2826 32 or 64 bit

................................................................................................................................... 2927 System Repair Disc

................................................................................................................................... 2928 Screen Calibration

................................................................................................................................... 3029 Resize Desktop Icons

................................................................................................................................... 3030 Keyboard Shortcuts


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What's New in Windows 7

Introduction

Performance Improvements - Windows 7 has been designed to be more nimble and less memory

hungry, it also has improved sleep and resume so you can get working more quickly

Easier Wireless Networking - It is now even easier to stay connected to networks on your laptopwherever you go, simply click the icon on the taskbar and your connections (Broadband, Wi-Fi,

GPRS, Dial-Up, VPN etc) all appear in one place

Power Management Improvements - With improvements to background activities, automatic

screen dimming, less power hungry DVD playback and automatic disabling of unused ports,

Windows 7 is designed to help your battery last longer

Full Support For New Faster 64-bit Computers - A lot of new computers are coming with 64-bit

processors which put simply can handle larger amounts of information than a 32-bit system and

supports more RAM so will be more responsive when running lots of programs at once, Windows 7

has full support for 64-bit

Cool new features

Aero Shake - Handy if you have several windows open and want to minimize all but the one you are

using, simply click on the top of the open window and jiggle your mouse side to side and all other

windows except this one will minimize, jiggle again and they return

Aero Peek - By hovering your mouse over the new Show Desktop icon at the right hand end of your

taskbar all windows turn transparent allowing you to easily see what is on your desktop, you can

also hover over any other minimized windows by hovering the mouse pointer over its icon on the

taskbar to display a small preview of that window

Snap - A quick and easy way to resize and position windows simply by dragging them to the edgeof the screen, drag to top of screen to maximize, back down again to return to original size, you can

also drag to left or right of screen to make it expand vertically allowing you to easily position two

windows side by side

Items removed from Windows 7

Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Mail (known as Outlook Express in

Windows XP) are no longer included in Windows 7, they have been replaced with Windows Live

Essentials which can be downloaded free of charge from the Microsoft website - http://download.live.

com/

Versions of Windows 7 sold in the UK will also not have Internet Explorer installed by default (due to

competition rules in Europe) - it can still however be downloaded and installed free of charge from the

Microsoft website, or an alternative browser such as Firefox could be installed instead - these

competition rules do not apply to computer manufacturers so you will find that most computers will

have it installed anyway or at least supply it on a CD with the computer
http://download.live.com/http://download.live.com/


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Windows Desktop

Desktop and Desktop

Icons

Icons and shortcuts to users documents and programs and the

recycle bin - you can also create your own shortcuts to regularly

used programs or documents

Start Menu Shows Programs, Settings and Folders for the current user

Pinned Programs

Known as the Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows XP and Vista,

you can pin shortcuts to your favorite programs here so you can

launch them quickly

TaskbarShows running applications and allows you to switch between

them by clicking on the relevant icon

Notification Area

Shows system icons for network connections, power, audio

volume etc as well as notifications for background applications

such as your virus/firewall software

Gadgets

Allow you to put information and fun items on your desktop,

some are purely for entertainment, others more useful, likecalendar, weather, news feeds etc


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Start Menu

Start Button Click here to open the Start Menu

Search BoxAllows you to easily search through your programs and

documents

All Programs Click here to show icons for all installed software

Pinned ProgramsItems you have chosen to pin to start menu for quicker access -

you can add items by right clicking them and choosing Pin to

Start Menu

Users Documents Access to users documents, pictures and music

Settings Computer, Network and Control Panel settings

Log Off / Turn Off

ComputerOptions to log off, shutdown or restart computer


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Windows Explorer

Back/Forward ButtonsUse these buttons to navigate backwards and forwards through

recently viewed folders

SearchEasily search for any files on your computer by entering details

here

Minimize/Maximize

and Close Buttons

Use to minimize Windows to taskbar, to make Window Full Size

or to Close Windows

Note: Maximize icon changes to Restore icon when Windows is

Full Size to allow you to restore Window to previous size

Toolbar Various options to change display of files/folders and to usefulareas such as properties, uninstalling software etc

Folder ViewDisplays a hierarchal view of your folder and file structure,

including Favorite locations, Libraries and your HomeGroup

(home network) if relevant

Folder Contents Shows contents of currently selected folder

PropertiesShows properties of currently selected drive/file or folder such as

size, date created, file type etc

Taskbar


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Start Menu Shows Programs, Settings and Folders for the current user

Pinned ProgramsKnown as the Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows XP and Vista, you

can pin shortcuts to your favorite programs here so you can launch

them quickly

Open ApplicationsAll currently opened applications/windows are shown here so you

can easily switch between them

Notification Area

Shows system icons for network connections, power, audio volume

etc as well as notifications for background applications such asyour virus/firewall software

