Configuring Windows 7 (P6)

Using the search box in Start Menu

Searching in Windows 7 has never been easier. Microsoft have implemented a global search function which allows you to find almost anything on your computer by only typing in the Start Menu.

1. Open Start Menu
2. Type what you are searching for in the Search box

 Left and Right Mouse Buttons

If you prefer using the mouse with your left hand, you can switch the left and right buttons for comfort. This is done from Mouse settings.

1. Open Start Menu
2. Type “Mouse” in the search box
3. Press enter or click the “Mouse” icon
4. Select Buttons Tab
5. Select the mouse from the drop down menu

6. Choose between Left Handed and Right Handed

1. Press OK

Power Saving Options

When using a laptop it’s very important to configure your Power Settings. If you don’t, you won’t get optimal battery life. Windows 7, unlike other operating systems, provides you with a very sophisticated and flexible Power Management system. As well as the standard options for turning off the display or putting the computer to sleep after a given time, Windows 7 also gives you the ability to choose

If you are using a Desktop computer:

1.      Go to Start Menu

2. Type “Power Options” and press enter

If you are using a laptop:

To choose from one of the predefined power profiles:

1. Left-click on the Battery icon in the System Tray Menu
2. Choose one of the power profiles

To the profiles and configure them according to your preferences:

3. Select “More power options”
4. Select “Change plan settings” on the plan you wish to modify

Use the drop-down menus to configure the display and sleep settings to your preference.

Desktop Theme

Windows 7 can be personalized via themes. They can either be created by yourself, you can select from the default ones, or you can download more from Microsoft’s website. Themes are basically a combination of different wallpapers, screen savers, a window border colors and custom sounds.

Accessing themes

1. Go to Start Menu
2. Type “Theme” in the Search Box and press Enter (or select “Change the theme”)
3. Click on a theme to select it. Windows will automatically apply it, so you can see how it looks.

Change the wallpaper (Select “Desktop Background”)

By clicking the “Browse” button, you can select a folder with pictures, which you can use as wallpapers. You can also select previously used picture locations from the drop down menu. You can choose the way the wallpapers will be displayed from the Picture position drop down menu. If you choose more than one picture in the picture panel, Windows 7 can change your wallpaper periodically either by order or randomly (Shuffle checkbox).

Change the border color of the windows (Select “Window Color”)

From this menu you can choose a color from the predefined colors, or choose a custom color by clicking the “Show color mixer” and by using the sliders. You can either enable or disable border transparency by using the “Enable transparency” checkbox. The “Advanced appearance settings…” allow you to tweak thoroughly the appearance of all windows components.

Change sounds (Select “Sounds”)

The dropdown menu has different presets of windows sounds, from which you can choose. In case you want to use your own, you can manually assign custom WAV files for a given operation (e.g. Windows Logon) by selecting the operation and clicking the “Browse…” button.

Change Screen Saver (Select “Screen Saver”)

Screen savers are selected from the drop down menu. The “Settings…” button allows you to adjust settings, specific for each screen saver. You can preview it by pressing the “Preview” button. To adjust the time needed to activate the screen saver, use the small box below the drop down menu.

Download Themes

If you want to download a theme form Microsoft’s website select “Get more themes online”.

Font Size

If you feel that Windows fonts and components are too small, you can increase their size from the appearance settings. The process is very easy:

1. Open Start Menu
2. Type “change font size”
3. Press enter (or select “Make text and other items larger or smaller”)
4. Choose one of the radio buttons and you will see a preview

Default Language Setting

Because of it’s flexibility, Windows 7 supports many languages. If you have several installed languages, you can change between them. If not, you can choose to install one. Keep in mind that when installing a new language you will need either an internet connection, or a language package file on your hard drive.

To change between languages:

1. Go to Start Menu
2. Type “display Language
3. Press Enter (or select “Change display language)
4. Choose the preferred language from the drop-down menu
5. Go to the “Administrative” tab and click “Copy Settings”
6. If asked to apply settings, press Apply
7. Tick “Welcome screen and system accounts”
8. Tick “New user accounts” if you want to apply for new users
9. Press OK
10. The system will ask you to restart the computer – click “Restart now”

Default Folder Location

Sometimes you may run out of space on your system drive, or you may just want to have your documents and media on another hard drive. To do this:

1.      Open Start Menu

2.      Type “shell:usersfilesfolder” and press Enter. This will bring you to your User folder

3.      Right click the folder you wish to move and select Properties

4.      Go to the Location tab and click the “Move” button

5.      Select where you want to move the folder and press “Select Folder”

Protection — Run an Update of the Definition Files

Virus

Updating the virus definition files is very important in order to maintain a good level of security against malware threats. The definition files are basically a database with all the malicious code which is used when scanning files.

NOD32

1. Right-click the NOD32 icon in the system tray
2. Select Update
3. Wait for it to finish
4. Press OK

Schedule a full system scan for 10:00 AM Every Friday

Instead of performing computer scans manually, you can tell your Antivirus software to do it for you. This way you don’t have to worry about forgetting, and you can be sure that your system is malware free.

To schedule a scan in NOD32:

1. Double click on the NOD32 icon in the system tray
2. Choose Tools Menu
3. Select Scheduler

4. Click “Add…”

5. Select “On-demand computer scan” from the drop down menu
6. Click Next


7. Name the task and select Weekly
8. Click Next

9. For the time write 10:00:00
10. Select Friday and click Next

11. Select “Run task as soon as possible”
12. Click Next
13. Click Finish

14. From the second drop-down menu select Local Drives and also select Operating memory
15. Finally, click OK

Drive Formatting (Partitioning)

Drive formatting is the process of configuring new storage devices, such as hard drives, which allows information to be written and read from them. Before or after formatting a hard drive, you may choose to separate it into partitions. You can use the Disk Manager for that purpose. When a new hard drive is installed, it will not show up in Windows Explorer until it’s formatted.

Note: Keep in mind that formatting a hard drive usually means erasing all the existing data from it (in case the HDD is not new). When using this term, specify whether you’re talking about a new hard drive or an old hard drive.

To open the Disk Manager in Windows:

1. Open Start Menu
2. Type “Disk Management” in the Search box

If you have successfully attached and connected the new hard drive, an initialization window will pop up, asking you to select a partition style. There are two options: Master Boot Record (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT). You should choose GPT only if the HDD is 2TB in size, or more. If it’s not - choose MBR.

3. Choose the partition style and Press OK.

The Hard drive will now show up on a new row, with a black bar (instead of blue). This means that the space is unallocated (unpartitioned).

4. Select the new HDD, right-click on it and select “New Simple Volume”.

 This will open up a Wizard which will guide you through the process.

5. Click Next.

 Usually you would want to allocate all the available HDD space. This is done by default, so you don’t have to change the numbers.

6. Click Next.
7. Choose a drive letter from the drop-down menu and click next.

Windows 7 is optimized for the NTFS file system, which offers you more functionality. Changing the allocation unit size is not recommended, unless you have a specific reason.

8. Choose NTFS for the file system, leave the Allocation unit size to default and name the Partition (Volume Label)

You should see two checkboxes – Perform a Quick Format and Enable file and folder compression. Full Formatting is recommended for new disks. File and folder compression is used to reduce the size of data on the HDD, but it’s not recommended, unless it’s really needed.

9. Leave the checkboxes empty, click Next and then click Finish

Disk Manager will now format the drive. After it’s finished, it will be visible in Windows explorer and it will be fully usable.