The

Top 100
Windows 7
Tips & Tricks

Copyright 2009 by Tim Sievers

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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: TAMING THE TASKBAR ............................................................................. 6
#1 GETTING STARTED ..................................................................................................... 7
#2 YOUR FAVORITE PIN-UPS ............................................................................................. 7
#3 JUMP TO IT ............................................................................................................. 8
#4 GETTING THINGS IN ORDER .......................................................................................... 9
#5 ON YOUR BIKE ......................................................................................................... 9
#6 DOUBLE-UP ............................................................................................................. 9
#7 HAVE A QUICK LOOK AROUND ......................................................................................10
#8 JUGGLING WINDOWS .................................................................................................11
#9 NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON T ................................................................................11
#10 GOING RETRO .......................................................................................................12

CHAPTER 2: FILE MANAGEMENT ................................................................................13

#11 THE LIBRARY SYSTEM ...............................................................................................14
#12 BECOME A LIBRARIAN ..............................................................................................14
#13 USE YOUR INSIGHT .................................................................................................15
#14 YOUR SEARCH IS OVER .............................................................................................16
#15 CHANGING YOUR POINT OF VIEW .................................................................................17
#16 JUMP START ..........................................................................................................17
#17 ONE CLICK OR TWO? ...............................................................................................18
#18 OPEN WITH WHAT? .................................................................................................18
#19 SHOW ME A MENU ..................................................................................................19
#20 ZIP IT .................................................................................................................19

CHAPTER 3: AERO PRODUCTIVITY ..............................................................................20

#21 SNAP TO IT ..........................................................................................................21
#22 SNAP IT INTO PLACE ................................................................................................22
#23 FLIP TO 3D ..........................................................................................................23
#24 SHAKE IT UP .........................................................................................................23
#25 HAVE A PEEK ........................................................................................................24
#26 FRAMING YOUR WINDOWS .........................................................................................25
#27 WINDOW JUMPER ....................................................................................................25
#28 ZOOM ZOOM .........................................................................................................26
#29 PROJECTING YOUR VISION .........................................................................................26
#30 MULTI-MONITOR MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................27
#31 A GOOD PLACE TO START ..........................................................................................27

CHAPTER 4: GETTING PERSONAL ...............................................................................28

#32 CHANGING YOUR VIEW .............................................................................................29
#33 MAKING THINGS LOOK BETTER ....................................................................................30
#34 MAKING THE BRIGHT CHOICES ....................................................................................31
#35 CLEARING THINGS UP ..............................................................................................31
#36 BRINGING ICONS DOWN TO SIZE .................................................................................31
#37 PUTTING ICONS IN THEIR PLACE ..................................................................................32
#38 THE BACKGROUND SHUFFLE .......................................................................................33
#39 A CHANGE OF THEME ...............................................................................................34
#40 NEWFANGLED GADGETRY ...........................................................................................35
#41 WHOS IN CONTROL HERE ANYWAY? .............................................................................36
#42 ITS YOUR TIME......................................................................................................37
#43 ITS ALL ABOUT YOU ................................................................................................38

CHAPTER 5: NETWORKING ......................................................................................39

#44 HANGING WITH YOUR HOMIES ....................................................................................40
#45 STATUS REPORT .....................................................................................................41
#46 WHATS THE DIAGNOSIS DOC?....................................................................................42
#47 DRIVING A SHORTCUT ..............................................................................................42
#48 SHARE IT AROUND ..................................................................................................43
#49 GOING OFFLINE .....................................................................................................43
#50 A WORLD WITHOUT WIRES ........................................................................................44

CHAPTER 6: WEB BROWSING ...................................................................................45

#51 HIT THE ACCELERATOR .............................................................................................46
#52 GRAB A SLICE .......................................................................................................47
#53 PUT IT ON A TAB ....................................................................................................48
#54 LIVING IN MULTIPLE HOMES .......................................................................................48
#55 PRIVATE EYES ........................................................................................................49
#56 WHERE DID IT GO?.................................................................................................49
#57 LOOKING HERE AND THERE ........................................................................................50
#58 USEFUL ADVICE......................................................................................................50
#59 POP IT ................................................................................................................51
#60 TAKE OUT THE TRASH ..............................................................................................52
#61 OFFLINE ONLINE .....................................................................................................53
#62 TOTAL RECALL .......................................................................................................53

