1. Calculate more
At first glance the Windows 7 calculator looks just like
Vista's version, but explore the Mode menu and you'll see powerful new
Statistics and Programmer views. And if you're clueless about bitwise
manipulation, then try the Options menu instead. This offers many different
unit conversions (length, weight, volume and more), date calculations (how many
days between two dates?), and spreadsheet-type templates to help you calculate
vehicle mileage, mortgage rates and more.
Don't take any Windows 7 applet at face value, then - there
are some very powerful new features hidden in the background. Be sure to
explore every option in all Windows applets to ensure you don't miss anything
important.
2. Get a power efficiency report
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. Used in the right way, this can help you make huge gains in terms
of battery life and performance. To do this you must open a command prompt as
an administrator by typing 'cmd' in Start Search, and when the cmd icon
appears, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
Then at the command line, just type in 'powercfg -energy'
(without quotes) and hit Return, and Windows 7 will scan your system looking
for ways to improve power efficiency. It will then publish the results in an
HTML file, usually in the System32 folder. Just follow the path it gives you to
find your report.
3. Explore God Mode
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. God
Mode, however, while not being particularly godlike, does offer an easier way
to access everything you could want from a single folder.
To try this out, create a new folder and rename it to:
The first part, "Everything" will be the folder
name, and can be whatever you want: "Super Control Panel",
"Advanced", "God Mode" if you prefer.
The extension, ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C, must be
entered exactly as it is here, though, including the curly brackets. When you
press [Enter] this part of the name will disappear, and double-clicking the new
folder will display shortcuts to functions in the Action Centre, the Network
and Sharing Centre, Power options, troubleshooting tools, user accounts and
others - more than 260 options in total.
4. Customise the log-on screen
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? Create
it) and set its value to 1.
Now find a background image you'd like to use. Make sure
it's less than 256KB in size, and matches the aspect ratio of your screen as
it'll be stretched to fit.
Next, copy that image into the
%windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds folder (create the info\backgrounds
folders if they don't exist). Rename the image to backgroundDefault.jpg,
reboot, and you should now have a custom log-on image.
Alternatively, use a free tweaking tool to handle everything
for you. Logon Changer displays a preview so you can see how the log-on screen
will look without rebooting, while the Logon Screen Rotator accepts multiple
images and will display a different one every time you log on.
5. Disable Windows Features
Windows 7 enables you to remove many more Windows features
than ever before: Internet Explorer, Media Player, Windows Search, its indexing
service, Windows Gadgets and more. This is something that you need to do
cautiously, if at all (since removing something like Media Player will break
many programs which rely on it), but can be useful if you're looking to create
a very simple, slimmed-down system.
Click Start, type OptionalFeatures and press Enter to launch
the Windows Features dialog. Clear the checkbox to the left of any features
that are surplus to requirements, and click OK to remove them.
6. Block annoying alerts
Just like Vista, Windows 7 will display a suitably stern warning if it thinks your antivirus, firewall or other security settings are incorrect.
But unlike Vista, if you disagree then you can now turn off alerts on individual topics. 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.
The standard Windows 7 defragger offers a little more control than we saw in Vista, and the command line version also has some interesting new features. The /r switch will defrag multiple drives in parallel, for instance (they'll obviously need to be physically separate drives for this to be useful). The /h switch runs the defrag at a higher than normal priority, and the /u switch provides regular progress reports so you can see exactly what's going on. Enter the command
defrag /c /h /u /r
in a command window to speedily defrag a system with multiple drives, or enter defrag /? to view the new options for yourself.
8. Keyboard shortcuts
Windows 7 supports several useful new keyboard shortcuts.
Alt + P
Display/ hide the Explorer preview pane
Windows Logo + G
Display gadgets in front of other windows
Windows Logo + + (plus key)Zoom in, where appropriate
Windows Logo + - (minus key)Zoom out, where appropriate
Windows Logo + Up
Maximise the current window
Windows Logo + Down
Minimise the current window
Windows Logo + Left
Snap to the left hand side of the screen
Windows Logo + Right
Snap to the right hand side of the screen
Windows Logo + Home
Minimise/ restore everything except the current window
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