Read on for complete tips to help you get the best from Windows 7.
Problem Steps Recorder
When any app starts misbehaving under Windows 7 then all your friends need do is click Start, type PSR and press Enter, then click Start Record.
Burn images
Just double-click the ISO image, choose the drive with the blank disc, click Burn and watch as your disc is created.
Create and mount VHD files
Microsoft's Virtual PC creates its virtual machine hard drives in VHD files, and Windows 7 can now mount these directly so you can access them in the host system. Click Start, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter, then click Action > Attach VHD and choose the file you'd like to mount. Click Action > Create VHD and you can now create a new virtual drive of your own (right-click it, select Initialise Disk, and after it's set up right-click the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume to set this up).
Troubleshoot problems
If some part of Windows 7 is behaving strangely, and you don't know why, then click Control Panel > Find and fix problems (or 'Troubleshooting') to access the new troubleshooting packs. If you've downloaded Windows 7 (and even if you haven't) it's a good idea to create a system repair disc straight away in case you run into problems booting the OS later on. Click Start > Maintenance > Create a System Repair Disc, and let Windows 7 build a bootable emergency disc.
Take control
AppLocker is a new Windows 7 feature that ensures users can only run the programs you specify. Launch GPEDIT.MSC and go to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Application Control Policies > AppLocker to get a feel for how this works.
If you have a laptop, you can use the efficiency calculator to get Windows 7 to generate loads of useful information about its power consumption.
Understanding System Restore
Using System Restore in previous versions of Windows has been something of a gamble. Windows 7 is different. Right-click Computer, select Properties > System Protection > System Restore > Next, and choose the restore point you'd like to use. Click the new button to 'Scan for affected programs' and Windows will tell you which (if any) programs and drivers will be deleted or recovered by selecting this restore point.
The command "tzutil /g" displays the current time zone, "tzutil /l" lists all possible time zones, and "tzutil /?" displays details on how the command works.
If you left the default "Set your search provider" option selected during installation, for instance, Windows Live will install Choice Guard, a tool to set your browser home page and search engine, and prevent other programs from changing them. Windows Live Essentials also adds an ActiveX Control to help upload your files to Windows Live SkyDrive, as well as the Windows Live Sign-in Assistant, which makes it easier to manage and switch between multiple Windows Live accounts. By default Windows Live MovieMaker won't let you import files over a network, but a quick Registry tweak will change this. Run REGEDIT, browse to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live\Movie Maker, add a DWORD value called AllowNetworkFiles and set it to 1 to add network support.
Activate XP mode
If you've old but important software that no longer runs under Windows 7, then you could try using XP Mode, a virtual copy of XP that runs in a window on your Windows 7 desktop. Windows 7 includes a little-known new feature called Virtual Wi-Fi, which effectively turns your PC or laptop into a software-based router. See Turn your Windows 7 laptop into a wireless hotspot for more.
If an application locks up under a previous version of Windows then there was nothing you could do about it. When the lockup occurs, click Start, type RESMON and click the RESMON.EXE link to launch the Resource Monitor.
If it's not a vital Windows component, or anything else critical, then save any work in other open applications, check the box next to this process, click End Process, and your locked-up program will often spring back to life.
Automatically switch your default printer
To set this up, first click Start, type Devices, and click the Devices and Printers link.
Choose the "Change my default printer when I change networks" option, select a network, the default printer you'd like to use, and click Add.
Windows 7 has changed Control Panel a little, but it's still too difficult to locate all the applets and options that you might need.
Right-click everything
At first glance Windows 7 bears a striking resemblance to Vista, but there's an easy way to begin spotting the differences - just right-click things.
Right-click the Explorer icon on the taskbar for speedy access to common system folders: Documents, Pictures, the Windows folder, and more.
Right-click the icon, select 'Unpin this program from the taskbar', then go install Firefox, instead.
Display the old taskbar button context menu
Right-click a taskbar button, though, and you'll now see its jumplist menu.
Desktop slideshow
Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select Personalise > Desktop Background, then hold down Ctrl as you click on the images you like.
DESKTOP SLIDESHOW: Select multiple background images and Windows will cycle through them
Changing the Windows log-on screen used to involve some complicated and potentially dangerous hacks, but not any more - Windows 7 makes it easy.
First, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background in REGEDIT, double-click the DWORD key called OEMBackground (not there? Next, copy that image into the %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds folder (create the info\backgrounds folders if they don't exist).
