Solved Help yourself, there's plenty more

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Microsoft author: Robbin Young said:

Do you ever look at your PC and marvel that it contains your entire life? Photos. Videos. Music files and documents. It's all right there, and it's all very convenient—that is, until you find yourself scouring your hard drive, other PCs on your network, and your external hard drive for a single file. And that's where the libraries in Windows 7 come in handy.

1. So what exactly is a library anyway?: Libraries are a new way to organize all your files in Windows 7 to make it easier to find what you're looking for. You can access your libraries by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, typing Libraries in the search box, and then selecting it from the list. Here, you'll see the four default libraries that come in Windows 7: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos, as well as Podcasts, a new library my Zune created.
   
   "Wait a minute," I hear you say, "I had folders for documents, music, pictures, and videos before. So what's the difference?" Great question. Here's how it works.
2. File folders vs. libraries: A file folder is exactly what it sounds like: part of a filing system where you organize documents, photos, and so on. File folders are great—but they're just like a file cabinet because they contain files from just one place, like the hard drive on your PC.
   
   A library, on the other hand, is a dynamic way to group together similar files without having to move or reorganize the actual file folders. When you work with a library, you're essentially creating shortcuts to different file locations. And it doesn't even matter where that file location is; it can be on your hard drive, another PC in your homegroup, or even on an external drive.
3. See all your photos at once: Let's use the Pictures library as an example. I don't know about you, but managing years' worth of photos has always been a hassle for me. In the past, I'd have all my photos on my PC, but periodically copy them to an external hard drive for safety. As I took new photos, it got pretty confusing trying to organize them. Inevitably, I'd end up copying one folder over another and losing files—or creating two different folders with the same pictures.
   
   With the Pictures library, I can see all my photos at once, no matter where they are. What's cool about that is I can still move photos from my hard drive to my external drive—and still view, find, and work with them as if they were all in the same folder.
4. Add file locations to your Pictures library: Here's how I set up my Pictures library to include the photos on my external hard drive.
   
   First, I click the 2 locations link under Pictures library up towards the top of the screen. Then, in the Pictures Library Locations dialog box, I click Add, navigate to Computer, and click My Book (E:). On the next screen, I select Photo archives and click Include Folder. Voilà! Now, every time I open my Pictures library, it'll show me images from both my PC and my external hard drive.
5. Sort your files and find them faster: Here's how it looks when I've added photos from my external hard drive into the Pictures library on my PC. Look at the left column—see the new Photo archives folder? That's actually still on my external hard drive. But when I sort the pictures in my library—say by tag, date, or folder—all the photos are sorted together. So no matter where I've got pictures from 2005 I can search through them as though they are all in one spot.
6. Delete a location: Let's say you no longer want to include a particular location from your library. That's just as easy. Click the locations link under Pictures library near the top of the screen. In the Pictures Library Locations dialog box, highlight the location you no longer want to include, and then click Remove.
   
   
   
   
   
   Don't worry—you haven't deleted the actual file folder. All its contents still exist. That's because libraries don't actually store items. Instead, they simply monitor the folders that you've selected. Of course, if you delete the folder itself, then it won't show up in a library.
   
   And don't worry about accidentally deleting one of the default libraries either. You can easily restore it by right-clicking Libraries and then clicking Restore default libraries.
7. Create your own libraries: There's another cool thing about libraries: You can create your own. That way you can organize all kinds of stuff into one spot. To create one, just click New library. In this case, I'm making it easy to find photos, docs, and video clips about Whidbey Island by collecting folders from across my PC and external hard drive. It's as simple as pointing and clicking, and will save me tons of time if I ever get around to writing that book.
   
   So go ahead—create your own libraries and get your files organized. You'll be glad you did.

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About the author:Robbin Young has written about Windows since before there was a Windows—her first PC was an AST Premium 286 running DOS 3.0. If you know what that is, you too may have nostalgic feelings when you see C:\. As a tech writer, Robbin has the obligatory tech writer's cat. She, her husband, and the cat live in Seattle.

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Microsoft author: Marc Freeman said:

A friend recently asked me how I use Windows 7 for work. That's too long a conversation for one lunch. So I decided to hit the highlights, focusing on what I think helps me finish my work more quickly.

1. Windows XP Mode
   If you've ever been afraid of losing all that is good about Windows XP, you're not alone. That's why with Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, you can download Windows XP Mode. With Windows XP Mode, you can run many Windows XP productivity applications on your PC running Windows 7. It's a great way of making old new.
2. Device compatibility
   I don't have the time to tinker around figuring out how to make my devices talk to each other. Fortunately, with Windows 7, my devices work together without a lot of fuss. My phone, printer, and other PCs on my network connect and sync easily so I don't get stuck spending a lot of time adjusting settings and troubleshooting connections.
   
