77 windows 7 tips

8/8/2019 77 Windows 7 Tips

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77 Win7 Tips

AT A GLANCE: :)

* Make Windows 7 faster* Get more done with Windows 7

* The best Windows 7 shortcuts

* Securing Windows 7

Windows 7 may be Microsoft's most anticipated product ever. It builds on Windows

Vista's positives, and eliminates many of that OS's negatives. It adds new functionality,

too—all in a package that is less resource-hungry than its predecessor.And whether or

not you're upgrading from Vista or skipping it altogether and moving up from Windows

XP, you'll need to know how to make the most of it in your environment. Here are 77

tips and tricks to get you there.

1. Pick Your Edition. Most business users do not need the more expensive Ultimate

Edition; stick with Professional unless you specifically need BitLocker.

2. Upgrading? Go 64-bit. As the second major Windows release to fully support 64-bit,

the x64 architecture has definitely arrived on the desktop. Don't buy new 32-bit

hardware unless it's a netbook.

3. Use Windows XP Mode. Yes, it's only an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of

WinXP—but it's an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of Windows XP! This is the first

profoundly intelligent use of desktop virtualization we've seen—and a great way tomove to Windows 7 without giving up full Windows XP compatibility.

4. Use Windows PowerShell v2. More than just a shell, this is the administration tool

you've always wanted: Parallel, distributed processing for administrative tasks! Manage

100 machines literally as easily as you manage one with the new Remoting feature.

Windows PowerShell v2 ships for the first time in Windows 7, and within six months will

be available for older versions of Windows.

5. Use AppLocker. We've been fans of Software Restriction Policies since Windows XP,

and AppLocker finally makes application whitelisting possible. Use it to enhance or evenreplace your anti-virus software, ensuring that only the software you want to run will

run.

6. Shift to and from Explorer and CommandPrompt. The classic Windows power toy

Open Command Prompt Here is now an integral part of Windows 7 Explorer. Hold down

the shift key then right-click a folder to add this option to the property menu. While

you're in a command prompt, if you want to open an Explorer window with the focus of



the window on the current directory, enter start.

7. Record Problems. The Problem Steps Recorder (PSR) is a great new feature that helps

in troubleshooting a system . At times, Remote Assistance may not be possible.

However, if a person types psr in their Instant Search, it will launch the recorder. Now

they can perform the actions needed to recreate the problem and each click will recordthe screen and the step. They can even add comments. Once complete, the PSR

compiles the whole thing into an MHTML file and zips it up so that it can be e-mailed for

analysis to the network admin (or family problem solver, depending on how it's being

used).

8. Make Training Videos. Use a tool like Camtasia to record short, two to three minute

video tutorials to help your users find relocated features, operate the new Taskbar and

so forth. Get them excited about Windows 7—and prepared for it.

9. Start Thinking About Windows Server 2008 R2. Some of Windows 7's more compelling

features, like BranchCache, work in conjunction with the new server OS. The R2 upgrade

path is pretty straightforward, so there's little reason not to take advantage of the

synergies if you can afford upgrade licenses.

10. Prepare Those XP Machines. There's no in-place upgrade from Windows XP to

Windows 7, so start planning to migrate user data now, in advance of a Windows 7

upgrade deployment.

11. Consider Clean Installs. Even when upgrading Windows Vista machines, consider a

clean install rather than an in-place upgrade. Yes, it's more hassle, but it'll produce a

more trouble-free computer in the long run.

12. Consider Upgrade Assurance. Even if you've never bought it before, consider it for

your new Windows 7 licenses. Access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack

(MDOP), which includes App-V, MED-V and other cool technologies, is worth the

premium.

13. Find New Tools. Within Control Panel is a single

Troubleshooting link that leads you to all of your diagnostic tools on the system. There

are additional tools, however, not installed by default. Selecting the "View all" link in the

top left-hand corner will help you to see which troubleshooting packs are local and whichones are online. If you find a tool that you don't have, you can grab it from here.

14. Understand Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Windows 7 plays an important role

in Microsoft's VDI strategy, where virtualized Windows 7 machines are hosted on a

central virtualization server using a special blanket "Enterprise Centralized Desktop"

license. Read up and figure out if you can take advantage of this new strategy.