Show DesktopClick here to minimize all open windows and show the desktop,

hover mouse over this icon to "peek" at the desktop

Thumbnail PreviewHover over any minimized or pinned programs on your taskbar to get

a thumbnail preview of that window, makes it easier to switch

between applications and choose the windows you want active

Control Panel

System and SecurityBack up and restore files and system settings, view RAM and

processor speed, check performance, update software and drivers,

find/fix problems and more

Network and InternetCheck network status and change settings, set preferences for

sharing files and computers, configure Internet, and more

Hardware and SoundAdd or remove printers and other hardware, change system sounds,

play CDs automatically, view scanners and cameras, connect to a

projector, adjust mobility settings

Programs Uninstall programs or Windows features, scan for Spyware, uninstallgadgets, and more


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User Accounts and Family

Safety

Change user account settings and passwords, and setup parental

controls

Appearance and

Personalization

Change the appearance of desktop items, apply a theme or screen

saver to your computer, or customize the Start menu and taskbar

Clock, Language, and

Region

Change the date, t ime, and timezone for your computer, the

language to use, and the way numbers, currencies, dates, and

times are displayed

Ease of Access

Adjust your computer sett ings for vision, hearing, and mobility, and

use speech recognition to control your computer with voicecommands

Devices and Printers

Install, view, and manage your devices and printers:-

Click the Start button, and then click Devices and Printers

Basically it is a centralized location to see all of the external devices connected to your computer,

either via USB, network, or wirelessly - such as printers, external hard disks, cameras, portable

music players, mobile phones, keyboards, mice etc

From here you can use them, change settings and troubleshoot if one isn't working properly


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Personalization

Change the visuals and sounds on your computer:-

The Personalization screen shown above which can be accessed via Control Panel,

Personalization is where you can change any aspect of your Windows appearance such asDesktop Background, Colour Scheme, Screen Saver and Sound Effects

Each item can be changed individually using the icons at the bottom of the screen, or you can

choose a predetermined Theme in the top window

A new feature of Windows 7 is that some of the themes contain multiple background images which

change automatically every 30 minutes - this can be customized to a period of your choice by

clicking on the Desktop Background icon at the bottom of the screen, and changing the duration in

the "Change picture every:" drop down list

Connecting to a Network

To connect to a network (including home networks, broadband services, wireless networks etc)

click Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet and choose Network and Sharing Center,

from here you can click "Connect to a network" to connect to an existing connection, or "Set up a

new connection or network" to configure a new connection


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You can also click on the network icon in the notification area near the clock to quickly connect to

an existing connection


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System Restore

System restore allows you to restore your computer to a previous point in time and is useful at times

when a change to your computer for example the installation of a program has caused problems

To access System Restore click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System

Restore

On the System Restore initial screen you can choose which point to restore back too (click Show

more restore points to show older points)

You can also click Scan for affected programs to show what programs/drivers will be affected by

your chosen restore selection

Restore points are automatically created by Windows on a regular basis or when you make any

major changes to the system such as installing updates and installing new software, but if you wishto manually create a restore point this can be done through Control Panel, System and Security,

System, System Protection - you can also delete restore points here and choose which drives are

protected by System Restore


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Windows Update

Microsoft regularly release updates for your installed software

Windows will automatically check and download updates regularly as long as Automatic updating is

enabled in the Action Center

To manually check for updates select Windows Update from the System and Security section of

the control panel and click Check for updates

Action Center

Action Center is a centralized location to view important messages about security and maintenance

for your computer

It replaces the Windows Security Center from previous version of Windows

Action Center manages your Firewall settings, Windows Update, Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware,

Backups and Internet Security, it also monitors your computer maintenance and advises on any

problems found and offers troubleshooters and tools that can help fix any problems


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To access the Action Center right click on the flag icon near the clock and choose Open Action

Center

It is divided in to four main sections:-

Security Shows you the status of your virus and firewall protection along with Windows

update and internet settingsMaintenance Allows you to check for solutions to any problems encountered as well as installing

updates and performing regular backupsTroubleshooti

ng

Access troubleshooting packs which will guide you through and solve common

issues you may encounter (see more details in Troubleshooting section)Recovery Open System Restore to allow you to roll-back your computer to an earlier date to

undo recent system changes (leaves your documents, pictures, music etc

unchanged)

TroubleshootingWindows 7 contains several troubleshooting packs which allow you to automatically troubleshoot

and fix common computer problems such as internet access, printer and audio issues etc

They can be accessed through Action Center, or clicking the Troubleshooting icon in Control Panel


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You can also click Get help from a friend to either request help via remote assistance (allows a

user to connect remotely to your computer) or to run Problem Steps Recorderwhich allows you to

record your actions and to send the resulting information to a support person or friend so they can

see exactly what you are doing and what error you are getting so they can help you further