   If you're not sure about compatibility, you can visit the Windows Compatibility Center to learn if your devices meet the criteria.
3. Location-aware printing
   My laptop makes me king of the road, until I want to print something: then I feel like a pawn on the highway. I think that's why they designed Windows 7 with simplified printer settings. My laptop with Windows 7 offers the ability to automatically switch the default printer when I move from one network to another—so my computer automatically prints to my home printer when I'm at home, and my work printer when I'm at work.
   :info: Location-aware printing, is only available in Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate.
4. Desktop enhancements
   I hate closing all my windows to get back to a file that's on my desktop. With Windows 7, I don't have to anymore. The new Peek feature is kind of like Superman x-ray vision. I can use it to peer through all my windows to my desktop without closing or minimizing them. Point to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar; the open windows fade from view, revealing the desktop. The windows reappear when I move the pointer away from the Show desktop button.
5. Improved power management
   If you asked me what the Achilles' heel is for laptops, I'd probably say it's how the power seems to drain out at inopportune moments. To help me work longer on my laptop, Windows 7 runs with fewer background activities that use less power. Windows 7 also offers default power-plan settings that control how your laptop manages power. To access power management options, all you need to do is click the battery icon that appears at the far right of the taskbar and choose the option you want.
   Balanced. Offers full performance and display brightness when you need it, but conserves power when the computer is idle.
   
   Power saver. The best choice for extending battery life. On the downside, you get slower performance and lower display brightness.
   Power Options in Windows 7How much power do you need?​
   You can also click More power options to open Power Options. From there, you can click the High performance power plan, which keeps the brightness, sleeps less frequently, and keeps the display on longer. This setting uses more energy than the others.
6. Sleep and resume
   Windows developers understand that you want what you want, when you want it. When work is calling, you don't want to spend time waiting for your computer to wake up. To this end, improvements in Windows 7 are designed to help your PC go to sleep and resume more quickly.
7. BitLocker Drive Encryption
   Although I've never been the victim of computer theft (knock on wood), I often worry that my time will come. That's why I'm glad that Windows 7 can help protect my information against hackers and the like. BitLocker Drive Encryption keeps everything from documents to passwords safer by scrambling the contents of the entire drive that Windows and your data reside on. In addition, BitLocker To Go—a new feature of Windows 7—gives the lockdown treatment to portable storage devices like USB flash drives and external hard drives.
   :info: BitLocker is available only in Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise.

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About the author: Marc Freeman has been a freelance writer and copywriter for the past fifteen years. He has also worked in television and film as a teacher, screenwriter, and copywriter. He currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and daughter, staring out at the rain clouds as he pounds out letters on his keyboard.

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Microsoft author: Windows team said:

I've always liked that Windows gives me multiple ways to perform popular tasks. Say you want to print something. You could navigate to the File menu and select the Print command, or you can press the Ctrl button and the letter P. Ctrl+P is just one example of a keyboard shortcut. Shortcuts combine two or more keys to do something special that neither key does alone.

I prefer to use shortcuts whenever possible. It’s kind of amazing how much time you can save by cutting out mouse clicks. Here are my top 20 shortcuts that you may not know about—but should.

Get to know the basics: There are certain shortcuts I use all day, every day. They work whether I’m doing stuff with photos, music, documents, or spreadsheets.

• Ctrl + C -> Copy a selected item
• Ctrl + X -> Cut a selected item
• Ctrl + V -> Paste a selected item
• Ctrl + Z -> Undo an action
• Ctrl + Y -> Redo that thing I just undid
• Ctrl + A -> Select everything
• Ctrl + P -> Print
  
  

Manage open windows: Chances are, you use your PC to do a lot of things at once. Shortcuts go a long way towards cutting the clutter. Go ahead and try these out as you read about them.

• Alt + Tab -> Switch between open windows: If you have lots of open windows and you're not sure exactly which one you need, press Alt+Tab, and get a quick thumbnail view of all open windows. Then, while holding down the Alt key, press the Tab key multiple times until you get to the window you want.
• WinKey + D -> Show the desktop: Use this shortcut when you want to minimize a lot of open windows at once to check something on your desktop. Clutter-to-clean with two fingers.
• WinKey + DownArrow -> Minimize the window: Minimizing a window is a surefire way to see what's underneath it. And it's fast to use the shortcut. If the window is maximized already (covering the entire screen) it'll go to “normal” size. And if it's normal size, it'll minimize entirely.
• WinKey + UpArrow -> Maximize the window: Maximizing windows works opposite as minimize

Get even funkier with window management: It may surprise you to learn that there are even more options when it comes to dealing with your open windows and programs—but there are.