Recover screen space
The new Windows 7 taskbar acts as one big quick launch toolbar that can hold whatever program shortcuts you like (just right-click one and select Pin To Taskbar). If you prefer a more traditional approach, then right-click the taskbar, select Properties, and set Taskbar Buttons to "Combine when taskbar is full".
Remove taskbar buttons
Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars > New Toolbar, type "%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" (less the quotes) into the Folder box and click Select Folder.
Custom power switch
If your Windows 7 desktop has icons scattered everywhere then you could right-click it and select View > Auto arrange, just as in Vista.
Disable smart window arrangement
Windows 7 features interesting new ways to intelligently arrange your windows, so that (for example) if you drag a window to the top of the screen then it will maximise. Run REGEDIT, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, set WindowArrangementActive to 0, reboot, and your windows will behave just as they always did.
Press Windows and T, and you move the focus to the left-most icon on the taskbar.
Display your drives
Click Computer in Windows 7 and you might see a strange lack of drives, but don't panic, it's just Microsoft trying to be helpful: drives like memory card readers are no longer displayed if they're empty. Launch Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options > View and clear 'Hide empty drives in the computer folder'.
Hover your mouse cursor over the bottom right hand corner of the screen and Windows 7 will hide open windows, showing you the desktop. Simply right-click the Start orb, select Properties > Taskbar and clear the "Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop" box.
Pin a drive to the taskbar
Right-click an empty part of the desktop, select New > Text File, and rename the file to drive.exe. Right-click your new "drive.exe" taskbar button, then right-click its file name and select Properties.
Expand your taskbar previews
Move your mouse cursor over a Windows 7 taskbar button and you'll see a small preview of the application window. To make this larger, launch REGEDIT, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband, right-click in the right hand pane and create a new DWORD value called MinThumbSizePx.
Hiding the Windows Live Messenger icon
If you prefer to keep Windows Live Messenger in the system tray, where it's been for previous releases, just close Windows Live Messenger, edit the shortcut properties and set the application to run in Windows Vista compatibility mode.
The Sticky Notes app is both simpler and more useful in Windows 7. Launch StikyNot.exe and you can type notes at the keyboard; right-click a note to change its colour; click the + sign on the note title bar to add another note; and click a note and press Alt + 4 to close the note windows (your notes are automatically saved).
By default Windows 7 opens folders in the same process. Windows Media Player 12 is a powerful program, but it still won't play all the audio and video files you'll find online.
Preview fonts
Windows 7 sees some useful font-related improvements.
Windows 7 has tightened up its security by refusing to run gadgets if UAC has been turned off, so limiting the damage malicious unsigned gadgets can do to your system. Run REGEDIT, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings, create a new DWORD value called AllowElevatedProcess and set it to 1. Which is a problem, especially if they're carrying sensitive data. Right-click your USB flash drive, select Turn on BitLocker and follow the instructions to protect your private files.
Customise System Restore
There was very little you could do to configure System Restore in Vista, but Windows 7 improves the situation with a couple of useful setup options.
Search privacy
By default Windows 7 will remember your PC search queries, and display the most recent examples when searching in Windows Explorer. If you're sharing a PC and don't want everyone to see your searches, then launch GPEDIT.MSC, go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer, double-click "Turn off display of recent search entries..." and click Enabled > OK.
Tweak PC volume
Just right-click the speaker icon in your taskbar, select Sounds > Communications, and tell Windows what you'd like it to do.
Rearrange the system tray
With Windows 7 we finally see system tray icons behave in a similar way to everything else on the taskbar. Windows 7 includes new power options that will help to improve your notebook's battery life. To see them, click Start, type Power Options and click the Power Options link, then click Change Plan Settings for your current plan and select Change Advanced Settings.
Write crash dump files
Windows 7 won't create memory.dmp crash files if you've less than 25GB of free hard drive space, annoying if you've installed the Windows debugging tools and want to diagnose your crashes. Windows 7 taskbar buttons are now movable - feel free to drag, drop and otherwise reorganise them to suit your needs.
Repair your PC
If Windows 7 won't start, you may not need an installation or repair disc any more, as the repair environment is now usually installed on your hard drive. Press [F8] as your PC starts, and if you see a "Repair Your Computer" option, choose that to see the full range of Windows 7 recovery tools.