CHAPTER 7: SAFE GUARD YOUR PC ...........................................................................54

#63 TAKING ACTION......................................................................................................55
#64 WEARING PROTECTION .............................................................................................56
#65 COUNTER ESPIONAGE ...............................................................................................57
#66 KEEPING IT UP.......................................................................................................58
#67 BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!......................................................................................59
#68 EXERCISING SELF CONTROL........................................................................................60
#69 GOING BACK IN TIME ...............................................................................................61
#70 HALT! WHO GOES THERE? .........................................................................................62
#71 SECURITY CHECKPOINT .............................................................................................63
#72 DON T LEAVE IT UNLOCKED ........................................................................................63
#73 DO THEY HAVE PERMISSION?......................................................................................64
#74 LOCK IT UP AND GO ................................................................................................65
#75 DON T LET THE KIDS RUN WILD ..................................................................................67

CHAPTER 8: MUSIC, PHOTOS & MOVIES ......................................................................68

#76 LISTENING TO MUSIC AT THE BAR ................................................................................69
#77 CREATE YOUR OWN MIX ............................................................................................69
#78 FROM OLD TO NEW .................................................................................................70
#79 FROM NEW TO OLD .................................................................................................70
#80 SNAP HAPPY..........................................................................................................71
#81 CUT IT DOWN TO SIZE .............................................................................................71
#82 ITS SHOW TIME .....................................................................................................72
#83 THE FINISHING TOUCH .............................................................................................73
#84 THE BURNING QUESTION ...........................................................................................74

CHAPTER 9: IMPROVING PERFORMANCE .......................................................................75

#85 STYLE VERSUS PERFORMANCE .....................................................................................76
#86 IS IT IN THE INDEX?................................................................................................77
#87 GIVE IT MAXIMUM POWER .........................................................................................78
#88 THROW OUT THE RUBBISH .........................................................................................79
#89 OPTIMIZE YOUR STORAGE ..........................................................................................80
#90 WHATS THE SCORE? ...............................................................................................81
#91 BOOST YOUR MEMORY ..............................................................................................82
#92 BRING IN A TROUBLESHOOTER ....................................................................................82
#93 JUMP IN THE DRIVERS SEAT ......................................................................................83

CHAPTER 10: ADVANCED BITS & BYTES ......................................................................84

#94 SELF HELP ............................................................................................................85
#95 TAKING IT ONE STEP AT A TIME ..................................................................................86
#96 RESTORING THE PAST ..............................................................................................87
#97 PUT AN END TO IT ..................................................................................................88
#98 YOU HAVE THE POWER .............................................................................................88
#99 A MEASURE OF GOOD VALUE ......................................................................................89
#100 TAKE IT EASY ......................................................................................................90

INDEX ..............................................................................................................91

Taming the
Taskbar
When you first use Windows 7 the most obvious change you will notice is the new
improved taskbar. The Windows Taskbar first appeared in Windows 95 and has barely
changed over the years, until now. Shown below in Figure 1.1 the Taskbar is the
horizontal bar along the bottom of the screen. The Taskbar is made up of 3 parts, the
Start Menu to the left, the Main Taskbar in the middle and the Notification Area to the
right.
In Windows 7, the Main Taskbar has been redesigned to help you quickly launch and
manage your most important programs and files. You can add or pin your favorite
applications to the Taskbar for easy access and arrange them in any order you like. Use
Thumbnail Previews to switch between multiple items and quickly access recently used
items with the new Jump Lists feature.
In this chapter youll learn how to use these and other features of the Taskbar to help
you get most out your Windows 7 experience.

Figure 1.1 The new Windows Taskbar.

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10

GETTING STARTED
YOUR FAVORITE PIN-UPS
JUMP TO IT
GETTING THINGS IN ORDER
ON YOUR BIKE
DOUBLE-UP
HAVE A QUICK LOOK AROUND
JUGGLING WINDOWS
NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DONT
GOING RETRO

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PAGE 8
PAGE 9
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#1 GETTING STARTED
There are 2 ways to start a program on the Taskbar:
1.

With your Mouse, simply left-click on the program icon (also called a taskbar
button).

2.

Or you can use the Keyboard shortcut by holding down the Windows logo key
and pressing the number that indicates the position of your program in the
Taskbar. For example, as shown below in Figure 1.2 three programs are pinned
to the Taskbar, you can launch these programs as follows:
1.

Internet Explorer press the Windows logo key

2.

Windows Explorer press the Windows logo key

3.

Media Player press

+ the number 1.
+ 2.

+ 3.

Figure 1.2 Launching Taskbar Apps.