• WinKey + LeftArrow . -> Snap widow to the left
  WinKey + RightArrow -> Snap widow to the right
  Snap is the easiest way I know to compare two documents—or to write up something while also looking at a web browser. The shortcut for Snap makes it even snappier. Go ahead and try this now.
• WinKey + Shift + LeftArrow . - > Multitask with multiple monitors
• WinKey + Shift + RightArrow - > Multitask with multiple monitors
  Do you use more than one monitor at a time? Now you can shift an open window to your other monitor in less than a second.
• Ctrl + Alt + Delete -> Manage tasks: You might already be using a shortcut to open up Task Manager or to lock your computer. But there are shortcuts for this shortcut.

• • Ctrl + Shift + Esc -> Open Task Manager: This simple shortcut whisks you straight to Task Manager—without any intermediary steps.
  • WinKey + L -> Lock your PC or switch users: This shortcut locks your PC and instantly displays the login screen.

Display your way: No matter how you want to view your PC, shortcuts help you get there faster.

• WinKey + P -> Choose a presentation display mode: Whether you're giving a presentation or are using multiple monitors, it's simple to switch settings.
• WinKey + (plus or minus) -> Magnifier, Zoom in, zoom out: The Plus Sign key (+) zooms you in, the Minus Sign key (-) zooms you out. This lets you see small text on a webpage or to check out the pixels in a photo.

A few last tricks: Here are a few final shortcuts. For more keyboard shortcuts, check out the complete list.

• WinKey + F -> Search for files and folders: In the past, finding a file could be like an archaeology expedition. But nowadays, search is really fast and thorough. Use this shortcut to get a search window, type in a few keywords, and presto, you’ll get your file.
• WinKey + Shift + any Taskbar icon -> Open a new instance of a program: I like Internet Explorer tabs—but sometimes I want a whole new browser window. To get one, I just click the Internet Explorer icon while holding down Shift.
• WinKey + F1 -> Get help when you need it: It's the simplest shortcut out there. When all else fails, and you're just not sure what to do, press F1.

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Microsoft author: Zia Munshi said:

My husband can do amazing things. He poured and installed concrete countertops. He built our hens a fancy chicken coop. He handcrafted all the Douglas fir trim in our house. When it comes to technology, however, he's not quite as impressive.

It seems like there's always something going on with his PC. I tell him he's imagining things, but far too often, he just ends up using mine. "Yours just works better," he says. "Plus, it looks way cooler."

I don't know about you, but I get a little itchy when someone else uses my PC. It's not that I have anything to hide—it's just that when we get our PCs exactly right, they become incredibly personal. So I got him his own PC with Windows 7 for his birthday.

All about themes
It was incredibly easy—even for my husband—to customize Windows 7. That's because Windows 7 features a whole bunch of different themes. Each theme includes a desktop background, screen saver, window border color, and various sounds, icons, and mouse pointers.

To change the desktop theme

1. Do one of the following:
   • Right-click the desktop, and then click Personalize (my method).
   • Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, click Control Panel, and then click Personalization (my husband's method).
2. You'll see a variety of themes—just click one and see everything change instantly.
3. Click Get more themes online to get different themes. For instance, did you know that different themes are shipped on the PCs that go to other countries or regions? You can download them for free. Or choose really neat photos from Bing and other companies. Also check out the Windows Personalization Gallery.

The great thing about Windows 7 is that you can use an entire theme or just part of it. At the bottom of the Personalization window, you'll see additional buttons for your desktop background, window color, sounds, and screen saver. You can change each aspect of your theme until it's exactly to your liking, then click Save changes. And if you want to save the theme for later use (or share your theme with a friend), click Save theme.

Create the background you want
"Wouldn't it be nice if you could play a slide show of pictures as your desktop background?" my husband asked wistfully as he booted up his PC for the first time.

Actually, you can. In fact, many themes automatically play a slide show of select images. That's why, when you click Desktop Background in the Personalization window, you'll see a group of pictures with check marks above them. This is how you choose what pictures to see.

Don't like one picture? Clear its check box and it won't show up. Want to see only one picture? Clear all the check boxes except for the picture you want. Want those pictures of your Boston terrier romping on the beach? Click Browse, navigate to My Pictures, and select one file for a static image or the whole folder for a slide show. Then, choose how often you want the picture to change—anywhere from every 10 seconds to once a day.