15. Prepare for DirectAccess. DirectAccess makes it easier for users to remotely access

their office-based resources, without a VPN. DirectAccess also opens up remote

computers more fully to Group Policy—but it requires Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2.

16. Employ Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM). If you quickly want to

list or manage Windows packages, features or drivers, use the command-line utilityDISM. The "image" in the name may fool you into thinking that this is solely a

deployment tool. An online command-line switch lets you manage the features in the

currently loaded OS. To get a list of the loaded Windows features, enter dism /online

/get-features /format:table. To enable a feature, enter dism /online /enable-feature

/featurename:<name>.

17. Embrace Troubleshooting Packs. Designed to help users troubleshoot and solve

problems on their own, you need to update your support procedures to acknowledge

these Packs. For example, don't force users to repeat steps the Pack already walked

them through, and consider developing your own Packs (in Windows PowerShell) to

support in-house systems.

18. Check Reliability. The Reliability Monitor was introduced in Windows Vista as 'The

Reliability and Performance Monitor." In Windows 7 it has been separated from

Performance Monitor and moved to a new location under the Action Center. You open

the Action Center in Control Panel and then look under the Maintenance options for the

"View reliability history" link. You can also just type in Reliability Monitor from the

Instant Search.

19. Accept Diversity. Not every organization will be ready to move entirely to Windows 7

right away. That's fine—but that shouldn't mean the entire organization stays onWindows XP, either. The myths of the cost savings of having only one OS have been

largely disproven or downplayed, so use Windows 7 where it makes sense to do so.

20. Get Snippy. The snipping tool has also been around in various incarnations but it's

even easier to use in Windows 7. Launch the tool, then drag and drop any part of your

screen. The tool will snip the selection. You can save it as a graphic file or annotate with

basic drawing tools. Teach your end users how to use this tool so they can grab the

snapshots of their problems and send them to the help desk. Or create your own library

of visual notes.

21. Presentation Nirvana. Press Windows+P to access the new Presentation mode, and

easily turn on your projector and laptop screen at the same time. No more messing with

vendor-specific utilities and arcane keystrokes. (Windows+X accesses the Mobility

Center, with additional presentation options.)

22. Cut the Clutter. Press Windows+Home to minimize all but the current window,

removing background clutter and letting you focus on that report your boss has been



bugging you about.

23. Be a Mouse-Click Administrator. Windows 7 makes it

easy to gain admin rights with a keyboard shortcut. Click on Ctrl+Shift on a taskbar-

locked icon, and voila! You've launched it with appropriate admin rights.

24. Faster Installations. If your computer is capable of booting from USB, try this: XCopy

the Windows 7 installation DVD to a sufficiently large USB drive, boot from that drive,

and install Windows from there. It's faster than a spinning platter.

25. Burn Discs with a Click. Or two; double-click an ISO file to burn it to your CD or DVD

writer.

26. Restore Point Previews Many of us used to shut off System Restore because we were

terrified to actually use it; under Windows 7, we can be much calmer. After selecting a

Restore Point, Windows will now offer to show you which files and folders will be

affected by restoring to that point.

27. Sync Time Zones. If you work with offices in different time zones and frequently find

yourself missing meeting times because you are not in sync with their time zone, try the

"Additional Clocks" feature that was first introduced in Vista. Within your Date and Time

settings is a tab called Additional Clocks, where you can add two or more clocks to your

taskbar time, and set them to provide different time zones from your current time zone.

28. Configure User Account Control (UAC). Even if you're a UAC hater, give it another try.

Go to the Control Panel to configure its behavior to something slightly less obnoxious

than what Windows Vista had, and see if you can't live with the extra protection it offers.

29. RoboCopyCopyCopy. The always-useful Robocopy.exe can now run multi-threaded;

run Robocopy /? to review its new parameters (like /MT for multithreading) and make

your copies go faster.

30. Remote Desktop Console. Windows 7 Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT)

does not include a console-based remote desktop utility. And even if it did, the standard

remote desktop console has some nagging limitations: It can't move connections around

in the list; it can't sort by folders and so forth. If you manage lots of servers from yourWindows 7 workstation, try downloading a copy of mRemote from mremote.org. This

donation-requested utility allows you to mix together a variety of remote control

applications, including Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA), Microsoft

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Secure Shell (SSH)

and rlogin. All host names are displayed in a standard tree control that can be divided

into folders, sorted alphabetically, and allow you to assign different logon accounts and

secure passwords to each connection.



