Setting Up a Tasks Trigger or Triggers
Tasks can be triggered in the following ways At task creation or modification On connection to a user session On disconnection from a user session You can establish zero, one, or several triggers for a task. If you don't set any triggers, you can still run the task on demand unless you clear the Allow Task To Be Run On Demand check box on the Settings tab of the Create Task dialog box . This gives you a way to test a new task before committing it to a schedule, for example . If you set multiple...
Using Other Controls to Keep Your Children Safe
Parental Controls in Windows Vista includes two controls that are not in Windows 7 Web filtering lets you specify lists of sites to allow and sites to block. Activity reporting monitors and reports computer activity, including when each child logged on and off, which programs she ran, which websites she visited, whom she has corresponded with via e-mail and instant messaging, and so on . Although those controls are no longer part of Windows, Parental Controls is designed to incorporate...
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The -n switch is case-sensitive don't capitalize it. Ping the IP address of your router or the default gateway on your network. 5. Ping the address of each DNS server on your network. If you don't know these addresses, see the next section for details on how to discover them . 6. Ping a known host outside your network . Well-known, high-traffic websites are ideal for this step . 7. Use the Pathping command to contact the same host you specified in step 6. This command combines the functionality...
Personalizing Theme Elements Visuals and Sounds
The most obvious way to personalize your Windows experience is to customize its visual appearance the desktop background, the window colors, and so on and to select the sounds that Windows uses to let you know what it's up to . Those settings are made in the aptly named Personalization, a Control Panel tool that appears when you right-click the desktop and choose Personalize. You can also open Personalization, which is shown in Figure 4-12, by starting to type personalization in the Start menu...
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After you encrypt a removable drive using BitLocker To Go on a PC running Windows 7 Ultimate or Enterprise, you can add, delete, and change files on that volume using any edition of Windows 7 . Systems running Windows XP and Windows Vista can, with proper authentication, open but not change files on encrypted media using a reader program that is included on the volume itself. This reader program does not work with volumes formatted using NTFS if you intend to use a removable drive on systems...
Identifying the Elements of a Reg File
As you review the examples shown in the two figures, note the following characteristics of .reg files Header line The file begins with the line Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00. When you merge a .reg file into the registry, Registry Editor uses this line to verify that the file contains registry data. Version 5 the version shipped with Windows 7 generates Unicode text files, which can be used in Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Vista, as well as Windows 7 . If you want to share...
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If your computer is joined to a domain, these sharing options are not available when you join a homegroup. For details, see Using HomeGroup with a Domain-Based Computer on page 625. You can change your library selections at any time later by visiting HomeGroup, which you can open by typing homegroup in the Start menu search box or Control Panel, or by right-clicking Homegroup in Windows Explorer and choosing Change HomeGroup Settings . All those routes lead to HomeGroup, as shown in Figure...
Using the Windows Backup Program
The Windows Backup program Sdclt. exe is installed by default in all editions of Windows 7 . Its feature set is dramatically improved over its predecessor in Windows Vista, which was roundly and deservedly criticized for its inflexibility and for Microsoft's decision to remove important features from the program in home editions. And it's light-years beyond the NT Backup program included with Windows XP, which was designed before the turn of the millennium . Before you can create a backup, you...
Scanning for VirusesWithout an Antivirus Program
On the second Tuesday of each month, as part of its normal security releases, Microsoft releases an updated version of a utility called the Malicious Software Removal Tool MSRT . This utility is not designed to block new viruses from entering a computer rather, its function is to clean up systems that have been infected with well-known and widespread viruses and other forms of malware. The MSRT is delivered by Windows Update, and on most computers, this tool runs silently and then deletes...
Configuring Power Management
Most network connections support Wake On LAN the ability to wake a sleeping computer by sending a message over the network. This feature lets you take advantage of power-saving features, yet still have access to your computer, perhaps to perform a scheduled backup during the night or to play media files from a shared folder. To check on the power management settings for a network connection 1. In Network Connections select the connection and click Change Settings Of This Connection ....
