Windows 7 Tips You Can Do

Windows XP is coming to a close. Enterprises and other organizations are increasing their compatibility testing and asset management before making the move to Windows 7 migration. Since Windows XP has been on the market for ten years, there has been a huge addition of features and functionality added to Windows that many users are unaware of, or will find vastly different from Windows XP. A Windows 7 training video reveals the new revisions, and increases the user’s knowledge of applying the features to their own daily responsibilities. The addition of skills a user can gain translates into a larger number of opportunities turning into career advancement. K Alliance training contains Windows 7 training, Microsoft Office 2010 training, and many more in depth, informative tutorials.

A Windows XP user migrating to Windows 7 will immediately notice the newer user interface. Taskbar icons are vastly different in their actions. They even contain shortcuts and jump menus. To access a jump menu, a user can hold down the left mouse button. To use a shortcut, users can hold down the Windows key and choosing the number that relates to the icon in question. Speaking of icons on the taskbar, they can be moved and arranged to the user’s preference. They are also much larger than their Windows XP counterpart.

The new Ribbon interface has been spread out to other applications, such as WordPad and the Paint app. They also have the Save As option located in their menus. A new utility, the Problem Steps Recorder, is a tool that lends troubleshooting to users in search of an answer to their manual procedures. At the Start button, enter ‘psr’. A recording macro begins, annotating user actions that can be emailed to a second party and analyzed. Topics of ‘hey, this is what you are doing wrong’ are easier to track and correct.

Users who need to keep track of time, especially if time in another time zone is important and relates to work responsibilities. An Additional Clocks tab exists in the notification zone, allowing users to show two additional clocks with the ability to view other time zones. Working in New York and need to keep track of time in Hong Kong? It can be done.

Even though possessing administration rights or constantly running applications as an administrator is a bad idea, (it opens up the possibility of intrusion and system control from external forces) the ability to execute an application with admin privileges does exist. From the Instant Search edit box, enter the name of the application in question and press the key combination Ctrl Shift Enter. Your application runs as an admin.

The Windows 7 Action Center delivers alerts, system notifications, and other security information in a timely and orderly fashion. As a user, you are provided a better sense of how your system is performing. The User Account Control in the Action Center gives you the benefit of knowing when a virus or other malware is attempting to take control of an application or your system. From a user standpoint, you can control how much security and notification you desire to receive.

Every application does not have to exist in your environment. Windows 7 provides the ability to choose which applications you desire to display and utilize, or hide from your view. Enter the word ‘features’ in the Instant Search, go to the Control Panel and the Turn Windows Features On or Off option, and customize your applications at will.

In Private Browsing is a nice feature to utilize when you do not want to leave a history or trail of your activities in Internet Explorer. This functionality, available in Internet Explorer version eight, cookies and temporary internet files are deleted when you close the browser. Data entered in forms and passwords are not stored, and your web page history is eliminated. Auto Complete and any searches you conducted is erased, and any information that is normally stored for developers to utilize is erased. In Private Browsing does have its limitations. Individuals within your own network, such as the network administrator, or even a hacker who has gained access, will have the ability to view your browsing locations. In Private Browsing will not protect you from ‘not safe for work’ locations. A trail will be left. The In Private Browsing option does not keep sites from figuring out who you are, as your web address can give you away, and the site itself can still record your activities conducted when you visited their location. Alterations you make, such as changing your home page, or saved Internet Explorer environment settings, will be kept and not deleted once you close the browser.

Many devices arrive with GPS and similar location services. The ability to automatically detect your whereabouts can be turned off, such as the same service located in a smart phone. Windows 7 also has this capability. You can determine how much information you want to provide or filter. One of the uses of this location services is to send you advertising tailored to your area.

Configuring your own network at home is now easier. Home Groups is a process allowing the sharing of peripherals, files, pictures, music, documents, and more. Arriving with password protection, Home Groups provides the ability to set certain locations in your network as private, shared, or read only. Media can even stream from your system to a capable TV set or picture frame.

Diagnostics are easier in Windows 7. If an application crashes more than normal, or the system hangs in midstream, entering the word ‘reliability’ in your Instant Search brings up the Windows 7 Reliability Monitor. From here, users can view the history of their system and determine where maintenance and optimization should be applied. Diagnostic reports can be obtained easily and in a matter of seconds by using the admin command prompt and entering perfmon /report.

Parents gain an edge in how much time their children spend on the computer with the Parental Controls. By setting a time restriction, scalable down to the particular day of the week and certain hours of the day. The controls will even provide the option to limit certain applications available to their children. Other locations including school systems, libraries and other related facilities can use the Parental Controls to limit utilization of computer systems.

PowerShell, a command line interface designed for administrators, provides a scripting environment with the ability to access and modify the Windows registry, certificates, and other data stores. PowerShell has been upgraded in Windows 7, as it arrives with a graphic user interface, divided into a command input section, the output region, and a section for creating scripts and saving them for future use. The latest version of PowerShell also has new remote capabilities.

AppLocker is a new addition, providing security measures of access control. AppLocker brings operational and security compliance by disallowing unlicensed software from executing on a system, prevents unauthorized applications, such as malware from running, keeps users from executing applications that devouring bandwidth from the network, and other policies set by organizations to ensure a smooth running system and desktop environment.

The Event Viewer alerts users to errors that can take place. When the event occurs, it can be attached to an email, or displayed as a message for the user to take appropriate action. Windows 7 also has a performance index, accessible from the Instant Search. Enter ‘wei’ and Windows presents a baseline index score, and supporting component scores.

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