Make most out of Windows 7

Windows has been adopted blindly by many users. Though, they are satisfied (in fact glad) to experience new version of Windows OS, Some of them are ignorant, unknown or not making full use of the capabilities of Windows. So, In this article, we are going to see interesting aspects of Windows 7 (obviously advantageous over Windows Vista and XP) which needs to be polished.

The objective behind this post is to deliver useful and relevant information about how one should use Windows 7. To start, we offer an article that compiles a series of features on the Windows 7 has not been much talked, but still very useful for those who may be using the new Microsoft OS.

1. Keyboard Shortcuts

Along with the new gestures like Shake Aero, Aero Peek, or Aero Snap also have implemented keyboard shortcuts that allow us to emulate these functions without using the mouse (all based on the “Windows key”). For example, WIN + up / down arrow maximize / minimize the current window, Win + arrow left / right will occupy half the screen, WIN + Home key (Home) will minimize all windows unless we are use now, and WIN + Spacebar all windows become transparent and can see the desktop.

Also, Use Superbar more efficiently– SHIFT + Click to open a new instance of the application (only works for applications that can be opened multiple times, such as Calculator, Microsoft Word, browser, etc). With CTRL + SHIFT + Click will open the application with administrator permissions, and CTRL + Click to toggle between multiple windows of the same application, without going through the classic models of the new taskbar.

2. Make Windows 7 taskbar like Vista or XP

The new taskbar shows only icons with nothing written on it. While some of you may not like this or they still prefer taskbar as it was in previous version of Windows.

Go to the properties of taskbar by Right clicking on it. There uncheck the “Lock the Taskbar”, activate the “Use Small Icons”, and in the “Taskbar buttons” select the option “Combine when taskbar is full” or “never combine”, depending on our tastes. Simply that we will have something very much like the taskbar in Vista or XP.

3. Calibrate ClearType smoothing and color of the screen

A new development of Windows 7 rather unknown and about which little has been said is the new calibration assistant allows us to easily adjust brightness, gamma, color balance and contrast of the screen to set optimal levels. Once we’ve completed the wizard, it allows us to compare between the old and the new configuration to decide which one we stayed. There is also a wizard to adjust the ClearType font smoothing.

To find it, simply go to the Start menu and type in “calibration”, then choose “Calibrate your display color.” This opens the wizard to calibrate the color on the screen, and once you’ve finished, we are asked if we also want to adjust the ClearType smoothing.

4. Problem Step Recorder

This new tool will essentially record each and every step a user takes and document the entire operation in both screen captures and step-by-step details. When stopped, the Problem Steps Recorder will save the recorded information as a compiled HTML file and package it up in a ZIP file that the end user can then e-mail to the help desk.

You can launch the Problem Steps Recorder by typing PSR in the Start menu’s Search box and pressing [Enter].

5. BitLocker to Go

One of the most interesting, as far as security is concerned, is BitLocker, a special system that allows encryption to protect information from the hard drive in case of theft of our computer. This feature in Windows 7 has been improved and now allows us to encrypt the data on removable USB disk.

To use this we just have to go to Control Panel> System and Security> BitLocker. Then enter a USB disk, and wait for it to appear in the list “BitLocker To Go,” which we can start the wizard of encryption.

6. Creating Recovery Disk

Fortunately, with Windows 7, we can create a recovery disc without having the Windows installation DVD. For this we simply have to go to the Start menu and type “Recovery Disc” and then click on “Create Recovery Disc”. The recovery tool takes up little space, so we will suffice with a CD for this purpose (do not need a DVD).

7. Configuring Projector options

Windows 7 is much easier to configure the desktop when you connect a laptop to our projector and we want to make a presentation. The options available for these cases are not entirely new, but now it is much easier to access them.

To invoke these options just press Windows Key + P, which will see a menu of 4 buttons as you see in the screenshot. The first option (which is default) is displayed only on the desktop screen of your computer, then we have others double as the desktop on the projector