Top 10 Windows 7 tips
Windows 7 keyboard
shortcuts
Use the below Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts to make the most of
your Windows 7 experience.
Windows
key and the arrow keys
Pressing the Windows key
and Left or Right arrow keys will dock
the window your viewing to the left or right-hand side of the screen. Pressing
the Windows key and the Up arrow will maximize a window and pressing the
Windows key and the Down arrow will resize and then minimize the window.
Use Shift: To stretch a window vertically, press the Windows key +
Shift + the Up arrow. If you have multiple monitors use the Windows key + Shift
+ the Left or Right arrow keys to move the window to another monitor.
Windows
key and plus and minus keys
If you ever need to zoom in or out of what is being displayed on
your screen press the Windows key and the + (plus)
or - (minus) keys. Pressing the plus zooms
in and once zoomed in the minus will zoom out.
Clear
all background programs
If you are not viewing a window in full screen and have other
windows open in the background clear all background open windows by pressing
the Windows key + the Home key.
Use the Windows 7
search
Find and run anything in Windows by using the Windows 7 search
box. Click the Start orb or press then
Windows key and type the name of the program you wish to run or file you wish
to edit. Windows 7 will usually do a good job at finding an exact match and
simply pressing enter will execute that program or open that file. If more than
one match is found, use the up and down arrow keys to select the file you wish
to open and then press Enter.
Running as
administrator: Some programs may require administrator mode in order to
function properly. You can run any program as administrator from the search box
by typing the name of the program you want to run and then instead of pressing
Enter to run the program press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to run as administrator. If you want to click and run a
program as administrator hold down the Ctrl+Shift and then click the icon.
Take full advantage of
the Taskbar
Pin
programs to the Taskbar
All programs can be pinned to
the Taskbar and allow easy access to your
favorite programs without having to use the Start Menu. To Pin a program to the
Taskbar right-click on the program or
shortcut to the program and in the menu choose the Pin to Taskbar
option. Alternatively you can also drag the icon to the Taskbar.
If you want to remove a pinned program, right-click on the
Taskbar icon and click Unpin this program from the Taskbar.
Alternatively you can also drag the icon off of the task bar and then click
Unpin this program from the Taskbar.
Move
the icons and pinned programs
Any pinned or opened program on the Taskbar can be moved and
arranged. Left-click on any icon on the Taskbar and drag it to the location you
want it to remain.
Windows
key and a number
Pressing the Windows key and a number on the top row of your
keyboard will open the Window corresponding to the open program on your
Taskbar. For example, in the below picture of the Windows 7 Taskbar, Firefox i
the first icon, Control panel is the second icon, and Adobe Photoshop is the
third icon. If the Windows key + 3 was pressed, Adobe Photoshop would become
the active window. To make it even easier arrange your icons (as mentioned
above) from left to right by most frequently opened.
Pin
your favorite folder
If you frequently access the same folder (e.g. your favorites,
my documents, Dropbox, etc.) pin the
folder to the Windows Explorer icon on
the Taskbar. To do this drag your favorite folder to the Taskbar until you see
Pin to Windows Explorer. Once pinned, right-click the Explorer icon to access
that folder under the Pinned section.
Open
a second instance
If you want to open a second instance or window of a program
that is already open, press and hold the Shift
key and then click the program icon on the Taskbar.
Get
to the Desktop
Click the Desktop button on the far right edge of the Taskbar to
get to the Desktop.
Customize the
Notification area
Windows Vista and Windows 7 allow the Windows Notification area (aka Systray) to be
modified. By default, many of the icons shown in the past are now hidden and
give Windows a much cleaner look. Customize this area to make icons show or not
show by clicking on the up arrow next to the icons and selecting Customize,
as shown in the picture to the right. Once in Customize you can choose what
programs show, don't show, or only show notifications.
Improve the quality of
your text
Use the Windows ClearType
Text Tuner to improve the overall quality of all text you read on your screen.
To start the ClearType Text Tuner click the Start Orb and type cttune.exe
and press Enter.
Enable and disable
Windows 7 features
Turn on and off Windows features by clicking Start, typing features
and press enter. In the Programs and Features window on the left-hand column
click Turn Windows features on or off and in the Windows Features box
check or uncheck the features you want enabled or disabled.
Use the Reliability
and Performance Monitor
View the reliability history of your computer by using the Reliability Monitor. Click the Start orb
and type reliability and press enter for View Reliability History. In
the Reliability Monitor, you'll be able to view the overall reliability of your
computer and be able to identify any past problems your computer has had.
If you want to view the performance of your computer in real
time use the Performance Monitor. Click
the Start orb and type performance and press enter for the Performance Monitor.
In the Performance Monitor, you can view your computers performance in real
time or view a log of your systems performance.
Re-enable underlined
keyboard shortcuts
By default, Windows 7
has the underlines for keyboard shortcuts like those shown in the picture to
the right disabled. To re-enable these underlines in all Windows programs
follow the below steps.- Open
the Control Panel
- In
the Control Panel click Ease of Access
- In
Ease of Access click Change how your keyboard works
- Finally,
check the Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys and
then click Ok.
Rename multiple files
at once
To change the name of multiple files at once highlight all the files you wish to rename
in Windows Explorer and press the F2 key. Type in the new name you wish to
use for all files and press enter. Once done all files will be renamed to the
name entered followed by a unique number.
Install Windows
Essentials
Install missing Windows software by installing the free Windows
Essentials software package that includes: Windows Live Family Safety, Windows
Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, SkyDrive for Windows, Windows Movie Maker,
Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Writer, and Microsoft Outlook Hotmail
Connector.
