77 Win7 Tips

AT A GLANCE: :)

* Make Windows 7 faster

* Get more done with Windows 7
* The best Windows 7 shortcuts
* Securing Windows 7

Windows 7 may be Microsoft's most anticipated product ever. It builds on Windows

Vista's positives, and eliminates many of that OS's negatives. It adds new functionality,
too—all in a package that is less resource-hungry than its predecessor.And whether or
not you're upgrading from Vista or skipping it altogether and moving up from Windows
XP, you'll need to know how to make the most of it in your environment. Here are 77
tips and tricks to get you there.

1. Pick Your Edition. Most business users do not need the more expensive Ultimate
Edition; stick with Professional unless you specifically need BitLocker.

2. Upgrading? Go 64-bit. As the second major Windows release to fully support 64-bit,
the x64 architecture has definitely arrived on the desktop. Don't buy new 32-bit
hardware unless it's a netbook.

3. Use Windows XP Mode. Yes, it's only an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of
WinXP—but it's an embedded Virtual PC with a full copy of Windows XP! This is the first
profoundly intelligent use of desktop virtualization we've seen—and a great way to
move to Windows 7 without giving up full Windows XP compatibility.

4. Use Windows PowerShell v2. More than just a shell, this is the administration tool
you've always wanted: Parallel, distributed processing for administrative tasks! Manage
100 machines literally as easily as you manage one with the new Remoting feature.
Windows PowerShell v2 ships for the first time in Windows 7, and within six months will
be available for older versions of Windows.

5. Use AppLocker. We've been fans of Software Restriction Policies since Windows XP,
and AppLocker finally makes application whitelisting possible. Use it to enhance or even
replace your anti-virus software, ensuring that only the software you want to run will
run.

6. Shift to and from Explorer and CommandPrompt. The classic Windows power toy
Open Command Prompt Here is now an integral part of Windows 7 Explorer. Hold down
the shift key then right-click a folder to add this option to the property menu. While
you're in a command prompt, if you want to open an Explorer window with the focus of
the window on the current directory, enter start.

7. Record Problems. The Problem Steps Recorder (PSR) is a great new feature that helps
in troubleshooting a system . At times, Remote Assistance may not be possible.
However, if a person types psr in their Instant Search, it will launch the recorder. Now
they can perform the actions needed to recreate the problem and each click will record
the screen and the step. They can even add comments. Once complete, the PSR
compiles the whole thing into an MHTML file and zips it up so that it can be e-mailed for
analysis to the network admin (or family problem solver, depending on how it's being
used).

8. Make Training Videos. Use a tool like Camtasia to record short, two to three minute
video tutorials to help your users find relocated features, operate the new Taskbar and
so forth. Get them excited about Windows 7—and prepared for it.

9. Start Thinking About Windows Server 2008 R2. Some of Windows 7's more compelling
features, like BranchCache, work in conjunction with the new server OS. The R2 upgrade
path is pretty straightforward, so there's little reason not to take advantage of the
synergies if you can afford upgrade licenses.

10. Prepare Those XP Machines. There's no in-place upgrade from Windows XP to

Windows 7, so start planning to migrate user data now, in advance of a Windows 7
upgrade deployment.

11. Consider Clean Installs. Even when upgrading Windows Vista machines, consider a
clean install rather than an in-place upgrade. Yes, it's more hassle, but it'll produce a
more trouble-free computer in the long run.

12. Consider Upgrade Assurance. Even if you've never bought it before, consider it for
your new Windows 7 licenses. Access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack
(MDOP), which includes App-V, MED-V and other cool technologies, is worth the
premium.

13. Find New Tools. Within Control Panel is a single

Troubleshooting link that leads you to all of your diagnostic tools on the system. There
are additional tools, however, not installed by default. Selecting the "View all" link in the
top left-hand corner will help you to see which troubleshooting packs are local and which
ones are online. If you find a tool that you don't have, you can grab it from here.

14. Understand Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Windows 7 plays an important role
in Microsoft's VDI strategy, where virtualized Windows 7 machines are hosted on a
central virtualization server using a special blanket "Enterprise Centralized Desktop"
license. Read up and figure out if you can take advantage of this new strategy.
15. Prepare for DirectAccess. DirectAccess makes it easier for users to remotely access
their office-based resources, without a VPN. DirectAccess also opens up remote
computers more fully to Group Policy—but it requires Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2.

