Windows 7 Articles

Article / Updated 11-12-2021

Windows 7 is designed for networking and working with the internet, so when your network connection isn’t working, it can be particularly frustrating. Fortunately, Windows 7 comes with a built-in troubleshooter that you can use to repair a broken network connection. Choose Start→Control Panel→Network and Internet. Then click the Network and Sharing Center link. Click the Fix a Network Problem link. The link pulls you straight into the Control Panel’s Troubleshooting guide for the network. Click the link for the type of network connection that has been lost. There are several different troubleshooters available: Internet Connections: When you can’t connect to the Internet or to a particular Web site Connection to a Shared Folder: When you can’t connect to a file or folder that you thought was shared HomeGroup: When you’re unable to view files or computers in your homegroup Network Adapter: When you’re unable to communicate with your router or modem Incoming Connections to This Computer: When you’re unable to let other computers in your network communicate with your PC Work your way through the troubleshooting guide. Windows 7 will ask you a series of questions. As you respond, you’ll get closer and closer to the answer. If Windows suggests an action you must perform, such as plugging in a cable, do so. When the solution is found, close the Network troubleshooting guide. Sometimes the troubleshooter isn't able to correct the problem. In that case, it’s best to delete the connection and just create it again by clicking the Set up a New Connection or Network link in the Network and Sharing Center window and entering the correct settings.

Step by Step / Updated 07-17-2017

The Internet Sharing feature in Windows is easy. Windows 7 makes it easy for you to get connected to the Internet and to share an Internet connection with other computers in your network. You can use the Windows Internet Connection Sharing feature on your Windows 7 computer to let one or more computers share in your Internet connection. What is internet connection sharing? Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) is a feature that allows a device with Internet access to act as a host or access point for other devices to connect to the Web. Microsoft and Windows 7 makes it easy for you to get connected to the Internet and to share an Internet connection with other computers in your network. You can use the The benefit of this approach to Internet sharing is that there is no router requirement – however, the host device (computer) must be turned on for other computers to successfully access the Internet. Follow these steps to set up the Windows 7 Internet Connection Sharing feature:

Article / Updated 06-20-2017

You don’t have to close a computer program to open or switch to another application. You can use the Alt+Tab key to cycle between the programs. You can see all open programs by looking at the Windows 7 taskbar. Just click any running program on the taskbar to display that window and make it the active program. To switch between open programs on your computer: Open two or more programs. The last program that you open is the active program. Press Alt+Tab. You move from one open application window to another. Press and hold Alt+Tab. A small box reveals all opened programs. Release the Tab key but keep Alt pressed down; press Tab until you reach the program you want. Each time you press tab, you cycle through the icons representing open programs. Release the Alt key. Windows 7 switches to whichever program is selected. To switch back to the last program that was active, simply press Alt+Tab. That program becomes the active program once again.

Article / Updated 04-17-2017

The Windows Fax and Scan utility enables you to scan documents and pictures. Before you can scan documents and pictures, you must have a scanner installed on your computer. Your scanner must be listed in the Devices section of the Devices and Printers Control Panel window. To check to see if your scanner is properly installed, open the Device Stage. Choose Start→Devices and Printers. If Windows doesn’t automatically find your scanner, you can manually add it in the Devices and Printers window by clicking the Add a Device button in the toolbar and following the wizard’s commands. Choose Start→All Programs→Windows Fax and Scan. Windows 7 opens the Windows Fax and Scan window. Click the Scan button in the Navigation pane, then click the New Scan button on the toolbar. The New Scan dialog box for your scanner opens. Use the settings on the right to describe your scan. By letting the computer know what you’re scanning, its color profile, and the type of file you plan to create, you enable Windows Fax and Scan to create the highest quality scan. Click the Preview button to see what your document will look like. Make any last minute changes. If you’re happy with the preview, click the Scan button. Windows scans the document and presents you with an image of your document. Click the Save As button and complete the necessary information. Enter the filename, the type of graphics file you want saved, and then click the Save button. To automatically forward the document you’ve just scanned as an attachment to a new fax message, click the Forward as Fax button. The scan feature in the Windows Fax and Scan utility is set primarily to scan text documents. If you want to scan a photograph or other graphic, you’re better off doing that directly within the Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Step by Step / Updated 04-14-2017

The Sticky Notes accessory enables you to plaster the electronic equivalent of good old-fashioned Post-It notes all over your Windows 7 desktop. You can use Sticky Notes in Windows 7 as onscreen reminders: you can even color code them to help you stay organized. They remain securely wherever you put them on the desktop until you delete them!