31. Multiple Monitors. Windows 7 makes working with multiple monitors intuitive and

flexible. There are a variety of shortcuts and mouse motions that flick windows from

monitor to monitor. To make the most of this, you need lots and lots of screen real

estate. Try one of the new QWXGA monitors from Samsung

(tinyurl.com/qwxgasamsung) or Dell (tinyurl.com/qwxgadell). These 23-inch monitorshave a 2048x1152 resolution, making it possible to put two full-sized pages on the same

monitor. Pair them together and you'll get enough space to have all your admin tools

open along with Office, Visio, your intranet sites and a little note to your mom in Live

Mail. Move your taskbar to the left or right side of the window instead of along the

bottom to free up even more real estate.

32. Windows PowerShell Scripting. If you want to make the most of Windows PowerShell

on Windows 7, you'll need a quick way to build and debug scripts. Windows 7 comes

with an interactive editor that allows you to try out cmdlets and test functions on the fly.

33. Drag-and-Drop Notification Icons. The redesigned notification area displays only a

minimum number of icons; all other notification icons are moved to a side window.

Rather than using the Customize option to select icons for the main display, you can

drag-and-drop icons from the side window to the notification area.

34. Add Unindexed Shared Folders to Library. You can add UNC paths such as

\\servername\sharename to a Library, but the server must index the folder. If you want

to add a UNC path to an unindexed server, you can create a symbolic link to the UNC

path, then add the link or links to the library. Use the mklink command. For example,

mklink HomeFolder \\ServerName\Homefolder.

35. Simplify Cloned Machine Setups. You can't run Sysinternals' newsid utility to change

the identity of a cloned Windows 7 machine (either a virtual machine or imaged PC).

Instead, create a template installation then run sysprep /oobe /generalize /reboot

/shutdown /unattend:scriptfile. Clone or copy this virtual machine file. When it launches,

it will get a new SID and you can fill in the name. The reference for building unattended

script files is at tinyurl.com/winunattend.

36. Snap That Aero. The Windows key is great for all your shortcuts. Now you can use it

to work with the new AeroSnap feature in Windows 7. Select a window, hit the Windows

key and a left or right arrow to snap the window to that half of the screen, or use the uparrow to snap it to the top of the screen.

37. Shortcut the Taskbar. The Windows key is great for shortcuts. You can select the

Windows key and a number to correspond to items on your taskbar. So, if IE (for

example) is the third icon on your taskbar (not counting the Start button), you can hit the

Windows key and the number three to launch or open IE.



38. Manage Passwords. Control Panel includes a new application called Credential

Manager. This may appear to be a completely new tool that allows you to save your

credentials (usernames and passwords) for Web sites you log into and other resources

you connect to (such as other systems). Those credentials are saved in the Windows

Vault, which can be backed up and restored. However, you might see this as similar to a

tool we have in XP and Vista. From the Instant Search, type in control /userpasswords2and you will be brought to the Advanced User Accounts Control Panel, where you can

also manage passwords for your account (see Figure 4).

39. Trigger Actions. Event Viewer is closely tied into Task Scheduler. You have the ability

to take an event (select it in Event Viewer) and then from the Actions pane, select the

option "Attach a Task" to have that event, when it appears, trigger an action. That action

can be: launch a program; send an e-mail; or display a message. This feature may be very

helpful in troubleshooting a problem.

40. Browse InPrivate. A new feature in IE8 is the ability to open the browser in an

InPrivate Browsing session that allows you to perform banking and so forth from a public

location without fear of leaving behind any residue. IE will not retain anything you do in

an In Private Browsing session. You can perform this action if you are already within IE by

selecting the Safety button and then InPrivate Browsing. This will open another IE

window altogether. However, you can save a few steps by using the shortcut. Right-click

the desktop IE icon, click InPrivate and the windows will open in an InPrivate session

already.

41. Go Live. Many applications installed on past versions of Windows have been

removed. Starting with Windows 7, these applications (and a few others not typically

installed with Windows) have been moved into the Live Essentials downloadableapplications, at download.live.com. These applications include Messenger, Mail, Writer,

Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Family Safety and a few others.

