Windows 7 Manual

Change the Way Windows 7 Displays Taskbar Icons

2011-08-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

If you've recently made the move from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7, one big change you've probably noticed is the way the operating system displays icons in its taskbar (the row along the bottom of the screen).

Specifically, it shows icons only, without any text labels identifying what they are. The screenshot above is what you typically see.

Although some icons are pretty self-explanatory (like those for Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, etc.), I like to have the accompanying labels--at least for programs that are currently running. Fortunately, it's an easy matter to tweak this option in Windows 7. Here's how:

1. Right-click an open area of the taskbar, then choose Properties.
2. In the Taskbar tab, find the Taskbar buttons pull-down menu.
3. Choose Combine when taskbar is full or Never combine, then click OK.

The first option, which is what I use, keeps the text labels visible until the taskbar gets so crowded as to make that impractical, at which point Windows will ditch the labels and merge multiple instances of running program (like, say, a bunch of Firefox windows) onto a single taskbar icon.

Here's an "after" shot so you can see the taskbar with text labels:

Again, I think this makes Windows 7 a little user-friendlier. Your thoughts?

Microsoft Reports Record Revenue After Win7 Launch

2010-01-30T14:14:00.000-08:00

Spurred on by Windows 7, Microsoft reported record revenue for the fourth calendar quarter of 2009. But a number of Microsoft's businesses also saw revenue decline from a year ago.

For Microsoft's second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, Microsoft reported record net income of $6.66 billion on revenue of $19.02 billion. Net income soared 60 percent from a year ago, while revenue increased a more modest 18 percent.

Like Apple, Microsoft's revenue benefited from new accounting principles that allowed it to recognize deferred revenue, in this case $1.71 billion of deferred revenue relating to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program and pre-sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability.

"Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, in a statement. "Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth."

Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system launched on Oct. 22, and Microsoft said that it had sold over 60 million licenses to the operating system worldwide, making it the fastest selling operating system in history.

However, Klein and other company executives aid that they have not seen return to enterprise spending growth, and expect to see it return gradually over the course of the year, Klein said.

Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live division racked up $6.904 billion in revenue, an increase of about a third from the $4.06 billion the division recorded for the same period last year. OEM revenue climbed 21 percent, faster than PC shipments for the first time in eight quarters. In all, Microsoft saw a higher mix of consumer PCs than business PCs, executives said, and 90 percent of netbooks now use Windows - over half with Windows 7.

Microsoft's Server and Tools Division climbed slightly from $3.755 billion to $3.844 billion. The company will release SQL Server 2008 R2 in May.

"Obviously, the biggest driver to ASPs will be the business PC refresh and the growth of that and the timing of that remains uncertain," Klein said. "We do maintain our general view, that we have, that this will occur over this year, and occur gradually over the next couple of years." He also cited the upsell to Windows 7 Home Premium on netbooks.

However, Microsoft's remaining businesses all saw revenue fall. Microsoft's Entertainment Division, which includes its Xbox business, saw revenue fall from $3.256 billion to $2.902 billion. Microsoft said it sold 13 percent fewer Xbox consoles compared to a year ago, or about 5.2 million units.

Microsoft's other cash cow, its Business Division, also saw a slight drop from $4.881 billion to $4.745 billion. Microsoft will ship Office 2010 at the end of its fiscal year, in June, although most revenue won't be recognized until the next fiscal year, Klein said.

Microsoft's online business also saw a decrease, from $609 million to $581 million. But the company also said it has seen its Bing search engine's market share climb steadily, quarter after quarter.

Microsoft didn't break out the net income for each of its groups; most reported a positive operating income. Microsoft's Windows business reported $5.394 billion in operating income, versus $2.712 billion a year ago, and the Server and Tools business reported $1.491 billion versus $1.375 billion. The Business Division showed a slight dip, reporting $3.010 billion versus $3.021 billion a year ago.

Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices business recorded just $375 million in operating income, but showed a sizable increase compared to just $175 million in operating profit a year ago. Microsoft's online business lost even more money than it did in 2008, with an operating loss of $466 million versus a loss of $320 million.

Microsoft expects its Windows division to be in line with the PC market for fiscal 2010, with its business division lagging PC shipments. Its online and entertainment devices business should be flat or in line with the market, while its server business will grow "slightly faster than server shipments," the company said.

Install Windows from Scratch

2010-01-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

Install Windows from Scratch Whether you are installing Windows 7 on a blank hard drive or a newly created partition, the procedure is the same.

