Windows+7+for+XP+users++How+to+find+your+way+around


 * Windows 7 for XP users How to find your way around **

Navigating your way around can be a problem for someone who has used Windows XP a lot of years, but once you know where to find things it is not all that bad.

Updated to include ‘GodMode’ folders or the new TweakUI, this guide is for XP users who have skipped Vista and have either purchased a new Windows 7 computer or upgraded their existing computer to Windows 7.

As usual there are at least two or three ways to get to where you want to go and the Windows 7 is no exception. You will find that the ‘Start Menu’, ‘Search Box’, ‘Run’ command, ‘Control Panel’ and Keyboard shortcuts are all convenient ways to find many of the features you may need.


 * ClearType Tuner:**

Click: Start (Windows Orb)/Search/ClearType and click on ‘Adjust ClearType text’ in the results window.

__Alternate Methods:__ You can access the ClearType tuner via the Control Panel and Search

Control Panel: Click Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items

Search keyword: Click Start and enter the word “Clear” (without the quotation marks)

Next click on ‘Display’, then in the left hand pane click on ‘Adjust ClearType text’

The ‘Turn on ClearType’ option should be checked and then click ‘Next’.

From this point on you will see a series of boxes with sample text to pick from as you did in XP. Now you should have a clearer view of what is coming next.


 * Documents:**

Start > Documents. This will open the ‘Documents’ Library again with all the by now familiar ‘My’ folders displayed.


 * Libraries:**

The subject of a full article, but for now just know that there a library is already created for each new account. Libraries do not contain files but a pointer to files that can be physically located in a folder on your current partition or drive or other partitions or drives. Libraries are a convenient way to group a bunch of folders and files that are scattered throughout you hard drive or multiple drives in one location were they can be easily accessed. Just keep in mind that these are not shortcuts but a link, if you delete the file in the library you also may end up deleting the file from it’s physically location. You can however remove the root folder from a personal library you created without actually deleting the real folder and its associated files.

Search keyword: type “lib” (without the quotation marks and press the enter key).


 * Improve the ‘Computer’ and Windows Explorer layout:**

Start/Computer/Organize (Upper left, just below the menu toolbar), left click and pick the ‘Layout’ option, click on the ‘Navigation Pane’ option to checkmark this option.

Start/All Programs/Accessories/Windows Explorer/Organize/Layout/, check ‘Menu Bar’, ‘Details pane’ and ‘Navigation’ pane. In the Menu bar select ‘View’ and ‘Details’.

Now click Start/Run and enter: devmgmt.msc

Alternate method: “Windows Key +R” and then right click on the taskbar icon and choose ‘Pin this program to taskbar’


 * Get back the ‘Address Bar’:**

Right click on the ‘Taskbar’, select ‘Properties’, click on the ‘Toolbars’ tab, place a checkmark in the ‘Address’ box. Click ‘Apply’ and then the ‘OK’ button.

Now enter ‘notepad’ in the address bar to launch Notepad.

Enter: devmgmt.msc for device manager.


 * Looking for Device Manger or Disk Manager:**

Click Start, mouse over to ‘Computer’ and right click and select ‘Manage’.

Alternate Method: Start and click on ‘Control Panel’. Next in the Control Panel’s ‘View By’ option in the upper right click on the pull down arrow to the right of ‘Category’ and from the list select: ‘Small Icons’.

Now click on ‘Administrative Tools’. From the items listed in the ‘Name’ column, double click on ‘**Computer Management’**. Wow, too much work, their must be a simpler way: Instead of double clicking, right click and select ‘Send to’ and ‘Desktop’ to create a shortcut.


 * Pin ‘Computer Management’ to the ‘Taskbar’:**

Do this when you have the ‘Computer Management’ window open, then right click on the toolbar icon and select ‘Pin this program to taskbar’. See ‘Jump Lists’ later in this article for even more useful tips on getting to where you want to go quickly.


 * Pin ‘Computer Management’ to the ‘Taskbar’, ‘Start Menu’ or create a shortcut.**

Do this when you have the ‘Administrative Tools’ window open, then in the ‘Name’ column right click on ‘Computer Management’ and select ‘Pin to taskbar’, ‘Pin to Start Menu’ or to create a desktop shortcut pick the ‘Send To’ option.


 * Control Panel:**

Start/Control Panel

With the Control Panel Window open, notice the icon in located in the Task Bar. Right click on the icon and select ‘Pin this program to taskbar’. Later I’ll show you how to make use of the Windows 7 ‘Jump Lists’ feature.


 * Disk Cleanup:**

Click Start and type cleanmgr.exe in the ‘Search’ box, click and use the pull down to select the drive letter you want to cleanup. When Cleanup is done analyzing the drive, check the box for each category of files you want to delete and click the ‘OK’ button and then the ‘Delete Files’ button.

__Alternate Methods:__

1) Click Start and enter cleanmgr and press the ‘Enter’ key.

2) Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup.

3) Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items, click on ‘Performance Information and Tools’. In the left pane click on ‘Open Disk Cleanup’.


 * Task Manager, Disk Defragmenter, Event logs and more:**

Task Manager: Ctrl+Alt+Del and select ‘Start Task Manager’

Disk Defragmenter: Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items, click on ‘Performance Information and Tools’. In the left pane click on ‘Advanced Tools’, ‘Open Disk Defragmenter’.

Event Logs: In the ‘Advanced Tools’ window click ‘View performance details in Event log’. Now resize the window to increase the display area for the left, center and right panes. In the left explorer pane select and expand the ‘Windows logs’ folder. Click on the ‘Application’ icon to view the events displayed in the center pane. Note that the right hand ‘Actions’ pane provides some event log options you can perform.