42. Remove Apps. Although some applications have been moved off of Windows to

become an optional download, other apps, such as IE8, Media Player, Media Center and

DVD Maker are still included. In times past, especially when it came to IE, the

applications were tied into the OS. However, in Windows 7 you can easily remove them

if desired. Head to the Program and Features applet in Control Panel and select the

"Turn Windows features on or off" link in the top left-hand corner. Then you can select

the checkbox of the features you want to lose or add for your system.

43. Are You Windows 7 Experienced? System properties has a rating called the Windows

Experience Index (WEI). This rating is a collection of five different ratings that are

determined by the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT). The highest rating score

is 7.9 (compared to 5.9 in Vista), using the categories of Processor, RAM, Graphics,

Gaming Graphics and Primary Hard Disk. The final rating is not an average of all the

ratings, but the lowest of the subcomponent scores.



44. Analyze Processes. One of the coolest new features in the revamped Resource

Monitor (resmon) is the ability to see the "wait chain traversal." An unresponsive

process will be shown in red in the Resource Monitor; right-click the process and choose

Analyze Process. This will show the threads in the process and see who holds the

resources that are holding up the process itself. You can then kill that part of the processif you like.

45. Create Virtual Worlds. Virtualization capability has been added to the Disk

Management tools. If you open Computer Management, go to the Disk Manager tool

and then click the Action button at top, you will see the options Create VHD and/or

Attach VHD. This allows you to create and mount a virtual hard drive directly from within

the GUI. Note: With Windows 7 you even have the ability to boot a Windows 7 VHD.

46. Encrypt USB Sticks. Use BitLocker To Go. Maybe you've managed to never misplace

or lose a USB key, but for the rest of us mere mortals, it's a fact of life. Most of the time

it's no big deal, but what if it contains sensitive data? BitLocker To Go enables you to

encrypt data on removable storage devices with a password or a digital certificate stored

on a smart card.

47. Lock with Group Policy. Take control through AppLocker application control.

AppLocker intercepts kernel calls that try to create new processes or load libraries and

ensures the code is allowed to execute. Practically, that means you can eliminate

unknown and unwanted software by implementing AppLocker through Group Policy.

48. Be Our Guest. Guest mode proves a convenient method to give a guest or child

access to your computer with limits on making system changes, installing software, orwriting to the disk outside the user profile. After the user is done and logs off, data saved

inside of the user profile is deleted. You cannot use Guest mode in an AD environment.

49. Restore from Backed up Restore Points. You can choose to include restore points in

your backups and restore from them when using System Restore. This is convenient if

you want to create a baseline of a working configuration and be able to restore to it in

the future without overwriting other data on the hard disk.

50. Benefit from BranchCache. BranchCache helps you save on round trips for requested

files in remote branch scenarios. If one person requests a file over the WAN, it's cachedlocally and either distributed across computers at the remote branch or stored on a

central server at the remote branch.

51. Disable Search Suggestion Popups. As you type in the Search Box, Windows 7 makes

suggestions based on past queries by pulling past queries from the Registry. You can

disable this in the Local Group Policy by enabling User Configuration | Administrative

Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer | Turn Off Display Of Recent



Search Entries In the Windows Explorer.

52. Pin Control Panel to Taskbar. If you use the Control Panel frequently, you may have

noticed that you cannot simply right-click the Control Panel and select Pin to Taskbar.

Instead, you must first Open Control Panel so its icon appears in the taskbar. From there,

you can right-click the icon in the taskbar and select Pin this program to taskbar.

53. Leverage Search Connectors. You can now search the Web using the search

functionality. Windows 7 includes Federated Search to increase the search scope beyond

the local and network resources. Several search connectors are available, such as for

YouTube and Twitter, or you can create custom ones to fit your needs.

54. Use Stickier Notes. Even though this feature has existed in previous versions of

Windows in one form or another, it's much easier to use in Windows 7. You can stick a

note on your desktop for quick reminders. It's a snap to change the font or note color. If

you have a note selected, use Ctrl-N to create a new one.

55. Try out Improved WordPad. You probably haven't given much thought to WordPad

lately, but the version shipping with Windows 7 has undergone a major renovation.

