Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 2 Windows The Pocket Guide mintywhite.com (v1.0) Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide v 1.0 Master Microsoft’s Newest Operating System Rich Robinson mintywhite.com © 2009 Windows Guides | mintywhite.com. All rights reserved. Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide If this guide is distributed it is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. Except as permitted by any such license, no part of this guide may be reproduced. This guide may be stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise. Please note that the content in this guide is protected under copyright law. Mintywhite will not be responsible for damages to your computer, software, or data resulting from use of information contained in this document. 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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. ~~~ Dedicated to my wife, Mallory—thank you for putting up with all the hours I spend writing books, writing guides, and getting to know like-minded Windows enthusiasts You are very special to me ~~~ About the Author Rich Robinson is the author and creator of Windows Guides, Windows Forums, and MyWindowsPC. Rich is a Microsoft MVP in the Desktop Experience category and authored Windows Vista – The Pocket Guide and Windows Vista – Customization Manual. His hobbies include spending time with family, web design, programming, running, soccer, skiing, and swimming. See more books Rich authored Credits Proofreader Larry Schwartz Foreign Language Translators TBA Acknowledgments I consider all visitors to Windows Guides and Windows Forums contributors to this book. Your questions and advice helped inspire me to compile this book. Many of you take hours of your time helping me improve my work and helping me find errors. Others share the word of this book with their friends, family, and online acquaintances. Many readers of this book are referred by other Windows- themed websites and I thank the respective owners of these sites for their kind words and advice. Thank you to my wife, Mallory, who works hard as I isolate myself for days on end to complete this book; you are more wonderful than you can ever perceive. Contents Introduction xx Notational Conventions xxii Additional Help xxiii 1 Get Started 1 1.1 Windows 7 System Requirements 2 1.2 Which Version of Windows 7? 4 1.2.1 Buy Your Copy of Windows 7 4 1.3 Windows 7 32 or 64- bit 7 1.3.1 What Does 64- Bit 7 Get Me? 7 1.3.2 How Mainstream is 64 bit? 8 1.4 Install Windows 7 9 1.4.1 Upgrade to 7 from Windows Vista 9 1.4.2 Install Windows 7 as a Virtual Machine 15 1.4.2.2 Install Windows 7 as a VM 27 1.4.3 Dual Boot 34 1.4.4 Install Windows from Scratch 41 xi Contents 1.5 Use Virtual XP 45 1.5.1 Requirements for XP mode 45 1.5.2 Windows Virtual PC features for Windows XP Mode 46 1.5.3 Install and Use Virtual XP Mode 47 1.6 Transfer Your Files from Your Old PC 50 1.7 About the Windows Registry 53 1.7.1 What is the Windows Registry? 53 1.7.2 Access the Windows Registry Editor 54 1.7.3 Add Keys or Values 54 1.7.4 Back up the Registry 56 1.8 About the Group Policy Editor 56 1.8.1 Access the Group Policy Editor 57 1.8.2 Work with the Group Policy Editor 58 1.9 You Are Ready to Begin 59 2 Back up Your Data 60 2.1 Backup and Restore 61 2.1.1 Launch Backup and Restore 61 2.1.2 Back up Your Files 61 2.1.3 Restoring Your Files 66 2.2 Back Up and Restore the Registry 67 [...]... t o 7 from Windows Vist a 2 Inst all Windows 7 as a Virt ual Machine 3 Dual Boot 4 Inst all Windows from Scrat ch You’ll learn how t o do each of t hese in t his sect ion 1 4 1 Upgrade to 7 from Windows Vista Upgrading is t he easiest opt ion of t he t hree However, upgrading can t ake a long t ime To upgrade t o Windows 7 from Windows Vist a Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 1 Insert t he Windows 7 DVD... hardware I’ve t est ed Windows 7 wit h 512MB of RAM and found it t o work well; however, I do not recommend running wit h such low memory—unless you really have t o Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 1.2 Which Version of Windows 7? Windows 7 is available in four edit ions Windows 7 St art er is not sold individually, so I will not ex plain it s feat ures I personally recommend Windows 7 Home Premium as t his... 2 07 7.5 Remove Shortcut Overlay Icon 212 7. 