16. Employ Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM). If you quickly want to
list or manage Windows packages, features or drivers, use the command-line utility
DISM. The "image" in the name may fool you into thinking that this is solely a
deployment tool. An online command-line switch lets you manage the features in the
currently loaded OS. To get a list of the loaded Windows features, enter dism /online
/get-features /format:table. To enable a feature, enter dism /online /enable-feature
/featurename:<name>.

17. Embrace Troubleshooting Packs. Designed to help users troubleshoot and solve
problems on their own, you need to update your support procedures to acknowledge
these Packs. For example, don't force users to repeat steps the Pack already walked
them through, and consider developing your own Packs (in Windows PowerShell) to
support in-house systems.

18. Check Reliability. The Reliability Monitor was introduced in Windows Vista as 'The
Reliability and Performance Monitor." In Windows 7 it has been separated from
Performance Monitor and moved to a new location under the Action Center. You open
the Action Center in Control Panel and then look under the Maintenance options for the
"View reliability history" link. You can also just type in Reliability Monitor from the
Instant Search.

19. Accept Diversity. Not every organization will be ready to move entirely to Windows 7
right away. That's fine—but that shouldn't mean the entire organization stays on
Windows XP, either. The myths of the cost savings of having only one OS have been
largely disproven or downplayed, so use Windows 7 where it makes sense to do so.

20. Get Snippy. The snipping tool has also been around in various incarnations but it's
even easier to use in Windows 7. Launch the tool, then drag and drop any part of your
screen. The tool will snip the selection. You can save it as a graphic file or annotate with
basic drawing tools. Teach your end users how to use this tool so they can grab the
snapshots of their problems and send them to the help desk. Or create your own library
of visual notes.

21. Presentation Nirvana. Press Windows+P to access the new Presentation mode, and
easily turn on your projector and laptop screen at the same time. No more messing with
vendor-specific utilities and arcane keystrokes. (Windows+X accesses the Mobility
Center, with additional presentation options.)

22. Cut the Clutter. Press Windows+Home to minimize all but the current window,
removing background clutter and letting you focus on that report your boss has been
bugging you about.

23. Be a Mouse-Click Administrator. Windows 7 makes it

easy to gain admin rights with a keyboard shortcut. Click on Ctrl+Shift on a taskbar-
locked icon, and voila! You've launched it with appropriate admin rights.

24. Faster Installations. If your computer is capable of booting from USB, try this: XCopy
the Windows 7 installation DVD to a sufficiently large USB drive, boot from that drive,
and install Windows from there. It's faster than a spinning platter.

25. Burn Discs with a Click. Or two; double-click an ISO file to burn it to your CD or DVD
writer.

26. Restore Point Previews Many of us used to shut off System Restore because we were
terrified to actually use it; under Windows 7, we can be much calmer. After selecting a
Restore Point, Windows will now offer to show you which files and folders will be
affected by restoring to that point.

27. Sync Time Zones. If you work with offices in different time zones and frequently find
yourself missing meeting times because you are not in sync with their time zone, try the
"Additional Clocks" feature that was first introduced in Vista. Within your Date and Time
settings is a tab called Additional Clocks, where you can add two or more clocks to your
taskbar time, and set them to provide different time zones from your current time zone.

28. Configure User Account Control (UAC). Even if you're a UAC hater, give it another try.
Go to the Control Panel to configure its behavior to something slightly less obnoxious
than what Windows Vista had, and see if you can't live with the extra protection it offers
.

29. RoboCopyCopyCopy. The always-useful Robocopy.exe can now run multi-threaded;

run Robocopy /? to review its new parameters (like /MT for multithreading) and make
your copies go faster.

