Windows 7 Features

Parental Controls in Windows 7

Parental controls in Windows 7 has lot of improvements and gives parents a lot of power to monitor restrict what their children do. Settings which can be maintained includes

    * Time Limits for a User

    * Game Restriction according to Game rating, content & Title.

    * Allow or block specific Programs.

    * Web Filtering

Windows 7 Parental Controls is a feature in Windows 7 that can specify which PC games a particular user can play and which programs they can use. You can even specify the times when a particular user is allowed to use the PC.

Windows Live Family Safety is a free download that works with Windows 7 and gives you tools to manage and monitor what a particular user do on the Web. For example, Web filtering and contact management help you manage whom a particular user can talk to on Windows Live Hotmail, Messenger and Spaces.

When you customize the settings for each of your children, you’ll even get an activity report that informs you how your children have been using the PC and what Web sites they have visited. And with the ability to view reports or modify settings remotely, you can keep tabs on your kids no matter where you are. Parental controls help you manage what your children can do on your PC.

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Changing Library icon: Windows 7

             In this article we are going to learn how to change your windows 7 library icons with easiest way possible. This article gives you steps to change library icons and these steps are easy and simple to perform on our own.

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Managing Action center : Windows 7

                    In Windows 7 it can get annoying seeing the Action Center icon pop up notifications every time you turn on your computer.  Today we will look at changing the messages that it displays and even completely disabling it.

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Media center Live TV setup: Windows 7

If you’re moving from Windows XP to Windows 7, one of the new features you might be interested in is Media Center. In this article we’ll walk through the process of setting up Live TV 

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Media center sleep timer: Windows 7

  

                     Do you make it a habit of falling asleep at night while watching Windows Media Center? we are going to take a look at the Media center 7 Sleep Timer for Windows 7 Media Center. This simple little plugin allows you to schedule an automatic shutdown time in Media Center.

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Cascade Multiple Windows in Windows 7

                       If you’ve got loads of windows open, and would like to tile or cascade just a couple of those windows, it’s a pain to minimize them, then unminimize the windows you want to tile, and then choose Tile from the taskbar context menu… but there’s a better way!

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Windows 7: Quick Network connections list

                     One of the annoyances in Windows 7 or Vista is that you can’t immediately open the Network Connections list to see the list of adapters like you could in Windows XP.

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Windows 7: Assign a Static IP Address

                   When organizing your home network it’s easier to assign each computer it’s own IP address than using DHCP. We can assign static IP address in any operating systems like Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

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Adding folder to Favorites: Windows 7

                  When you open Explorer in Windows 7 you’ll see a list of Favorites in the Navigation Pane. Microsoft has already put some there, but today we show you how to remove them and add your own favorite folders including Search Connectors.

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Windows 7 Features - Virtual Hard Disk

Virtual Hard Disk

The Microsoft virtual hard disk (VHD) file format specifies a virtual hard disk, which is encapsulated in a single file and is capable of hosting native file systems and supporting standard disk operations. This topic contains an overview of the new functionality that is offered in this version of Windows.

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HOW TO GET UPDATES FOR ALL MICROSOFT PROGRAMS AND DRIVERS ALONG WITH WINDOWS UPDATES

Windows Update is a service provided by Microsoft that provides updates for the Microsoft Windows operating system and its installed components, including Internet Explorer.

Along with the version of Windows that you are using and the internet explorer, you can also receive updates for other Microsoft products installed on the computer through Windows updates.

For instance, if you are using Microsoft Office or Microsoft Money software, you can get updates for those software using Windows Updates.

Here’s how:

Open Windows Update from the “Start Search” option

In the Windows Update screen that appears, look for the option “Find Out More”

Internet Explorer would open up with a title “Install updates, Office and More”

Agree to the Terms and Conditions by making a check mark and then clicking on “Install”

The next time, you use Windows Update; you would get the updates for all the Microsoft programs installed on the computer.

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How to Add or Remove the Security Tab in Windows Media Player Options

Information

This article will show you how to add or remove the Security tab in the Options of Windows Media Player for all users in Windows 7 and Vista but will not work on Windows XP.

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How to Add or Remove the Privacy Tab in Windows Media Player Options

Information

This article will show you how to add or remove the Privacy tab in the Options of Windows Media Player for all users in Windows 7 and Vista. This article is not for Windows XP.

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HOW TO DISABLE AERO PEEK FEATURE IN WINDOWS 7

Aero Peek feature is a feature of Windows 7 that helps the computer user to have a quick peek on the applications and gadgets on the desktop or have a peek at the applications in the taskbar.

This article is meant  only for Windows 7 and is not applicable to Windows XP.

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Automatically backup to Skydrive

This tutorial is going to show you how to backup to Windows Live SkyDrive, but this time, for free and it actually works, but still with some of the limitations (The 50MB limit, and a 9 subfolder limit). 

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How to Rebuild Windows Media Player Corrupted Libraries

Information

This tutorial will show you how to rebuild your Windows Media Player (WMP) libraries in order to remove corrupted files (for example, files deleted from the hard disk that linger in the WMP library) in just a few, easy steps. This tutorial can also be applied to other issues.