6 Customize Your Mouse 213 7. 6.1 Set the Mouse But tons 213 7. 6.2 Set Mouse Point er Opt ions 215 7. 6.3 Set Scroll Wheel Opt ions 216 7. 7 Add an OS X Style Dock t o Your Deskt op 218 7. 8 Customize t he Taskbar 219 7. 8.1 Move the Taskbar 219 7. 8.2 Resize t he Taskbar 220 7. 8.3 Auto- hide t he Taskbar 221 7. 9 Rest.. .Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 2.2.1 Back up t he Regist ry 67 2.2.2 Rest ore the Regist ry 67 2.3 Creat e a Syst em Recovery Disc 69 2.4 Recovering Lost Dat a on Your Drive 72 3 Securit y 73 3.1 Choose an Ant i- virus Program 73 3.2 Ant i- spyware Soft ware 74 3.3 Firewalls 74 3.4 Add Take Ownership t o Cont ext Menu 75 3.5 Encrypt your... 185 6.6 Make Windows Shut Down Fast er 188 6 .7 Run Memory Diagnost ic Tool 190 7 Cust omize Your St art Menu and Deskt op 195 7. 1 Customize Your St art Menu 196 Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 7. 1.1 Cust omizing t he Right - hand Panel 196 7. 1.2 Cust omizing t he Programs List 199 7. 2 Change St art Menu Power But t on Act ion 203 7. 3 Change Your Account Pict ure 204 7. 4 Customize... book However, if you want all t he feat ures, you’ll need Windows 7 Ult imat e 1 2 1 Buy Your Copy of Windows 7 Upgrade Full Version 4 5 1 Get St art ed Upgrade Upgrade Full Version Full Version Microsoft compiled a feat ure chart , which is included in t his guide for your convenience: Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 6 7 1 Get St art ed 1.3 Windows 7 3 2 or 6 4 - bit When deciding t o move up t o a 64-... 1 07 4.5.1 Bit Locker To Go 108 4.5.2 Bit Locker Biomet ric 118 4.6 The Windows HomeGroup 119 4.6.1 Set up Your HomeGroup 120 4.6.2 Joining Your HomeGroup wit h Another PC 123 4.6.3 Accessing Files Shared on t he HomeGroup 126 4 .7 Device St age 1 27 4.8 Act ion Cent er 128 4.8.1 Act ion Cent er – Securit y 130 Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 4.8.2 Act ion Cent er –. .. t o Windows Guides for an updat ed version I began writ ing t his book as soon as t he public bet a came out I felt t his was a good t ime t o st art gett ing familiar wit h t he feat ures t hat would soon be ready wit h t he released version of t he operat ing syst em The book is now considered complet e as Windows 7 is now ret ail Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide Notational Conventions In t his guide, ... 262 10.1 Windows 7 Short cut Keys 262 10.2 General Windows Short cut Keys 264 10.2.1 Single Keys 265 Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 10.2.2 Ct rl- Key Short cut s 266 10.2.3 Shift Key Short cut s 2 67 10.2.4 Alt Key Short cut s 268 10.3 Windows Phot o Gallery Shortcut Keys 269 10.3.1 General Shortcut Keys 269 10.3.2 Short cut Keys When Working wit h Videos 271 10.4 Microsoft... Microsoft Word Short cut Keys 273 10.5 Remot e Deskt op Short cut Keys 278 10.6 Useful Windows Commands 280 10.6.1 Windows Environment Cont rols 280 10.6.2 Consoles, Programs et c 281 10 .7 Windows Shell Folder Commands 290 10 .7. 1 Personal Folders 291 10 .7. 2 User Folders 292 10 .7. 3 Syst em Folders 294 10 .7. 4 Applicat ions 2 97 10 .7. 5 Int ernet Ex plorer 298 . Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide 2 Windows The Pocket Guide mintywhite.com (v1.0) Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide v 1.0 Master Microsoft’s. creator of Windows Guides, Windows Forums, and MyWindowsPC. Rich is a Microsoft MVP in the Desktop Experience category and authored Windows Vista – The Pocket Guide and Windows Vista – Customization. Your Files 66 2.2 Back Up and Restore the Registry 67 Windows 7 – The Pocket Guide xii 2.2.1 Back up the Registry 67 2.2.2 Restore the Registry 67 2.3 Create a System Recovery Disc 69