#2 YOUR FAVORITE PIN-UPS

You can pin your favorite programs to the Taskbar to allow quick access and save time
browsing for the programs in the Start Menu every time you want to use them.
There are several different ways to pin a program, you can drag the program icon
to the Taskbar as shown in Figure 1.3, right-click on a program icon and then
click Pin to Taskbar as shown in Figure 1.4 or drag a file to the Taskbar and its
associated program will also be pinned.

Figure 1.4 Right-Click & Pin.

Figure 1.3 Drag a program to the Taskbar.

Note: To remove a program from the Taskbar right-click on it and select Unpin this
program.

#3 JUMP TO IT
A Jump List is a List of recently opened items such as websites, files & folders. Each
program has its own Jump List. You can quickly view or open an item, run a program
task and pin your favorite items to the Jump List so there always easy to find.
To view a Jump List just right-click on a program button in the Taskbar. To open
an item or run a program task simply left-click on it.

Figure 1.5 Internet Explorer Jump List.

To Pin an item to a Jump List, locate the item and drag it to the Taskbar.
Windows will automatically add the item to the correct Jump List. For example,
in Figure 1.6 a folder was dragged to the Taskbar and it was automatically
pinned to Windows Explorer, which manages files & folders.

Figure 1.6 Pin an item to a Jump List.

Figure 1.7 Pinned Folder.

#25 HAVE A PEEK

Aero Peek consists of two main features, the first feature Thumbnail Previews was
covered in Chapter 1. The second feature is Desktop Preview. Desktop Preview allows
you to quickly see your Desktop without switching to it.
1.

To preview the Desktop move the mouse pointer to the Show Desktop button in
the bottom right-hand corner of the screen next to the clock. Included in the
Quick Launch toolbar on previous version of Windows, the Show Desktop button
is a quick way to get to Desktop.

Figure 3.6 Have a Peek.

2.

Any open windows will fade away and reveal the Desktop, just move the mouse
pointer away from the Show Desktop button to restore the open windows or click
the button to go to the Desktop.

+ Spacebar to preview the Desktop,

Note: You can also use the keyboard shortcut,
just release the Windows logo key to restore the open windows or use the keyboard
shortcut,
+ D to show the Desktop and repeat the shortcut to restore all windows.

#41 WHOS IN CONTROL HERE ANYWAY?

The Windows Notification Area is found on the right-hand side of the Taskbar. It
provides status information for certain programs and system icons such as the Clock,
Volume control, Network and Action Center. You can control how icons behave, the
order they appear in and whether to hide or show system icons.
1.

To change how icons behave right-click on the Clock and select Customize
notification icons. For each icon you can select either Show icon and
notifications, Hide icon and notifications or Only show notifications from
the Behaviors drop-down list.

Figure 4.22 Take Control.

2.

To show all icons select the Always show all icons and notifications on the
taskbar check box.

3.

To change the order in which the icons appear simply drag the icons around.

4.

To hide or show system icons right-click on the Clock and select Customize
notification icons. Then click Turn system icons on or off and make your
selections.

Figure 4.23 On or Off?

Note: If you see an arrow-head shaped triangle next the Notification Area, some icons
are hidden from view. Click the arrow the see the hidden icons.

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#84 THE BURNING QUESTION

Burning files onto a CD or DVD disc is a great way to transfer information between
computers. In Windows 7, you can create standard data discs that will work in most
computers or Live File System discs that allow you to save, edit and delete files on the
disc, but only work in XP or later versions of Windows.
1.

To create a data disc, insert a blank disc into your burner and select Burn files
to disc.

Figure 8.17 Blank disc options.

2.

Select the type of disc you want and click Next. If you selected Like a USB flash
drive, the disc will be formatted and ready to use straight away. If you selected
With a CD/DVD player, you can drag the files you want on the disc then click
the Burn to disc button in the toolbar.

Figure 8.18 Choose the disc type.

Note: Windows 7 also supports creating CDs and DVDs from ISO (disc image) files. If
you have downloaded an ISO file you can simply double-click on it, insert a blank disc
and click the Burn button.

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I hope you have enjoyed this free sample of The Top 100 Windows 7 Tips
& Tricks. Discover how to use the many features of Windows 7 and get up
to speed quickly with this straight forward guide, full of practical step-bystep visual instructions.
Learn the timesaving
techniques that allow you
to work smarter and faster.
Packed with clear and
simple solutions, this guide
is the perfect introduction
to Microsofts new
operating system.
Full color screen shots help
you to learn visually and
quickly become productive
in Windows 7.

Visit us online at
http://www.windows-7-tips-tricks.com

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