Note

Using this tutorial will not delete any media files physically; instead, it will reset the WMP libraries to their default state, without changing your previously made settings.

Windows Libraries are not affected by this tutorial.

Tip

Please make sure Windows Media Player is closed during this process.

Here's how:

1. Click on the Start Orb and type "services" into the search, then select Services from the list of search results.

 

Alternatively, you can right-click the Computer icon, select Manage, then choose Services under "Services and Applications" in Computer Management.

2. In the list of services, locate "Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service" and stop it via one of the highlighted options.

Tip

Please keep the Services window open, you will need it later.

3. Click on the Start Orb and use the search again, this time type in C:\Users\(user)\AppData\Local and click the Local folder from the list of search results.

4. Inside the "Local" folder, navigate to the "Microsoft", then "Media Player" folder. Delete all the files contained in this folder and close the Explorer window.

5. Now go back to the Services window and start the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. Next time you start Windows Media Player, it will automatically rebuild all libraries using the information on folders that are included in the Windows Libraries.

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How to Create a Windows PE Disk

This tutorial does not cover every possible scenario, nor is it intended to. It's pretty basic but, if followed, will create a usable Windows PE disk based upon Windows 7. I'm using Windows 7 professional.

Here's How:

Start by downloading the Windows Automated Installation Toolkit

Download details: The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows® 7

You'll find online documentation here:

Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) User's Guide

Downloadable documentation here:

Download details: Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 documentation (May 2010 Update)

and the readme here:

Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 Readme

Once you have the WAIK downloaded, either burn it to disk, or mount it using your preferred ISO mounting application, and install. 

I used Virtual Clone Drive for mounting the ISO, available from:

SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive

Once installed, open the AIK Command prompt:

Start – All Programs – Microsoft Windows AIK – Deployment Tools Command Prompt

Begin with a cleanup:

Code:

dism /cleanup-wim

Run the copype.cmd script:

Code:

copype.cmd x86 c:\winpe

NOTE:

the syntax for this command is:

Code:

copype.cmd <architecture> <destination>

so you'll need to change “x86” to “amd64” or “ia64” for those architectures. Also, my chosen destination is “c:\winpe” but you can create your folder elsewhere if you want. Just keep in mind that this tutorial uses “c:\winpe” in the examples, so you'll need to adapt that to your choice of destination. The command creates the necessary folder structure within the destination folder.

Now, copy and rename the base image:

Code:

copy c:\winpe\winpe.wim c:\winpe\iso\sources\boot.wim

Mount the wim file:

Code:

dism /mount-wim /wimfile:c:\winpe\winpe.wim /index:1 /mountdir:c:\winpe\mount

Add imagex to the system32 folder so it is pathed:

Code:

copy "c:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86\imagex.exe" c:\winpe\mount\windows\system32

NOTE:

I didn't add any additional packages or drivers to my Windows PE, however I am including the following two steps for those who might need them.

You can add additional packages by using the following syntax:

Code:

dism / image:<path_to_image> /add-package /packagepath:<path_to_package>

Drivers can be added using the following syntax: (The recurse switch causes the command to add all drivers within the path including those in subdirectories.)

Code:

dism /image:<path_to_image> /add-driver /driver:<path_to_driver> /recurse

Unmount the finished wimfile:

Code:

dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:c:\winpe\mount\ /commit

Copy the finished wimfile:

Code:

copy c:\winpe\winpe.wim c:\winpe\iso\sources\boot.wim /y

Create a bootable iso file:

Code:

oscdimg -n -bc:\winpe\etfsboot.com c:\winpe\iso c:\winpe\winpe.iso

Close the Deployment Tools Command Prompt.

Browse to c:\winpe\ and right-click on winpe.iso and choose Open With – Windows Disk Image Burner to burn the iso to disk.

You now have a usable Windows PE disk. Mine has proven invaluable since I support a herd of over 200 Windows boxen and frequently need to image machines.

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How to Add System Support Information in Windows 7

Information

This article will show you how to customize your Windows 7 System properties window by adding a logo, manufacturer, model, hours, phone, and website support information of your choice.

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How to Fix the Open Application Toolbar and Context Menu Icon in Windows 7

Information

This will show you how to fix the Open application toolbar and context menu icon in Windows Explorer to the correct icon in Windows 7.

EXAMPLE:

Open application Toolbar and Context Menu icon

NOTE:

This is before and after you fix the icon when you have an application file selected in Windows Explorer.

Here's How:

Through Registry Editor

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the search box, type regedit and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

3. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below step 4)

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open

4. In the right pane, right click on a empty space and click on New and String Value. (See screenshot below)

5. Type Icon and press enter. (See screenshot below)

6. In the right pane, right click on Icon and click on Modify. (See screenshot below)

7. Type Imageres.dll,-15 and click on OK. (See screenshot below)

NOTE: If you like, you could also enter the full path of a icon (.ico file) that you would like to use instead.

8. Regedit will now look like this. (See screenshot below)

9. Close regedit.

10. If you have not already, close and reopen all Windows Explorer windows to apply.

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