Lots of different sounds, windows, and screen savers
When I first installed Windows 7, I played with the sounds until my husband was blue in the face. What I like about the 14 different sound schemes is that they all sound like the Windows default sound scheme, but with a twist. For instance, the Sonata scheme sounds like classical violins, while the Delta scheme sounds like a banjo.

Similarly, you can customize your window color and transparency, along with your screen saver, using the buttons at the bottom of the Personalization window. After you've changed all these areas to your liking, you've essentially created a new theme. And although you don't need to save it to use your new theme, it's not a bad idea if you want to play around some more.

And really, who can resist? Certainly not me.

Making the screen more readable
I'm a laptop user. My screen is smaller than a typical monitor, which means that everything that appears on it is smaller too. One feature I really appreciate is the fact that you can adjust text size more easily. Windows 7 automatically selects the optimal display resolution for your screen, but then you can also choose how big you want your font. (In previous versions of Windows, you couldn't do this separately.) It's simple:

1. Right-click the desktop, and then click Personalize.
2. Click Display in the lower-left corner.
3. Choose to display fonts at 100 percent, 125 percent, or 150 percent.

Get more Windows 7 accessibility information, including tutorials and free step-by-step guides.

Mini programs right where you want them
We live in Seattle, where it always rains. My husband likes to keep his eye on the weather forecast just in case there's a two-minute sliver of sunshine in the day that he might possibly miss. That would be tragic. Fortunately, there are gadgets.

Desktop gadgets are customizable mini programs that display information right on the desktop. You don't have to open a new window or launch a new program because they run continuously. You can view up-to-date news feeds, your calendar, games—or, in my husband's case—the weather. To get gadgets:

1. Right-click the desktop, and then click Gadgets.
2. View available gadgets and click Get more gadgets online to add to your collection.
3. Drag gadgets anywhere onto your desktop.

Putting the "personal" in personal computer
These days, my husband has a desktop slide show set up with surfing pictures, while I have pictures of my chickens (in the coop he built). He uses the Sonata sound theme, while I stick with Windows Default.

He has about 40 gadgets on his desktop, all of which are completely necessary to his happiness. I have two. Far be it for me to complain—he's gotten his new PC just the way he wants it.

Best yet, he's not using mine anymore.

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About the author: Zia Munshi is a freelance writer and copywriter who has written for a wide variety of publications and companies, including Microsoft and MSN. She especially loves writing about technology because it gives her an excuse to purchase all the latest gadgetry and software. She lives in Seattle with her husband, dog, and flock of 13 chickens.

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Microsoft aurhor: Zia Munshi said:

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Some think of Windows Live Essentials as a one-stop shop for communication tools: email, instant messaging, web chats. Others use it for its powerful photo- and video-editing capabilities. And it’s true that Windows Live Essentials is great for doing those things. But it also has some pretty cool features that you might not even know about yet. Here’s a quick rundown of the “secret” powers of Windows Live Essentials.

1. Leave video messages: You've probably heard about web chat (in high-definition, no less) in Windows Live Messenger. But did you know you can also send someone a video message when they're not available? As far as I'm concerned, it's way better—and far more personal—than a blah voice message.
   
   To leave a video message, mouse over your contact's name and click Send a video message. This will activate your webcam. Click the red Record button to record a message up to 30 seconds long. If you're done before that, click the blue square Stop button. To view your message before you send it, click the blue Play button. All good? Click Send. That's it! Your friend will be notified they have a message when they sign in.
   :info: To send and view video messages, you'll need a broadband Internet connection.
2. Chat on your phone: If you love the convenience of Windows Live Messenger but aren't always at your PC, there's a simple solution: take it with you. That's right. You can use Messenger on your smartphone. I mainly use it to chat with friends, but you can also share photos—just like with Messenger on your PC. And the best thing is that your contact list is all right there.
   
   To get Messenger on your smartphone, download Windows Live for mobile, which also includes Hotmail, MSN Mobile for news, and a Bing app to make it simple to search online.
3. The magic of Windows Live Mesh: I can't rave enough about Windows Live Mesh because it's the coolest way ever to keep all the stuff you have on different computers in sync. What's so magical is that you just set up a synced folder once across your computers, and whenever you make any change to a document in the folder, or add a new home video, it automatically updates the folders on the other computers.
   
   The other great thing about Windows Live Mesh is that you can sync folders with the free online storage space that’s part of Windows Live SkyDrive. This means that you can access your latest files on the web from any computer.
4. Work with Office documents online: Need to share an Excel spreadsheet with someone who doesn't have Microsoft Office? Want to work on a Share document from a friend's Mac? Now you can do those things with Microsoft Office Web Apps, great online companions to the Office 2010 programs that are on your PC.
   