30. Remote Desktop Console. Windows 7 Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT)
does not include a console-based remote desktop utility. And even if it did, the standard
remote desktop console has some nagging limitations: It can't move connections around
in the list; it can't sort by folders and so forth. If you manage lots of servers from your
Windows 7 workstation, try downloading a copy of mRemote from mremote.org. This
donation-requested utility allows you to mix together a variety of remote control
applications, including Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA), Microsoft
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Secure Shell (SSH)
and rlogin. All host names are displayed in a standard tree control that can be divided
into folders, sorted alphabetically, and allow you to assign different logon accounts and
secure passwords to each connection.
31. Multiple Monitors. Windows 7 makes working with multiple monitors intuitive and
flexible. There are a variety of shortcuts and mouse motions that flick windows from
monitor to monitor. To make the most of this, you need lots and lots of screen real
estate. Try one of the new QWXGA monitors from Samsung
(tinyurl.com/qwxgasamsung) or Dell (tinyurl.com/qwxgadell). These 23-inch monitors
have a 2048x1152 resolution, making it possible to put two full-sized pages on the same
monitor. Pair them together and you'll get enough space to have all your admin tools
open along with Office, Visio, your intranet sites and a little note to your mom in Live
Mail. Move your taskbar to the left or right side of the window instead of along the
bottom to free up even more real estate.

32. Windows PowerShell Scripting. If you want to make the most of Windows PowerShell
on Windows 7, you'll need a quick way to build and debug scripts. Windows 7 comes
with an interactive editor that allows you to try out cmdlets and test functions on the fly.

33. Drag-and-Drop Notification Icons. The redesigned notification area displays only a
minimum number of icons; all other notification icons are moved to a side window.
Rather than using the Customize option to select icons for the main display, you can
drag-and-drop icons from the side window to the notification area.

34. Add Unindexed Shared Folders to Library. You can add UNC paths such as
\\servername\sharename to a Library, but the server must index the folder. If you want
to add a UNC path to an unindexed server, you can create a symbolic link to the UNC
path, then add the link or links to the library. Use the mklink command. For example,
mklink HomeFolder \\ServerName\Homefolder.

35. Simplify Cloned Machine Setups. You can't run Sysinternals' newsid utility to change
the identity of a cloned Windows 7 machine (either a virtual machine or imaged PC).
Instead, create a template installation then run sysprep /oobe /generalize /reboot
/shutdown /unattend:scriptfile. Clone or copy this virtual machine file. When it launches,
it will get a new SID and you can fill in the name. The reference for building unattended
script files is at tinyurl.com/winunattend.

36. Snap That Aero. The Windows key is great for all your shortcuts. Now you can use it
to work with the new AeroSnap feature in Windows 7. Select a window, hit the Windows
key and a left or right arrow to snap the window to that half of the screen, or use the up
arrow to snap it to the top of the screen.

37. Shortcut the Taskbar. The Windows key is great for shortcuts. You can select the
Windows key and a number to correspond to items on your taskbar. So, if IE (for
example) is the third icon on your taskbar (not counting the Start button), you can hit the
Windows key and the number three to launch or open IE.
38. Manage Passwords. Control Panel includes a new application called Credential
Manager. This may appear to be a completely new tool that allows you to save your
credentials (usernames and passwords) for Web sites you log into and other resources
you connect to (such as other systems). Those credentials are saved in the Windows
Vault, which can be backed up and restored. However, you might see this as similar to a
tool we have in XP and Vista. From the Instant Search, type in control /userpasswords2
and you will be brought to the Advanced User Accounts Control Panel, where you can
also manage passwords for your account (see Figure 4).

39. Trigger Actions. Event Viewer is closely tied into Task Scheduler. You have the ability
to take an event (select it in Event Viewer) and then from the Actions pane, select the
option "Attach a Task" to have that event, when it appears, trigger an action. That action
can be: launch a program; send an e-mail; or display a message. This feature may be very
helpful in troubleshooting a problem.

40. Browse InPrivate. A new feature in IE8 is the ability to open the browser in an
InPrivate Browsing session that allows you to perform banking and so forth from a public
location without fear of leaving behind any residue. IE will not retain anything you do in
an In Private Browsing session. You can perform this action if you are already within IE by
selecting the Safety button and then InPrivate Browsing. This will open another IE
window altogether. However, you can save a few steps by using the shortcut. Right-click
the desktop IE icon, click InPrivate and the windows will open in an InPrivate session
already.

41. Go Live. Many applications installed on past versions of Windows have been
removed. Starting with Windows 7, these applications (and a few others not typically
installed with Windows) have been moved into the Live Essentials downloadable
applications, at download.live.com. These applications include Messenger, Mail, Writer,
Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Family Safety and a few others.