To install Windows 7 from scratch:

1. Power on your computer, insert the Windows 7 DVD, and restart your computer.

2. Press the necessary key to initiate booting from your DVD (usually Esc or F12.) (Appendix H: Boot from a CD or DVD.)

3. Windows will now load the installation files.

4. Click Install now.

5. On the Get important updates for installation page, I recommend getting the latest updates to help ensure a successful installation and protect your computer against security threats. You need an Internet connection to get updates.

6. On the Please read the license terms page, if you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms. (You must accept to continue the installation.)

7. On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click Custom.

8. On the Where do you want to install Windows? page:
a. Click Next to begin the installation (unless you want to create a partition.)

b. OR If you already have another existing partition with enough free space and want to install Windows 7 on that partition to create a multiboot configuration, select the partition you want to use, and click Next to begin the installation. (Be sure to install Windows 7 on a different partition from where your current version of Windows is installed.)

Figure 1: Installing Updates

Your computer will restart several times during the process as it configures itself and installs updates (Figure 1.) Be sure to leave the DVD in the drive and let Windows take care of itself.

Figure 2: Installation Complete

After some time, Windows will now be installed (Figure 2.) If you are running a dual boot, you should have the choice of either version of Windows when you power on your computer.

Dual Boot Windows XP/Vista with Windows 7

2010-01-30T11:23:00.000-08:00

Dual booting Windows is the most challenging of the three options; however, making it work can be very rewarding. The process of creating a dual boot environment differs from Windows Vista to XP. Please follow the instructions according to which version of Windows you are currently using. To run two operating systems on your computer, you will need to add a second partition. If you are not familiar with adding a partition, you can learn how in this section. Please note: each operating system will be able to see the other partition; thus, you can share files between them.

Dual Boot Windows XP with Windows 7 You will need third party software to create a second partition for Windows 7; once you have created the partition, you can install Windows 7 on it.

Create a New Partition(XP)
To create a second partition on your hard drive in Windows XP:

1. Download the GParted live CD here.

2. Burn the image to a CD(Appendix G: Burn an ISO Image to a Disc), reboot your computer, and boot from the CD (Appendix H: Boot from a CD or DVD.)

3. Once you’ve booted into GParted, create a partition for Windows 7 (16 GB+ recommended) (Appendix I: Create a Partition with GParted.)Refer to the Install Windows from Scratch section of this chapter to learn how to install Windows 7 on your newly created partition.

Dual Boot Windows Vista with Windows 7 Windows Vista natively manages partitions; you will need to create a second partition for Windows 7. Once you have created the partition, you can install Windows 7 on it.

Create a New Partition(Vista)

To create a second partition on your hard drive in Windows Vista:
1. Click the Startbutton, right click Computer, and click Manage.

2. In the left pane, click Disk Management.

3. Now create a new partition by shrinking a previous volume so you can use the newly created space. Right click on the partition and click Shrink Volume.

4. Input the size, in MB, by which you want to shrink the partition. I recommend 32 GB (32,768 MB.) Windows 7 requires a minimum of 16 GB (16,384 MB.)

5. Now right click the free space and click New Simple Volume…

6. Click Next.

7. Specify the volume size and click Next.

8. Assign an unused letter to the drive and click Next.

9. Format the drive as NTFS, give it a label, and click Next.

10. Click Finish.

Refer to Install Windows from Scratch to learn how to install Windows 7 on your newly created partition.

Install Windows 7 as a VM

2010-01-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

Now you’ve created your VM, you’ll need to boot it up and install the operating system:

1. Open Virtual Box, click your VM, and click Start.

2. Click Next.

3. Leave CD/DVD Rom Device selected. If you are using the Windows 7 DVD (upgrade DVDs wont work for a clean install), click Next. If you are using an ISO image, select Image File and browse to your ISO.

4. ISO Only: Click Add to browse to your ISO file.

5. ISO Only: Locate your ISO and click Open.

6. ISO Only: Click Select.

7. Click Finish to begin installation.

8. Windows 7 will now boot.

9. Refer to Install Windows from Scratch to install Windows 7 as a VM.

Install Windows 7 as a Virtual Machine

2010-01-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

If you would like to use Windows 7 and still use Windows Vista or XP, rebooting your computer every time can be a pain. A virtual machine (VM) can be used to simulate hardware and run Windows (or any operating system) within Windows.

Install Virtual Box
Virtual box is a VM host that facilities in VM creation and deployment. To install virtual box:

1.Download Virtual Box.
2.Install Virtual Box and ensure all options are
selected via the Custom Setup.

3. You’ll be asked whether you want to install drivers; these are essential and should be installed.

4. Open Virtual Box and click New.

5. On the Virtual Machine Wizard, click Next.

6. Give the VM a name (Windows 7 will do) and select Windows 7 from the Version drop down list.

7. Select the amount of memory you want to use (I recommend using no more than half your physical RAM amount i.e., 4GB RAM = 2GB allocated.)