Advanced Tools for Managing Windows Firewall
If you have any experience at all with configuring firewalls, you'll quickly realize that the Windows Firewall application in Control Panel covers only the most basic tasks. Don't take that as an indication that Windows Firewall is underpowered. To the contrary, you can configure all manner of firewall rules, allowing or blocking traffic based on program, port, protocol, IP address, and so on. In addition, you can enable, disable, and monitor rules, configure logging, and much more. With...
Using Problem Steps Recorder to Get Help
Sometimes Windows Error Reporting doesn't find a solution for a problem you're having and the troubleshooter is unable to solve it. Although Windows provides many other tools as explained in the rest of this chapter you might decide instead to use your phone a friend lifeline. Windows 7 includes a new tool that lets you capture the steps that lead to a problem so that a support technician can review your actions and suggest a solution. The tool is called Problem Steps Recorder, and you can...
Removing an Update
If you find that a particular update creates a problem, you can try removing it Not all updates can be removed, however In particular, security-related updates usually cannot be removed In addition, updates upon which other updates or other Windows features are dependent cannot be removed To find out if an update can be removed and to go ahead and do the deed, if you choose in Windows Update, click Installed Updates in the left pane . Doing so takes you to a page within the Programs section of...
Network Troubleshooting Tools
When the troubleshooters don't solve the problem, it might be time to dig deeper into the Windows toolbox. Windows 7 contains an assortment of utilities you can use to diagnose, monitor, and repair network connections . Table 19-1 lists some of the more useful networking-related command-line utilities and summarizes how you can use them .To learn more about each utility, including its proper syntax, in a Command Prompt window type the executable name followed by . Table 19-1 Windows Network...
Searching from the Start Menu
The search box on the Start menu has a dual personality. Its primary role is to help you find shortcuts to applications on the Programs menu and tasks in Control Panel. When you type a search term that matches any item in either of those locations, the results appear almost instantaneously. But this box also offers complete access to everything else in the search index websites in your history folder saved Favorites messages in your e-mail store appointments and contacts from Microsoft Outlook...
Improving Remote Assistance Performance
You might shudder at the thought of accessing another desktop over a dial-up connection Surprisingly, the performance can be quite usable You wouldn't want to use this sort of connection for everyday work, but for troubleshooting, it's good enough You can maximize Remote Assistance performance over a slow link by observing these guidelines If possible, use Windows Vista or Windows 7 for both the novice and expert . Its version of Remote Assistance incorporates a number of performance...
Joining a Homegroup
After a homegroup has been created, other computers on the network can join it, using a similarly brief process . When you connect your computer to the home network, the wizard opens automatically, displaying a screen similar to the one shown earlier in Figure 17-6. The text at the top is slightly different, informing you that a homegroup already exists . If you missed that chance to join the homegroup, open HomeGroup in Control Panel and click Join Now to reach this same wizard screen . Click...
Setting Up One or More TV Tuners
Windows Media Center can recognize and use analog, digital, and CableCARD TV tuners . In the United States, all over-the-air OTA broadcasts are in digital format connecting an antenna to one or more digital tuners allows you to record high-definition TV HDTV signals . You can connect an analog tuner directly to a cable input if your cable provider supports this configuration . To record digital output from a cable or satellite connection, you must connect the output of a converter box to the...
Enabling or Disabling Windows Firewall
The main Windows Firewall application, shown in Figure 15-5, is little more than a status window and launchpad for making various firewall settings. The first setting of interest is to enable or disable Windows Firewall. To do that, click Turn Windows Firewall On Or Off to open the screen shown next. From here you can enable turn on or disable turn off Windows Firewall for each network type. In general, the only reason to turn off Windows Firewall is if you have installed a third-party firewall...
Digging Deeper with Event Viewer
You can also examine the history of errors on your system by creating a filtered view of the Application log in Event Viewer. In Windows, an event is any occurrence that is potentially noteworthy to you, to other users, to the operating system, or to an application . Events are recorded by the Windows Event Log service, and their history is preserved in one of several log files, including Application, Security, Setup, System, and Forwarded Events . Event Viewer, a Microsoft Management Console...