42. Remove Apps. Although some applications have been moved off of Windows to
become an optional download, other apps, such as IE8, Media Player, Media Center and
DVD Maker are still included. In times past, especially when it came to IE, the
applications were tied into the OS. However, in Windows 7 you can easily remove them
if desired. Head to the Program and Features applet in Control Panel and select the
"Turn Windows features on or off" link in the top left-hand corner. Then you can select
the checkbox of the features you want to lose or add for your system.

43. Are You Windows 7 Experienced? System properties has a rating called the Windows
Experience Index (WEI). This rating is a collection of five different ratings that are
determined by the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT). The highest rating score
is 7.9 (compared to 5.9 in Vista), using the categories of Processor, RAM, Graphics,
Gaming Graphics and Primary Hard Disk. The final rating is not an average of all the
ratings, but the lowest of the subcomponent scores.
44. Analyze Processes. One of the coolest new features in the revamped Resource
Monitor (resmon) is the ability to see the "wait chain traversal." An unresponsive
process will be shown in red in the Resource Monitor; right-click the process and choose
Analyze Process. This will show the threads in the process and see who holds the
resources that are holding up the process itself. You can then kill that part of the process
if you like.

45. Create Virtual Worlds. Virtualization capability has been added to the Disk
Management tools. If you open Computer Management, go to the Disk Manager tool
and then click the Action button at top, you will see the options Create VHD and/or
Attach VHD. This allows you to create and mount a virtual hard drive directly from within
the GUI. Note: With Windows 7 you even have the ability to boot a Windows 7 VHD.

46. Encrypt USB Sticks. Use BitLocker To Go. Maybe you've managed to never misplace
or lose a USB key, but for the rest of us mere mortals, it's a fact of life. Most of the time
it's no big deal, but what if it contains sensitive data? BitLocker To Go enables you to
encrypt data on removable storage devices with a password or a digital certificate stored
on a smart card.

47. Lock with Group Policy. Take control through AppLocker application control.
AppLocker intercepts kernel calls that try to create new processes or load libraries and
ensures the code is allowed to execute. Practically, that means you can eliminate
unknown and unwanted software by implementing AppLocker through Group Policy.

48. Be Our Guest. Guest mode proves a convenient method to give a guest or child
access to your computer with limits on making system changes, installing software, or
writing to the disk outside the user profile. After the user is done and logs off, data saved
inside of the user profile is deleted. You cannot use Guest mode in an AD environment.

49. Restore from Backed up Restore Points. You can choose to include restore points in
your backups and restore from them when using System Restore. This is convenient if
you want to create a baseline of a working configuration and be able to restore to it in
the future without overwriting other data on the hard disk.

50. Benefit from BranchCache. BranchCache helps you save on round trips for requested
files in remote branch scenarios. If one person requests a file over the WAN, it's cached
locally and either distributed across computers at the remote branch or stored on a
central server at the remote branch.

51. Disable Search Suggestion Popups. As you type in the Search Box, Windows 7 makes
suggestions based on past queries by pulling past queries from the Registry. You can
disable this in the Local Group Policy by enabling User Configuration | Administrative
Templates | Windows Components | Windows Explorer | Turn Off Display Of Recent
Search Entries In the Windows Explorer.

52. Pin Control Panel to Taskbar. If you use the Control Panel frequently, you may have
noticed that you cannot simply right-click the Control Panel and select Pin to Taskbar.
Instead, you must first Open Control Panel so its icon appears in the taskbar. From there,
you can right-click the icon in the taskbar and select Pin this program to taskbar.

53. Leverage Search Connectors. You can now search the Web using the search
functionality. Windows 7 includes Federated Search to increase the search scope beyond
the local and network resources. Several search connectors are available, such as for
YouTube and Twitter, or you can create custom ones to fit your needs.

54. Use Stickier Notes. Even though this feature has existed in previous versions of
Windows in one form or another, it's much easier to use in Windows 7. You can stick a
note on your desktop for quick reminders. It's a snap to change the font or note color. If
you have a note selected, use Ctrl-N to create a new one.