Think of it as a lite version of Microsoft Word. WordPad sports a spiffy ribbon interface,

making it a snap to create well-formatted documents. Plus, you are no longer relegated

to saving them as .RTF files. WordPad now supports the Office Open XML document

(.DOCX) format. This makes it even easier to open .DOCX files created in Word in

WordPad.

56. Calculate. Another basic utility that received a major overhaul is the venerable

calculator. In addition to standard and scientific views, there are now programmer andstatistic modes. You will also love the conversion and calculation features. Want to

convert Celsius to Fahrenheit but can never remember the formula? Use the conversion

panel. You'll also enjoy the data calculation extension. Quickly find the difference

between two dates or calculate a new date by adding or subtracting years, months or

days.

57. Manage Services from Task Manager. The Windows 7 Task Manager now includes a

tab to manage services. You can quickly see at a glance the status of all services on your

machine. Click a column heading to sort. You can even start and stop services with a

simple right-click. If you need full-blown service management, use the Services button tolaunch the Services management console. You may often have the Task Manager

running in the system tray; now, having service management access means one less

window to have open.

58. Get Under the Hood. Windows 7 offers more ways to peek under the hood without

adding third-party solutions. A terrific example is the Resource Monitor. The

performance tab in Windows Task Manager is a good start, but sometimes you need



more information. Click the Resource Monitor button to get more detailed information

and performance graphs for key subsystems like CPU and Disk. You can also find the

Resource Monitor under Accessories | System Tools.

59. Check Vital Signs. Another new system tool you'll enjoy is the System Health report.

In the Run dialog box, type perfmon /report, which generates a system health report.This report records details about your computer's performance, resource usage and

more. The report also includes diagnostic information about things that aren't working

as they should and suggested steps to resolve. The reports are saved and can be

accessed with the Performance Monitor management console. You can also save as an

HTML file or send via e-mail.

60. Get More Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell v2 promises to be a game-

changer for many system administrators. Many will prefer to use the graphical Windows

PowerShell console, also known as the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). You'll find

this in the Windows Power Shell folder under Accessories. Add a keyboard shortcut of

Ctrl+Alt+I to quickly launch it. Run any Windows PowerShell command in the lower panel

and see the results in the middle. Create or edit scripts in the top pane. Open multiple

Windows PowerShell sessions connected to remote computers. The ISE makes Windows

PowerShell v2 easy to use and fun.

61. Put It on Old Stuff. One perhaps-not-so-obvious Windows 7 tip is that you should

attempt to install it everywhere. One user has a 6-year-old laptop that originally shipped

with Windows XP. He could never get Windows Vista to install on it. But Windows 7

installed without complaint and runs extremely smooth. Granted, there are some

Windows 7 features he can't take advantage of because the processor lacks certain

features, but these are minor issues considering the laptop now has life again.

62. Improve Security. In Vista it was difficult to manage system protection via restore

points. The System Protection tab in Windows 7 is a vast improvement. In one spot you

can configure how much space to devote to restore points, delete and create restore

points or even turn off system protection altogether. This is very useful on older systems

where disk space may be at a premium.

63. Actually Use Help and Support. Much of Vista's clutter has been reduced in Windows

7. For instance, the Help and Support page has three links, a search window and a link

back to Microsoft's Windows site. It's much less intimidating for end users, so make surethey know about it. Search is much improved as well, making for a better, faster

experience.

List continued with 14 Best Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts..

The 14 Best Windows 7 Keyboard ShortcutsThe Windows key now performs a wide

variety of functions. Here are a handful of the most useful ones:

64. Win+h - Move current window to full screen



65. Win+i - Restore current full screen window to normal

size or minimize current window if not full screen

66. Win+Shift+arrow - Move current window to alternate screen

67. Win+D - Minimize all windows and show the desktop

68. Win+E - Launch Explorer with Computer as the focus

69. Win+F - Launch a search window

70. Win+G - Cycle through gadgets

71. Win+L - Lock the desktop

72. Win+M - Minimize the current window

73. Win+R - Open the Run window

74. Win+T - Cycle through task bar opening Aero Peek for

each running item

75. Win+U - Open the Ease of Use center

76. Win+Space - Aero Peek the desktop

77. Ctrl+Win+Tab - Open persistent task selection window, roll mouse over each icon to

preview item and minimize others.

77 windows 7 tips

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