 * Action Center:**

Check your ‘Security’ (Spyware, Virus, Windows Update, Windows Defender status) and ‘Maintenance’ information.

Reliability Check: Part of the Action Center’s ‘Maintenance’ group, expand the list by clicking on the down arrow button, located in the ‘Check for solutions to problem reports’ you will find a link labeled ‘View reliability history’ (last link on the right). Click on the link to display the ‘Reliability Monitor’, which includes any application, Windows and miscellaneous failures and warnings.


 * System Restore – Take out the guesswork:**

XP users could never be absolutely certain what is going to be restored. Windows 7 has a ‘Preview’ mode that provides some information that may help you choose the best restore point to use. Click Start/Control Panel/System. In the left pane click ‘System protection’, and click on the ‘System Restore’ button to start the restore process. Now in the Sysem Restore window click ‘Next’, pick a restore point and then click the ‘Scan for affected programs’ button. If the selected restore point is not the one you want close the information window and select another restore point.

__Other ways to access System Restore:__

Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/Recovery/Open System Restore

Start/Computer/Properties/System protection


 * Change disk space available for restore points:**

Start/Control Panel/System and Security/System OR Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/System. In the left pane click the ‘System protection’ option. Wait for Windows to finish the scan for your drives, then click on the drive/disk letter (typically C:), once highlighted click on the ‘Configure’ button. The default is 3%, move the slider to the right to increase the space available for restore points or to the left for less space depending on the size of your hard drive. If you change the Disk Space Usage value, click ‘Apply’ and then the ‘OK’ button.

Note: Both Windows 7 andVistado not create restore points on FAT32 partitions.


 * System Image:**

Creating an "Image Backup" image of your hard drive without using third party software like Acronis True Image Home 2010 or Symantec's Norton Ghost version 15. Both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image have additional features not included with the System Image tool.

Start/Control Panel/Backup and Restore. Next click on the ‘Create a system image’ option located in the upper right. Pick the destination for the xxx file and click next. Now you have the option to select one or more drives and or drive partitions to backup. By default the 100MB system partition and partition (usually C:) that contains Windows 7 are already included in the backup. Click ‘Next’, confirm your settings and then click the ‘Start backup’ button. After the backup has completed create a system repair disc (CD or DVD) and test is by booting from the repair disk.

The repair disk contains both a ‘System Recovery tools’ option and the ‘Restore your computer using a system image’ option which the option you want to select. A scan for image backups you have created will start and once the scan has completed you can select the system image you want to use to restore your computer, click ‘Next’, ‘Next’ and ‘Finish’.


 * Power Management Options:**

One of the computers which I use to evaluate Windows 7 has the unfortunate side effect that after a “Clean Install” is that it goes into hibernation too quickly for my taste. Some computers will hibernate and never fully wake up again. So I would suggest that useless you like to press the reset button is to disable hibernation, at least try several different settings to see what works and what does not work for you.

Start/Control Panel/ All Control Panel Items/Power Options.

The default power plan is: ‘Balanced’

Click on the ‘Change plan settings’ link and then change ‘Put the computer to sleep’ setting to ‘Never’.


 * Improve your computer’s Performance by modifying the power plan:**

Click on the ‘Show additional plans’ down arrow.

Check the ‘High performance’ button.

Additional options are available by clicking on the ‘Change plan settings link’.

Then click on ‘Change advanced power settings’.

You will find options for your hard drive, wireless adaptor, USB ports, PCI Express, Display and other device options.


 * Disappointed by your computer’s performance score:**

Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items

Click on ‘Performance Information and Tools.

After installing Windows 7 most likely one of the lower numbers is for your ‘Primary hard disk’. You may be able to improve this value by 1 or more points by running ‘Disk Cleanup’ and the defragmenting your hard drive. Do this by clicking on the ‘Advanced Tools’ option located in the left hand pane. Near the bottom of the Advanced Tools list is ‘Open Disk Defragmenter’. It may report that your disk is not fragmented, ignore this and defragment your drive.

Next, close out the window and return back to the Performance Information and Tools window. Located in the lower right hand corner it the option to ‘Re-run the assessment’ click and wait for the new values to be displayed.


 * Create a new user account:**

Start/Control Panel/All Control Panel Items/User Accounts.

Click ‘Manage another account’.

Click ‘Create a new account’.

Enter the user’s account name.

Choose either ‘Standard user’ or ‘Administrator’ based on the user’s needs.

Click the ‘Create Account’ button.


 * Jump lists:**

A replacement for XP’s ‘My Recent Documents’ - Not entirely true but read on for some of the Jump List features.

If you have been reading and performing some of the tips related to using the control panel options, then by now you should have a lot of recent control panel activity, but how to find all the past activity?

When the Control Panel is open simple right click on the Control Panel’s quick launch icon located on the Task Bar. You should now see a list of ‘Recent’ activity. Just click a named item in the list and you “Jump” instantly back to that part of the control Panel. You can pin frequently used control panel items by clicking on the stick pins.

For more information about Jump Lists see the link at the end of this article.


 * GodMode Folders:**

The new TweakUI or call it a super sized Control Panel, GodMode reveals dozens of previously hidden or hard to fine features. Better still is that any item displayed in the GodMode folder can be dragged to the Desktop to create a shortcut icon.


 * Create a super sized GodMode Control Panel folder:**

There is no need to use “GodMode” as part of the folder name, for example:

“Super Control Panel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}”

Right click on the desktop and create a new folder. Next highlight and copy (Ctrl+C) the Super Control Panel folder name above (do not include the quotation marks). Now using the folder you just created right click and select the rename option and press the 'Delete' key to remove the existing text and then paste (Ctrl+V) the text you just copied into the folder name box.