   To get to Office Web Apps, sign in to Windows Live, and point to SkyDrive on the navigation bar at the top. From there, you can create a new Word doc, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, or OneNote notebook. When you're done working, click the X in the upper-right corner—that will close and save it. Your new file will appear in your documents list. Need to share it with someone else? Just click Share and change the permissions.
5. Pin online Office Web App documents to your desktop: Speaking of Web Apps, you can make it easier to access those files with Pinning. Pinning in Windows 7 consists of dragging a file, program, or folder to your taskbar. If it's a file or program, it'll appear on the taskbar itself. If it's a file, it'll appear on your Jump List for the program, which you can access by right-clicking the icon on your taskbar.
   
   Let's say you have Office 2010 installed on your PC, but want to pin a Web Apps document to your taskbar for one-click access. Simply sign in to your Windows Live account, navigate to the document you want to save, and then click Open in Word. After the document is open, right-click the Word 2010 icon on your taskbar and click the pin icon that appears next to the open document.
   
   Alternatively, let's say you don't have OneNote in your current version of Office. You can still use the OneNote Web App and pin your notebook to your taskbar. Sign in to your Windows Live account, navigate to your OneNote notebook, and then "drag" it to your taskbar. It'll appear on your pinned items on the Start menu.
   :info:This feature only works with Internet Explorer 9.
6. One stop for Facebook: I admit this is the height of laziness, but does it ever seem like too much work to sign in to different social networking sites? I generally have at least 15 open windows at any given time. One more really shouldn't make a big difference, but sometimes it makes my head spin. And this is the main reason I think it's so wonderful to be able to keep up with Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn in Windows Live Messenger*. You can view, respond to, and post status updates without ever leaving Messenger. Even better: you can use Facebook chat from Messenger too. One stop. That's it. What's not to love?
   :info: Facebook integration not available in all markets.
7. Facial recognition for photos: You may be missing out if you post a lot of photos to Facebook but aren't using Windows Live Photo Gallery to do it. The whole process is far simpler than you can imagine.
   
   Here's how it goes. Connect your device to your PC (or insert your memory card), download all your photos, and launch Windows Live Photo Gallery. Start tagging people. After about 10–15 photos, Photo Gallery actually starts recognizing people and making tagging suggestions. It will check with you to make sure it has the right person.
   
   When you're ready to upload, click the Facebook icon in the Share group on the Home tab. (Follow the instructions if you haven't already set it up.) Voilà! Photos you tag in Windows Live Photo Gallery appear tagged in Facebook.
8. Easy ways to blog: Windows Live Writer makes blogging as straightforward as creating a Word doc: what you see on your PC is what you get in your post. You run it on your PC and it connects to your blog on the back end. Which means you can write posts on your PC, view what your post will look like in your template, and place photos exactly where you want them. When you're ready, click Publish. You can use Writer with almost any blogging platform such as WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad. Don't have a blog? Writer will guide you through the entire process of creating one.
9. Publish your movies: My husband is teaching himself how to play the guitar almost exclusively through YouTube videos. Trust me when I say this is painful—but I can't deny that he's getting pretty good, pretty fast. In fact, I think he'll be ready to post his own tutorials pretty soon. And when he is, we'll be using Windows Live Movie Maker.
   
   Movie Maker not only offers great editing tools that make it easy to polish your movies; it also makes it easy to share them. In fact, publishing a movie to YouTube, Facebook, or Windows Live SkyDrive is a simple two-click process. In the Share group on the Home tab, click Facebook, YouTube, or SkyDrive. Then choose your resolution. Before you know it, your movie has been published.
10. Send 10 GB of photos in one email: Say goodbye to huge email files with dozens of photo attachments. When you use Windows Live Mail, you can send hundreds of photos in one message—with zero attachments to clutter up your contacts' inboxes. This is how it works: Drag photos into your message. The high-res photos will be uploaded into your Windows Live SkyDrive account and you can choose the format you want your recipients to see. They will get the thumbnails in the email and can click on each one to see the high-res image or launch a slide show to view them all. Away from your PC and Windows Live Mail? No problem—you can use Hotmail from any browser, insert your photos, and send them the same way.

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About the author: Zia Munshi is a freelance writer and copywriter who has written for a wide variety of publications and companies, including Microsoft and MSN. She especially loves writing about technology because it gives her an excuse to purchase all the latest gadgetry and software. She lives in Seattle with her husband and her dog.

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