55. Try out Improved WordPad. You probably haven't given much thought to WordPad
lately, but the version shipping with Windows 7 has undergone a major renovation.
Think of it as a lite version of Microsoft Word. WordPad sports a spiffy ribbon interface,
making it a snap to create well-formatted documents. Plus, you are no longer relegated
to saving them as .RTF files. WordPad now supports the Office Open XML document
(.DOCX) format. This makes it even easier to open .DOCX files created in Word in
WordPad.

56. Calculate. Another basic utility that received a major overhaul is the venerable
calculator. In addition to standard and scientific views, there are now programmer and
statistic modes. You will also love the conversion and calculation features. Want to
convert Celsius to Fahrenheit but can never remember the formula? Use the conversion
panel. You'll also enjoy the data calculation extension. Quickly find the difference
between two dates or calculate a new date by adding or subtracting years, months or
days.

57. Manage Services from Task Manager. The Windows 7 Task Manager now includes a
tab to manage services. You can quickly see at a glance the status of all services on your
machine. Click a column heading to sort. You can even start and stop services with a
simple right-click. If you need full-blown service management, use the Services button to
launch the Services management console. You may often have the Task Manager
running in the system tray; now, having service management access means one less
window to have open.

58. Get Under the Hood. Windows 7 offers more ways to peek under the hood without
adding third-party solutions. A terrific example is the Resource Monitor. The
performance tab in Windows Task Manager is a good start, but sometimes you need
more information. Click the Resource Monitor button to get more detailed information
and performance graphs for key subsystems like CPU and Disk. You can also find the
Resource Monitor under Accessories | System Tools.

59. Check Vital Signs. Another new system tool you'll enjoy is the System Health report.
In the Run dialog box, type perfmon /report, which generates a system health report.
This report records details about your computer's performance, resource usage and
more. The report also includes diagnostic information about things that aren't working
as they should and suggested steps to resolve. The reports are saved and can be
accessed with the Performance Monitor management console. You can also save as an
HTML file or send via e-mail.

60. Get More Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell v2 promises to be a game-

changer for many system administrators. Many will prefer to use the graphical Windows
PowerShell console, also known as the Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE). You'll find
this in the Windows Power Shell folder under Accessories. Add a keyboard shortcut of
Ctrl+Alt+I to quickly launch it. Run any Windows PowerShell command in the lower panel
and see the results in the middle. Create or edit scripts in the top pane. Open multiple
Windows PowerShell sessions connected to remote computers. The ISE makes Windows
PowerShell v2 easy to use and fun.

61. Put It on Old Stuff. One perhaps-not-so-obvious Windows 7 tip is that you should
attempt to install it everywhere. One user has a 6-year-old laptop that originally shipped
with Windows XP. He could never get Windows Vista to install on it. But Windows 7
installed without complaint and runs extremely smooth. Granted, there are some
Windows 7 features he can't take advantage of because the processor lacks certain
features, but these are minor issues considering the laptop now has life again.

62. Improve Security. In Vista it was difficult to manage system protection via restore
points. The System Protection tab in Windows 7 is a vast improvement. In one spot you
can configure how much space to devote to restore points, delete and create restore
points or even turn off system protection altogether. This is very useful on older systems
where disk space may be at a premium.

63. Actually Use Help and Support. Much of Vista's clutter has been reduced in Windows
7. For instance, the Help and Support page has three links, a search window and a link
back to Microsoft's Windows site. It's much less intimidating for end users, so make sure
they know about it. Search is much improved as well, making for a better, faster
experience.
List continued with 14 Best Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts..
The 14 Best Windows 7 Keyboard ShortcutsThe Windows key now performs a wide
variety of functions. Here are a handful of the most useful ones:

64. Win+h - Move current window to full screen

65. Win+i - Restore current full screen window to normal
size or minimize current window if not full screen

66. Win+Shift+arrow - Move current window to alternate screen

67. Win+D - Minimize all windows and show the desktop

68. Win+E - Launch Explorer with Computer as the focus

69. Win+F - Launch a search window

70. Win+G - Cycle through gadgets

71. Win+L - Lock the desktop

72. Win+M - Minimize the current window

73. Win+R - Open the Run window

74. Win+T - Cycle through task bar opening Aero Peek for
each running item

75. Win+U - Open the Ease of Use center

76. Win+Space - Aero Peek the desktop

77. Ctrl+Win+Tab - Open persistent task selection window, roll mouse over each icon to
preview item and minimize others.