If you were unimpressed by ReadyBoost in Vista, it may be worth trying the technology again under Windows 7.
Fixing Windows 7 N
If you have Windows 7 N then this means you'll be missing key multimedia applications, like Media Player, Media Centre, DVD Maker and more. Fortunately there's an easy fix, though, as the missing components are available in the form of Microsoft's Windows Media Pack. If you're currently having media-related issues on a Windows 7 N installation, grab your copy from support.microsoft.com/kb/968211.
Click Start, type RESMON and press Enter to launch the Resource Monitor, then click the CPU, Memory, Disk or Network tabs. Windows 7 will immediately show which processes are hogging the most system resources.
If a program has locked up, for example, then right-click its name in the list and select Analyze Process. Windows 7 supports several useful new keyboard shortcuts.
Windows Logo+G
Display gadgets in front of other windows
Display gadgets in front of other windows
Windows Logo++ (plus key)
Zoom in, where appropriate
Zoom in, where appropriate
Windows Logo+- (minus key)
Zoom out, where appropriate
Zoom out, where appropriate
Windows Logo+Up
Maximise the current window
Maximise the current window
Windows Logo+Down
Minimise the current window
Minimise the current window
Windows Logo+Left
Snap to the left hand side of the screen
Snap to the left hand side of the screen
Windows Logo+Right
Snap to the right hand side of the screen
Snap to the right hand side of the screen
Windows Logo+Home
Minimise/ restore everything except the current window
Minimise/ restore everything except the current window
Drag and drop to the command line
Right-click an icon on your taskbar, perhaps Notepad, and you'll see a jumplist menu that provides easy access to the documents you've been working on recently. Click the pin to the right of the file name, or right-click it and select "Unpin from this list" when you need to remove it.
Faster program launches
It's much quicker to just hold down Shift and click on the program's icon (or middle-click it), and Windows 7 will start a new instance for you.
Speedy video access
Windows 7 now lets you add it to the Start menu. Just right-click the Start orb, click Properties > Start Menu > Customize, and set the Videos option to "Display as a link". If you've a TV tuner that works with Windows 7 then you'll appreciate the new option to display the Recorded TV folder on the Start menu, too.
Run web searches
The Windows 7 search tool can now be easily extended to search online resources, just as long as someone creates an appropriate search connector. Anyone who's ever used the excellent command-line robocopy tool will appreciate the new switches introduced with Windows 7.
Windows 7 will then cycle through the Explorer windows only, a much quicker way to locate the right one. And of course this works with any application that has multiple windows open.
Just like Vista, Windows 7 will display a suitably stern warning if it thinks your antivirus, firewall or other security settings are incorrect.
If you no longer want to see warnings just because you've dared to turn off the Windows firewall, say, then click Control Panel > System and Security > Action Centre > Change Action Centre settings, clear the Network Firewall box and click OK.
Enter the command
in a command window to speedily defrag a system with multiple drives, or enter defrag
Fix Explorer
The Windows 7 Explorer has a couple of potential annoyances. Launching Computer will no longer display system folders like Control Panel or Recycle Bin, for instance. Fortunately there's a quick fix: click Organize > Folder and Search Options, check "Show all folders" and "Automatically expand to current folder", and click OK.
Faster file handing
If you hold down Shift while right-clicking a file in Explorer, then you'll find the Send To file now includes all your main user folders: Contacts, Documents, Downloads, Music and more.
Create folder favourites
If you're regularly working on the same folder in Explorer then select it in the right-hand page, right-click Favourites on the left-hand menu, and select Add to Favourites.
Create a new folder shortcut
When you need to create a new folder in Windows 7 Explorer, don't reach for the mouse. Just press Ctrl+Shift+N to create the folder in the active Explorer window, then type its name as usual.
Most people right-click a Windows taskbar icon to view its jumplist.
Search quickly
If you'd like to search for something in an Explorer window then there's no need to use the mouse.
Close in a click
Hover your mouse cursor over a Windows taskbar button will display a preview thumbnail of that application window. Homegroups are an easy way to network Windows 7 PCs, but if you don't use the feature then turning it off can save you a few system resources.
Click Start, type Homegroup, and click "Choose homegroup and sharing options". Click Leave the Homegroup > Leave the Homegroup > Finish.
Now click Start, type services.msc and press [Enter] to launch the Services Control Panel applet.