Windows 7

Quick Reference Guide

© 2011 PC Assist @ Home

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 What's
...................................................................................................................................
New in Windows 7 3
2 Windows
...................................................................................................................................
Desktop 4
3 Start
...................................................................................................................................
Menu 5
4 Windows
...................................................................................................................................
Explorer 6
5 Taskbar
................................................................................................................................... 6
6 Control
...................................................................................................................................
Panel 7
7 Devices
...................................................................................................................................
and Printers 8
8 Personalization
................................................................................................................................... 9
9 Connecting
...................................................................................................................................
to a Network 9
10 System
...................................................................................................................................
Restore 11
11 Windows
...................................................................................................................................
Update 12
12 Action
...................................................................................................................................
Center 12
13 Troubleshooting
................................................................................................................................... 13
14 Backup
...................................................................................................................................
and Restore 15
15 Parental
...................................................................................................................................
Controls 16
16 User
...................................................................................................................................
Account Control (UAC) 17
17 HomeGroup
................................................................................................................................... 18
18 Libraries
................................................................................................................................... 19
19 Gadgets
................................................................................................................................... 21
20 Jump
...................................................................................................................................
Lists 22
21 Windows
...................................................................................................................................
Mobility Center 23
22 Help
...................................................................................................................................
and Support 24
23 Ease
...................................................................................................................................
of Access Center 25
24 Programs
...................................................................................................................................
& Features 26
25 Windows
...................................................................................................................................
Experience Index 27
26 32...................................................................................................................................
or 64 bit 28
27 System
...................................................................................................................................
Repair Disc 29
28 Screen
...................................................................................................................................
Calibration 29
29 Resize
...................................................................................................................................
Desktop Icons 30
30 Keyboard
...................................................................................................................................
Shortcuts 30
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 laptop
wherever 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 edge
of 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

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Windows Desktop

Icons and shortcuts to users documents and programs and the

Desktop and Desktop
recycle bin - you can also create your own shortcuts to regularly
Icons
used programs or documents

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

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

Pinned Programs you can pin shortcuts to your favorite programs here so you can
launch them quickly
Shows running applications and allows you to switch between
Taskbar
them by clicking on the relevant icon
Shows system icons for network connections, power, audio
Notification Area volume etc as well as notifications for background applications
such as your virus/firewall software
Allow you to put information and fun items on your desktop,
Gadgets some are purely for entertainment, others more useful, like
calendar, weather, news feeds etc

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Start Menu

Start Button Click here to open the Start Menu

Allows you to easily search through your programs and

Search Box
documents

All Programs Click here to show icons for all installed software

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

Options to log off, shutdown or restart computer
Computer

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Windows Explorer

Use these buttons to navigate backwards and forwards through

Back/Forward Buttons
recently viewed folders
Easily search for any files on your computer by entering details
Search
here
Use to minimize Windows to taskbar, to make Window Full Size
or to Close Windows
Minimize/Maximize
and Close Buttons
Note: Maximize icon changes to Restore icon when Windows is
Full Size to allow you to restore Window to previous size
Various options to change display of files/folders and to useful
Toolbar
areas such as properties, uninstalling software etc
Displays a hierarchal view of your folder and file structure,
Folder View including Favorite locations, Libraries and your HomeGroup
(home network) if relevant

Folder Contents Shows contents of currently selected folder

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

Properties
size, date created, file type etc

Taskbar

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

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

Pinned Programs can pin shortcuts to your favorite programs here so you can launch
them quickly
All currently opened applications/windows are shown here so you
Open Applications
can easily switch between them
Shows system icons for network connections, power, audio volume
Notification Area etc as well as notifications for background applications such as
your virus/firewall software
Click here to minimize all open windows and show the desktop,
Show Desktop
hover mouse over this icon to "peek" at the desktop
Hover over any minimized or pinned programs on your taskbar to get
Thumbnail Preview a thumbnail preview of that window, makes it easier to switch
between applications and choose the windows you want active

Control Panel

Back up and restore files and system settings, view RAM and
System and Security processor speed, check performance, update software and drivers,
find/fix problems and more
Check network status and change settings, set preferences for
Network and Internet
sharing files and computers, configure Internet, and more
Add or remove printers and other hardware, change system sounds,
Hardware and Sound play CDs automatically, view scanners and cameras, connect to a
projector, adjust mobility settings
Uninstall programs or Windows features, scan for Spyware, uninstall
Programs
gadgets, and more

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User Accounts and Family Change user account settings and passwords, and setup parental
Safety controls
Appearance and Change the appearance of desktop items, apply a theme or screen
Personalization saver to your computer, or customize the Start menu and taskbar
Change the date, time, and timezone for your computer, the
Clock, Language, and
language to use, and the way numbers, currencies, dates, and
Region
times are displayed
Adjust your computer settings for vision, hearing, and mobility, and
Ease of Access use speech recognition to control your computer with voice
commands

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 as
Desktop 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 wish
to 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 settings
Maintenance Allows you to check for solutions to any problems encountered as well as installing
updates and performing regular backups
Troubleshooti Access troubleshooting packs which will guide you through and solve common
ng 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)

Troubleshooting
Windows 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 Recorder which 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 to
manually 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 User Accounts and Family
Safety section

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

Gadgets
Gadgets 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 Support

Find 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 or From 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 computer’s hardware and software
configuration, and expresses this measurement as a number called a base score. A higher base
score generally means that your computer will perform better and faster than a computer with a
lower base score, especially when performing more advanced and resource-intensive tasks.

Each hardware component receives an individual subscore. Your computer’s 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 computer’s 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 windows
your 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 state 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
Color and 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
Minimizes all open windows and shows the desktop - press again to
+D
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
Maximize current window - same as dragging window to top of screen
+ Up Arrow
(Aero Snap)
Restore current window to previous size - same as dragging windows
+ Down Arrow
away from top of screen (Aero Snap)
Docks active window to left or right of screen - handy to place two
+ Left or Right Arrow
windows side by side to move or compare contents (Aero Snap)
Makes all open windows transparent so you can see desktop whilst
+ Space Bar
keys held down (Aero Peek)
Minimizes all but the active window - press again to restore windows
+ Home
(Aero Shake)
Ctrl + Shift + N Create a new folder

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