Burning Music and Other Media to CDs and DVDs
If you have a CD or DVD burner, Windows Media Player can use it to burn a custom selection of songs to a recordable disc. You don't need to use Windows Explorer or a third-party CD-burning or DVD-burning program to do this although you might choose to use another program if you find that Windows Media Player lacks a feature you find essential . With a compatible drive, Windows Media Player can burn any of the following three types of discs Audio CD This type of disc plays back in any CD player,...
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You might see other permission levels if you return to the Sharing wizard after you set up sharing . Contribute indicates Modify permission. Custom indicates NTFS permissions other than Read amp Execute, Modify, or Full Control. Mixed appears if you select multiple items and they have different sharing settings . Owner, of course, identifies the owner of the item. 5. Click Share . After a few moments, the wizard displays a page like the one shown in Figure 18-6. You can iejriajj someone links...
Remote Streaming over the Internet
Your massive media collection is on your PC at home. You're on the road, using your notebook PC to access the internet. If both PCs are running Windows 7, you can connect from your notebook to your home PC and play back any files stored in the Windows Media Player library. The secret ingredient for making this connection work is linking your online ID with your user account on both PCs . In theory, any secure online credential can be used with this feature at the time we wrote this section, the...
Using Compatibility View
One of the major changes that Microsoft introduced with Internet Explorer 8 was to make the browser more fully compliant with World Wide Web Consortium W3C and Internet Engineering Task Force IETF standards . Because earlier versions held dominant market share, however, many web developers designed their sites in conformance with Microsoft's proprietary methods, rather than with established web standards . As a result, certain sites designed to look good in, say, Internet Explorer 7, might...
Inside Out Bpf
The fastest way to get to the Folder Options dialog box is to type folder in the Start menu's search box. Folder Options should pop to the top of the search results list, under the Control Panel heading . If the menu bar isn't displayed, you can make it appear temporarily by pressing Alt or F10 the menu bar disappears after you open a menu and execute a command, or if you click anywhere else in Windows Explorer, or if you tap Alt again Library pane This navigation aid appears by default above...
Using the Writing Pad and Touch Keyboard
When you use a PC without a keyboard, how do you enter text into dialog boxes, web forms, your browser's address bar, or a document For those tasks, use the Tablet PC Input Panel. Don't be fooled by the name, which is a carryover from its roots in older Windows versions this feature works on touch-enabled PCs as well as Tablet PCs . The Input Panel is a relatively small box that appears on demand. Using small buttons in the upper left corner of the Input Panel, you can switch between its two...
Using a Reg File to Delete Registry Data
.Reg files are most commonly used to modify existing registry data or add new data. But you can also use them to delete existing values and keys . To delete an existing value, specify a hyphen character as the value's data. For example, to use a .reg file to remove the value ThumbnailSize from the key HKCU Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer, add the following lines to the .reg file ThumbnailSize - To delete an existing key with all its values and data, insert a hyphen in front...
What Happened to the Administrator Account
Every computer running Windows has a special account named Administrator. Traditionally in Windows, Administrator has been the primary account for managing the computer. Like other administrator accounts, the Administrator account has full rights over the entire computer. There's one key difference in Windows 7 the Administrator account is disabled by default. In Windows 7, there's seldom a need to use the Administrator account instead of another administrator account. With default settings in...
Page File Confusion
By far the most common instances of performance-related misinformation revolve around the subject of page files, sometimes incorrectly called swap files . We routinely run across two widely published myths about the proper configuration of virtual memory in Windows Myth 1 If your computer has a large amount of memory installed, you should eliminate your page file completely. This is bad advice. Although you can configure Windows so that it does not set aside any virtual memory, no reputable...
Assigning or Changing a Volume Label
In Windows 7, as in previous versions of Windows, you can assign a descriptive text label to any volume. Assigning a label is purely optional, but it's a good practice, especially if you have a multiboot system or if you've set up separate volumes to keep your data organized. You can use Data as the label for your data drive, Music for the drive that holds your collection of digital tunes, and so on . Volume labels appear in the Computer window alongside the drive letter for a volume, as in the...