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Windows 7 can easily and quickly be customized to suit your needs. For many users, particularly those upgrading from Windows XP, one of the things you’ll want to do is add back some of the desktop icons that are "missing" in Windows 7. In fact, one of the first things that most people notice when running Windows 7 is that the initial desktop is nearly empty. For Windows 7, the main desktop consists of just the taskbar that normally appears along the bottom of the screen, a background image (or color) that fills the rest of the screen, any gadgets you display on the screen, and the Recycle bin. The lack of traditional desktop icons might be disconcerting for many users upgrading from previous versions of Windows. Although you can still access all the same information through the Start menu, if you’d like to add any of the traditional desktop icons back to your desktop, follow these steps: Right-click on the desktop background and choose Personalize from the shortcut menu that appears. The Personalization window appears. Click the Change Desktop Icons link in the Navigation pane. This opens the Desktop Icon Settings dialog box. Click the check boxes for any desktop icons you want to appear on the Windows 7 desktop. In addition to the Recycle Bin icon, you can add the following icons to your Windows 7 desktop: Computer: Provides one-click access to the Computer window, which shows all the drives and components connected to your computer (including drives that you’ve mapped onto a drive letter). User’s Files: To open your My Documents window, which is the primary repository for the document files on your computer. Network: To open the Network window, which shows all the computers on your local area network. Control Panel: To open the Control Panel, which enables you to customize all sorts of computer settings. Click OK to close the Desktop Icons Settings dialog box and then click the Close button in the upper-right corner of the Personalization window. Access these windows either by double-clicking the icon or by right-clicking it and then choosing Open from its shortcut menu. If you notice that all the icons on your desktop have suddenly disappeared, leaving it completely empty, Windows 7 probably hid them in a misguided attempt to be helpful. To bring them back, right-click your empty desktop, choose View from the pop-up menu, and make sure Show Desktop Icons has a check mark so everything stays visible.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When you have many windows open in Windows 7, you can use the Flip and Flip 3-D features to quickly organize your applications. Flip and Flip 3-D, like Aero Peek, allow you to view what is happening in all of your open windows and shuffle them so that the one you want is on top. Flip To use the Flip feature, hold down Alt and press Tab. Windows 7 displays a panel in the middle of the desktop showing thumbnails of each open window. Each time you press Tab, a different one of the windows is selected and its name appears at the top of the panel. When you release the Alt key, the panel hides again and the last window selected becomes the open window on your display. If you want to take your time scrolling through the open windows, hold the Ctrl key down while you press the Alt and Tab key. The thumbnail panel will open and stay that way even after you release all the keys. This allows you to use the right and left arrow keys to find the one you want. When you've highlighted the window you want to work with, press Enter to close the panel and display the selected window on the desktop. Flip 3D To use the Flip 3D feature, hold down the Windows logo key (the key with picture of a waving flag divided into four parts) and then press the Tab key. All the open windows will cascade across your desktop in 3-D. Flip through the cascading thumbnails by continuing to the press the Tab key. When the thumbnail of the window you want appears at the front of the stack, release the Windows logo key. Your windows will all lay back down with the window you want on top. If your mouse has a center wheel, you can then flip through the 3-D stack by turning the wheel. (Turn the wheel forward to flip backward through the stack and backward to flip forward.) As with Flip, holding the Ctrl key down while activating Flip 3D ensures that the windows remain cascaded across your desktop while you peruse them with your right and left arrow keys. When the window you want to access is at the front of the stack, you can press Enter to close the stack and display its window on top of the desktop. With Windows 7 you now also have the Aero Peek option for looking at open windows. Just hover your mouse above any taskbar button to view thumbnails of all the open windows. Thumbnails not big enough for you? Just slide your mouse up into the thumbnail and the window will appear full screen. When you find what you're looking for, just click the thumbnail, and that window will stay on your desktop for you.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