8. Select Create new hard disk.

9. Click Next.

10. Select Dynamically expanding storage and click Next.

11. Choose where you will save your VM data.

12. Click Next.

13. Click Finish.

14. Click Finish to create your VM.

Upgrade to 7 from Windows Vista

2009-10-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Upgrading is the easiest option of the three. However, upgrading can take a long time. To upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista:

1. Insert the Windows 7 DVD into your DVD-ROM drive.
2. Click Run setup.exe from the Autoplay menu.

3. Click Install now on the Install Windows screen.

4. Setup will begin by copying files to your computer.

5. I recommend you get Windows updates online before upgrading Windows. This will ensure greater security and compatibility.

6. Accept the license terms and click Next.

7. Now click Upgrade and follow the instructions. You may get a compatibility report, which will help you determine what may not work properly after the upgrade.

Install Windows 7

2009-10-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Now you’ve decided which version of Windows 7 to use, you should check your system’s compatibility online. If your PC is compatible, you have four options:

Upgrade to 7 from Windows Vista
Install Windows 7 as a Virtual Machine
Dual Boot Windows XP/Vista with Windows
Install Windows from Scratch

You’ll learn how to do each of these in the next section.

Windows 7 32 or 64-bit?

2009-10-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

When deciding to move up to a 64-bit operating system, you should first consider what 64-bit gets you. Knowing what software runs on 64-bit should influence your decision; you will see no advantage if you are running 32-bit software on a 64-bit OS. You also lose the ability to run 16-bit software, which shouldn’t be a problem unless you rely on older software, such as old work software or home-made packages you haven’t yet updated.

What Does 64-Bit 7 Get Me?

More bits gets you access to more memory; the processor inside your PC communicates with your system memory (RAM) with numeric addressing. Thus, the maximum amount of memory a 32-bit processor can address is 4 gigabytes. Newer 64-bit processors - not to mention the 64-bit operating systems that run on them - can address 17,179,869,184 gigabytes (16 exabytes) of RAM.

Windows NT, released in 1993, was Microsoft’s first fully 32-bit operating system; however, it took eight years before the platform, which had since evolved into Windows 2000 and then XP, became mainstream. (Yes, Windows 9x ran 32-bit applications, but it was a hybrid OS that ran on a 16-bit DOS foundation, which was one of the reasons it was so unstable.) 64-bit Windows became a reality in XP, and Vista was Microsoft’s first serious attempt to make 64-bit computing mainstream. I am sure more people will use Windows 7 64 bit because of the increasing demands for more RAM. The question is: how mainstream is 64 bit?

How Mainstream is 64 bit?
While 64-bit Windows 7 can run most 32-bit applications without a problem, it’s not compatible with 32-bit hardware drivers or 32-bit utilities like Windows Explorer extensions (e.g., context menu add-ons.) This means you need a native 64-bit driver for every device on your PC; finding support for all your hardware can be a bit of a challenge, at least on older computers.

Is there a Performance Increase?
Now, 64-bit software running on 64-bit Windows has been known to run as much as 10% faster, which illustrates the other reason - aside from memory addressing - that people find 64-bit 7 alluring. Just be prepared for lackluster industry support, at least for the next few years until Microsoft releases a 64-bit-only OS.

Which Version of Windows 7?

2009-10-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 is available in four editions. Windows 7 Starter is not sold individually, so I will not explain its features. I personally recommend Windows 7 Home Premium as this is suitable for home use and will provide you with most of the functionality needed to do everything in this manual. However, if you want all the features, you’ll need Windows 7 Ultimate.

Windows 7 System Requirements

2009-10-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

The minimum system requirements to run Windows 7 are:

1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64)
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

Internet access (fees may apply)
Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware
For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required
Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware
HomeGroup requires a network and PCs running Windows 7
DVD/CD authoring requires a compatible optical drive
BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2
BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive
Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V turned on
Music and sound require audio output

Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.

I’ve tested Windows 7 with 512MB of RAM and found it to work well; however, I do not recommend running with such lowmemory—unless you really have to.

Get Started

2009-10-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

Before you get started with this manual, there are a few questions you should ask yourself:

Should I install Windows 7 and still keep Vista or XP on my computer?
What version of Windows 7 should I use?
Should I upgrade or do a clean installation?
Should I use the 32 or 64 bit version of Windows 7?

This chapter addresses these questions and helps you get the answers that best suit your needs.

In the latter half of this chapter, you’ll learn about the Windows Registry and Group Policy Editor, which are referenced throughout this manual.

Enjoy working through this manual and remember: More is less when you customize your system; don’t try to change every last thing. Make changes that look good and keep your system clean and tidy.