Starting and Running a Task Only If the Computer Is Idle
On the Conditions tab of the Create Task dialog box shown in Figure 22-12 , you can require that the computer be idle for a specified period of time before a triggered task can begin . To do this, select Start The Task Only If The Computer Is Idle For and specify the time period in the field to the right. Other check boxes in the Idle section of the Conditions tab let you specify what should happen if the task has begun during a required idle period but the computer subsequently becomes active...
Creating a System Image Backup
With a system image backup previously known as a Complete PC Backup in Windows Vista , you can rebuild your computer from bare metal in the event of a catastrophic failure or if you just want to start fresh. You don't need to install, update, and activate Windows, reinstall all your applications, and then configure your applications to work the way you like instead, you boot into the Windows Recovery Environment, choose an image file to restore, and then complete the process by restoring from...
Using Advanced Boot Options
Pressing F8 during the startup process takes you to the Advanced Boot Options menu, as shown in Figure 23-15 . Choose Advanced Options for Windows 7 Use the arrow keys to highlight your choice. Safe Mode with Networking Safe Mode with Command Prompt Enable Boot Logging Enable low-resolution video 640x480 Last Known Good Configuration advanced Directory Services Restore Mode Debugging Mode Disable automatic restart on system failure Disable Driver Signature Enforcement Description View a list of...
Redefining Tablet PC Buttons
Tablet buttons allow access to some common functions when a keyboard is unavailable . Typically, these buttons are built into the computer's case, in the bezel alongside the display, within easy reach of your hands when using the computer as a tablet. It's common to find a Security button, for example, which has the same effect when pressed as does the Ctrl Alt Delete combination on a conventional keyboard. Each Tablet PC design is different, but many hardware designers include buttons that you...
Acknowledgments
If we tried to list all the people who have helped us in one way or another on this project, we'd have to add another 50 pages. So we apologize in advance to those we don't thank by name We'd like to acknowledge the tremendous assistance offered by Steve Ball, Mark Russino-vich, Dan Plastina, Gabe Aul, Charlie Owen, Chris Flores, and Jerry Koh of Microsoft. They are among literally dozens of developers, product managers, and technical professionals at Microsoft who enthusiastically shared their...
Public and Private IP Addresses
Any computer that is directly connected to the internet needs a public IP address one that can be reached by other computers on the internet so that information you request webpages and e-mail, for instance can be routed back to your computer properly. When you connect to an internet service provider, you're assigned a public IP address from a block of addresses registered to that ISP. If you use a dial-up connection, your ISP probably assigns a different IP address to your computer drawn from...
Organizing Favorites
Internet Explorer provides a small dialog box, shown in Figure 6-7, that you can use to add subfolders to your Favorites tree, move items between folders, rename folders and shortcuts, and delete favorites or folders . To open this dialog box, open the Favorites Center, click the down arrow next to Add To Favorites, and then click Organize Favorites . Figure 6-7 If you find the Organize Favorites dialog box confining, you can reorganize your favorites in Windows Explorer instead. Figure 6-7 If...
Other Index Maintenance Tasks
The Indexing Options dialog box is also your gateway to buttons and check boxes that let you rebuild a corrupted index, change the location where the index stores its data, add folders to the index, change how the index deals with particular file types, and so on . To perform any of these maintenance tasks, display the Index Settings tab of the Advanced Options dialog box shown in Figure 9-4 . Figure 9-4 You can use this dialog box to rebuild an index that has stopped functioning properly. It's...
Staying in Sync with Offline Files
The offline files feature lets users of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise pin files stored on network shares, making those files available on their own computers, whether or not the network is online When you mark a folder or file as always available offline, Windows copies that item to a cache on your own computer When you take your computer offline, you can go on working with the cached items as though you were still connected to the network. When you reconnect, Windows...
Working with Libraries
As we noted earlier in this chapter, Windows 7 introduces a new organizational element called libraries, which make it easier to view, sort, search, and filter similar items, even when those items are stored in multiple physical locations. A library is, in essence, a virtual folder that aggregates the contents of multiple folders stored on your computer or on your network. You can sort, filter, group, search, arrange, and share the data in a library as if it were in a single location . If you...