Simply click Start Record and repeat the actions that you were having problems with, when finished


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click Stop Record and it will prompt you to save the recorded steps so you can then email this file

to a friend or support person

You can also click Add Comment during recording to highlight a certain area of the screen and

enter relevant notes to explain a point in detail

Backup and Restore

To help ensure you don't lose your files, you should back them up regularly, with Windows 7 you

can do this quickly and easily using the built in backup tools to schedule automatic backups or tomanually back up your files at any time

Windows Backup and Restore can be accessed through the Control Panel, under the System and

Security section

From here you can modify the settings of an existing backup or click Set up backup to configure a

new backup schedule

You can also Create a system image (a complete backup of your entire computer including

Windows and all installed programs - which is useful if your computer fails completely) or a system

repair disc (which can be used to boot your computer if problems occur and contains system

recovery tools which can help repair your system or restore from a system image)

Most computers will either come with a recovery DVD or will prompt you to create one when you first

start using the PC - it is recommended that you do this immediately as without this recovery media

or a system image (as above) repair of your computer could be difficult or impossible

When setting up a new backup, it will first of all ask you where you would like to backup your files,

best choice is either an external hard disk or CD/DVD, you can then either let Windows choose

what to backup or you can specify files/folders yourself


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Parental Controls

You can use Parental Controls to help manage how your children use the computer, for example

setting time limits on the hours they can use the computer, the types of games they can play and

what programs they are allowed to use

Each person that you wish to enable parental controls for has to have there own user account on the

computer, and this can be configured at the same time as enabling the parental controls if you don't

already have separate user accounts for each user of the computer

Parental Controls can be accessed from the Control Panel under the UserAccounts and Family

Safety section

Choose the user you wish to enable controls for, or click Create a new user account to configure anew user

You can then enable the settings and choose the required options for Time Limits, Games and


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Allowed/Blocked programs

More functionality can be added to the Parental Controls by installing a third party add-on such as

Windows Live Family Safety provided with Windows Live Essentials, you can then also control

access to specific websites and create a log of all activity performed by a specific user on the

computer

User Account Control (UAC)

User Account Control helps prevent potentially harmful programs from making changes to yourcomputer, any changes that are made that require administrative permission will result in the

following dialog box so you can confirm that this action can go ahead or cancel it if you did not

choose to make that change

The dialog box will tell you what software is making the changes and where the software originated

from so you can make an informed choice

You can adjust the settings for User Account Control from within the User Accounts section in

Control Panel, but I would advise leaving the settings at default to protect your computer


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HomeGroup

HomeGroup is a new feature of Windows 7 to make it easier to share documents, printers etc

between all computers in your home

To create a HomeGroup go to Control Panel, Network and Internet, HomeGroup and click Create a

homegroup, the wizard above will then show asking you what you want to share with other users,once you have chosen click Next to show your homegroup password and instructions on how to add


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other home computers to your new group

Note: Computers must be running Windows 7 to join a homegroup, it will not work with Windows

Vista or Windows XP

Libraries

In previous version of Windows managing your files meant organizing them in folders and sub folders.

Libraries allow you to organize your files easier wherever they are stored, for example previously to

sort all your music together meant having it all in one folder (with sub folders), but with a library you

can have music in multiple locations i.e. on different hard disks, on your computer and shared

around your home network, but it can appear in one music library making it easier to organize and

find what you want


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To access your libraries, click Start, then click on your username (which will open all your personal

folders) and then in the left-hand navigation pane choose Libraries

From here you can view you existing libraries (as above), or create a New Library by clicking the

button on the toolbar

You can also go into an existing library by double-clicking it, from where you can view its contents

and change what file locations are included in this library by clicking the locations as highlighted

below

This will then show you what locations are currently included in the library and allow you to add


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additional locations

GadgetsGadgets are small programs that run on the Windows desktop providing access to useful information

such as a clock, weather forecast, games, news etc etc

To add a gadget, right-click on your desktop and click Gadgets, the following screen will appear

where you can choose which gadgets you want and also go online to look for additional gadgets


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Jump Lists

A new feature in Windows 7, allows you to quickly access regularly used documents, music,

websites etc from the task bar or start menu

Simply right click a program in your task bar to show a list of recently accessed documents (as

shown below I have right click on Microsoft Word 2007), you can also permanently pin items to this

list by dragging them to the taskbar or right clicking a recent item and choosing Pin to this list

Some programs also show regular tasks you might perform on this menu, for example Internet

Explorer shows links to open a new tab or start a private browsing session

You can also access the same lists by clicking the arrow next to the program in the Start Menu