One of the ways you can make Windows 7 work for you is by adding toolbars to the taskbar along the bottom of the desktop. The new and improved taskbar is one of the biggest changes in Windows 7; it's your entry to the most commonly used programs in Windows. Windows 7 makes it easy for you to personalize your workspace. When you first start using Windows 7, none of its built-in toolbars are added to the taskbar. You can, however, add any of the following toolbars: Address toolbar: You can use this to directly enter pathnames for files and folders you want to open or URL addresses for Web pages. Links toolbar: Create a toolbar of links to your favorite Web pages by dragging the favicon (the image to the left of the Web address) to a place on the toolbar. Tablet PC Input Panel toolbar: Create a toolbar (a button, actually) that opens the Input Panel on the Windows 7 desktop, where you can write your entries. You need to be running Windows 7 on a Tablet PC laptop computer for this option to work. Desktop toolbar: Gives you access to all the desktop items on your computer. To add any (or all) of these toolbars to your taskbar, right-click an empty location on the taskbar and then choose Toolbars from the pop-up menu that appears, followed by the name of the toolbar to add.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Most of the searches you'll need to perform in Windows 7 will be simple and straightforward. However, when you need to really drill down into the index to find a long lost file, consider using search filters to unleash the advanced search tools in Windows 7. You can use advanced search filters to modify a search so that the search engine takes into account specific file characteristics, which can help you isolate the most likely candidates. Windows 7's Add a Search Filter options appear in a drop-down menu box immediately beneath the Search text box in a Windows Explorer window. The actual search filters you'll see listed vary depending on the type of drive, folder, or file that’s currently selected in the Explorer window. The filters can include any of the following: Date Modified: Search for files based on the date they were last modified. Date Taken: Searches for photos by the date they were snapped. Date Created: Searches according to when the file was created. You can select the date (or a range of dates) from a mini-calendar that appears. You can also be less specific and choose: A Long Time Ago, Earlier This Year, Earlier This Month, Last Week, Earlier This Week, or Yesterday. Size: Search for a specific file size by typing its KBs or MBs in the search text box. Or, you can search by various size ranges. Kind: Search for files of a specific type as selected from the drop-down list that appears when you click the Kind option. Type: Searches based on certain file types by extension, such as .pdf, .jpg, or .docx. Name: Searches by filename. You can enter all or part of the filename in the search text box after the Name filter. When you don't know all of a filename, you can use the asterisk (*) to stand for one or more wildcard characters in the filename and a question mark (?) to stand for individual wildcard characters. Length: Search for an audio or video file by its relative length. You can enter the exact length or select one of the Length options that appear in the drop-down list. Tags: This filter lets you search for a file by the tags assigned to it. Enter one or more tags after the Tags filter in the Search text box. Authors: Search for file by a particular author. Enter an author name after the Authors filter in the Search text box or select the name from the drop-down list that appears. (This filter is called Artists when searching audio files.) You can chose one or more of the search filters when looking for a file, but keep in mind that all the conditions you specify with the Date Modified, Size, Kind, Type, Name, Tags, and Authors search filters are inclusive, which means that all their conditions must be met in order to be returned to your Search Results window.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Windows 7 makes it easy for you to personalize your computer by offering a variety of options for customizing the new taskbar. One of the ways you can make your Windows workspace truly unique is by creating a custom toolbar for the taskbar. You can use any of the folders on your computer to create custom toolbars to add to the Windows 7 taskbar. The taskbar is your entry to the most commonly used programs in Windows. By creating your very own personalized toolbar for the taskbar, you can make it your shortcut to your favorite folders as well. Right-click the taskbar and then choose Toolbars→New Toolbar from the shortcut menu that appears. Be sure to right-click on a blank part of the taskbar. Windows opens the New Toolbar—Choose a Folder dialog box. Select the folder you want to turn into a custom toolbar. Use the Navigation pane to select the folder whose contents you want to appear in the new toolbar by clicking the folder icon in the navigation list box. Windows will create buttons for any subfolders. Click the OK button to close the New Toolbar dialog box. The New Toolbar appears on the taskbar (indicated by the folder’s name followed by double arrows). When you click the arrows, Windows 7 displays a pop-up menu showing all the subfolders and documents in that folder. Custom toolbars will be completely deleted the moment you hide them from display (by right-clicking the taskbar and then choosing Toolbars followed by the name of the custom toolbar). Custom toolbars give you the opportunity to add shortcuts to your favorite Web sites to your toolbar. Just create a folder and fill it with Internet shortcuts. In Internet Explorer, you can quickly create a shortcut to a Web site by navigating to the site and dragging the icon on the left end of the Address bar into your folder. When your folder is ready, turn it into a custom toolbar following the instructions above.