Inside Out Yxu
Rate your favorite digital media files For digital photos, music, and other media files, you'll notice that the Rating field is available in the details pane. Instead of providing a box to enter free-form text or a number, this field shows five stars, all of which are shown in gray initially. You can rate any file on a scale of 1 to 5 stars by clicking the appropriate star in the details pane or in a program that also supports ratings, such as Windows Media Player or Windows Live Photo Gallery....
Renaming Your Network
You can change the name and the icon for your network. This information appears in Network And Sharing Center and in the information that pops up when you click the Network icon in the taskbar notification area . The network initially takes on the name of the wireless SSID or, if you join a domain, the domain name. The default name of a wired network is Home or Network. To make the change, in Network And Sharing Center, under View Your Active Networks, click the icon for your network. Type the...
Diagnosing Problems Using Network Map
Network mapping, a feature that was new in Windows Vista, uses the Link Layer Topology Discovery LLTD protocol to find the other computers and devices on your network, and then displays them in a schematic representation . To display the map, in Network And Sharing Center click See Full Map . Figure 19-2 shows an example . Computers with more than one network adapter create a separate map for each one Computers with more than one network adapter create a separate map for each one Figure 19-2...
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You needn't worry about someone who's not in your homegroup logging on to your computer remotely over the network, the internet, or with Remote Desktop Connection, for example if your account doesn't have a password. Security features in Windows prevent remote logon by any account with a blank password. When you don't have a password in Windows, the risk comes only from people who have physical access to your computer This feature is enforced by a policy setting, which is enabled by default. If...
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With HomeGroup in Windows 7, you cannot join multiple homegroups you must leave one homegroup before you can join another. Those who frequently visit another home, such as a vacation home or the home of a trusted friend, might find this limitation to be disappointing . However, there is a way to have an extended homegroup that spans multiple physical locations. Suppose you have two homes, each with a desktop computer, and a laptop computer that travels between the homes. In the first home, have...
Learning About Your Own Account with Whoami
Windows includes a command-line utility called Whoami Who Am I . You can use Whoami to find out the name of the account that's currently logged on, its SID, the names of the security groups of which it's a member, and its privileges. To use Whoami, open a Command Prompt window. You don't need elevated privileges . Then, to learn the name of the logged-on user, type whoami. This is particularly useful if you're logged on as a standard user, but running an elevated Command Prompt window when it...
Customizing the Logon Screen
You probably don't spend much time looking at the logon screen after all, whenever you're using your computer you're already logged on. Nonetheless, you might prefer a different image for the desktop background Or, if you have difficulty reading the text on the logon screen, you can use a higher dots per inch DPI setting. To use a desktop background other than the default image shown in Figure 16-7 or one provided by the manufacturer of your computer , follow these steps 1. In the Start menu...
Configuring Your Network for Remote Desktop Connections
When you enable Remote Desktop on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate, the remote computer listens for incoming connections on port 3389. Enabling Remote Desktop also creates an exception in Windows Firewall that allows authenticated traffic on this port. That makes Remote Desktop easy to use over a local network where no third-party security software is installed. But it doesn't solve the many problems you face when trying to connect to Remote Desktop over the internet. To connect...
Common Profiles
Windows creates a local user profile for each user account, storing the profiles in subfolders of SystemDrive Users with folder names that match the account names. In addition to these user profiles, the operating system creates two others Public The Public profile contains a group of folders that mirror those in your user profile. You can see the Public Documents, Public Music, Public Pictures, and Public Videos folders in their matching libraries . The advantage of these folders is that other...
Adding Favorites to the Favorites Bar
As mentioned, the Favorites bar is a horizontal array that can contain individual favorites, folders of favorites, RSS feeds, and web slices . To display or hide the Favorites bar, choose Tools, Toolbars, and then select or clear the Favorites Bar option on the fly-out menu. To add an existing favorite or folder of favorites to the Favorites bar, first display the Favorites Center. Then drag the desired item and drop it on the bar. To add the current webpage to the Favorites bar, simply click...