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Windows Mobility Center

Windows Mobility Center displays the most commonly used settings for laptop users, such as

wireless networking, volume controls and battery settings

It also allows configuration of external displays, screen rotation (for tablet PC's), settings related to

using a projector to do a presentation and finally sync center to synchronize files/information

between your PC and another computer or PDA


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Windows Mobility Center can be launched from the Start Menu, All Programs, Accessories

Help and SupportFind Help topics, tutorials, troubleshooting, and other support services

The Help and Support Center can be accessed by two methods:-

By clicking on a blank space on your desktop and pressing F1 orFrom the shortcut on the start

menu


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Ease of Access Center

Click Ease of Access in the Control Panel to manually choose the options to assist you in using

your PC or click Let Windows suggest settings to run a wizard asking a series of questions to

advise you which options would be best for you

Options range from larger text, narration of all text, to speech recognition to control your PC


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Programs & Features

To remove any installed software from your computer you need to go to Control Panel and choose

Uninstall a program from the Programs section

You will then receive a list of all installed software and you can highlight the required item and click

Uninstall


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Windows Experience Index

To view your score click Performance Information and Tools in the System and Maintenance

category of the Control Panel


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The Windows Experience Index measures the capability of your computers 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.

Each hardware component receives an individual subscore. Your computers base score is

determined by the lowest subscore. For example, if the lowest subscore of an individual hardware

component is 2.6, then the base score is 2.6. The base score is not an average of the combined

subscores.

You can use the base score to confidently buy programs and other software that are matched to

your computers base score. For example, if your computer has a base score of 3.3, then you can

confidently purchase any software designed for this version of Windows that requires a computer

with a base score of 3 or lower.

32 or 64 bit

A lot of newer PC's sold today come with a 64-bit processor - this means that it can handle more

memory and run tasks faster. Normally your PC will also come with a 64-bit version of Windows

Vista/7

When downloading software/drivers etc off the internet you need to know what version of windowsyour computer is running, i.e. 32 bit or 64 bit, as most downloads have separate downloads for each

version and installing the wrong one can cause major problems with your installation of windows

To find out what version you have - Click Start, Control Panel, System and Security, System and

the dialog box that is displayed will show you what version you computer is running

So if it says 32-bit then look for downloads that s tate 32-bit or x86, for 64-bit look for downloads that

state 64-bit or x64


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System Repair Disc

It is highly recommended you create a System Repair Disc for you new Windows 7 PC if it wasn't

supplied with one

A system repair disc can be used to boot your computer and contains recovery tools that can help

you recover Windows from a serious error

To create your repair disc click Start, All Programs, Maintenance, Create a System Repair Disc

, insert a blank CD or DVD and click Create disc

Screen Calibration

If you regularly work with photos or videos, it is a good idea to calibrate the colour on your monitor to

make the image as accurate as possible

To do this click Start, Control Panel, Appearance and Personalization, Display, Calibrate

Colorand follow the instructions


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Resize Desktop Icons

If you find the icons on your desktop are too large or too small then they can easily be resized so

that they can be seen more easily or so you can fit more icons on the screen:-

1. Click on an empty part of your desktop

2. Hold down the CTRL key

3. Using the scroll wheel on your mouse or trackball, scroll up or down to resize the icons

Keyboard Shortcuts

F1 Displays Windows Help and Support

Ctrl + C Copy the selected item

Ctrl + X Cut the selected item

Ctrl + V Paste the selected item

Ctrl + Z Undo the last action you did

Delete Deletes the selected item

F2 Rename selected item

Ctrl + Right Arrow Moves cursor to beginning of next word

Ctrl + Left Arrow Moves cursor to beginning of previous word

Ctrl + A Selects all items in current document or window

Alt + Tab Switch between open windows

Alt + Esc Make each open window active in turn


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+ Tab Cycle through open windows using Aero Flip 3D view

F5 Refresh the active window

Ctrl + Shift + Esc Opens Task Manager

Opens Start Menu

+ DMinimizes all open windows and shows the desktop - press again to

restore all open windows

+ M Minimize all open windows

+ F Search for a file or folder

+ L Lock your computer or switch users

+ U Open Ease of Access Center

+ X Open Windows Mobility Center

+ Up ArrowMaximize current window - same as dragging window to top of screen

(Aero Snap)

+ Down ArrowRestore current window to previous size - same as dragging windows

away from top of screen (Aero Snap)

+ Left or Right ArrowDocks active window to left or right of screen - handy to place two

windows side by side to move or compare contents (Aero Snap)

+ Space BarMakes all open windows transparent so you can see desktop whilst

keys held down (Aero Peek)

+ HomeMinimizes all but the active window - press again to restore windows

(Aero Shake)

Ctrl + Shift + N Create a new folder