Windows 7 Walkthrough: Clock, Language, and Region Control Panel

Windows 7’s Control Panel is literally packed with tools (a.k.a. applets) that allow you to configure and control the way that the operating system works. Because the Control Panel has so many tools, Microsoft added a Search box to make it easy for you to find the tool that you need for a particular task.

To help you become familiar with all of the tools that are available in Windows 7’s Control Panel, I have created the Windows 7 Walkthrough series in which I’ll show you and provide a brief overview of each tool in the Control Panel categories. This one covers the tools in the Clock, Language, and Region category.

Add the ARP Gadget to your troubleshooting toolbox

The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a key TCP/IP protocol that is used to determine the physical address of the network card that corresponds to an IP address. When you’re troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems on a Windows network, you may need to investigate or modify the ARP cache as you look for problems.

Windows comes with a command-line utility called ARP, which you can use to display or adjust the contents of the ARP cache of either a local or remote system. To make the tool easier to use, I created the ARP Gadget, which automates the ARP command.

Evaluate the efficiency of Windows 7 Power Plan settings

A colleague recently asked me if was really true that Windows 7 power management settings were more efficient and would allow longer battery life when running on a laptop. I told him that based on my experience with running Windows 7 on my laptop; it did indeed appear to be true that improvements in Windows 7 power-management technologies provided me with longer battery life.

Of course, in order to get as much battery power as possible out of a single charge, I must admit that I did spend some time tweaking my Power Plan settings in the Control Panel’s Power Options tool. I also uncovered a new feature in Windows 7’s PowerCfg command line tool that allowed me to evaluate the efficiency of my Power Plan settings.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll briefly examine Windows 7’s Power Plans. I’ll then show you how to use Windows 7’s PowerCfg command line tool to evaluate the efficiency of your Power Plan settings.

Windows 7 Walkthrough: Appearance and Personalization Control Panel

Windows 7’s Control Panel is literally packed with tools (a.k.a. applets) that allow you to configure and control the way that the operating system works. Because the Control Panel has so many tools, Microsoft added a Search box to make it easy for you to find the tool that you need for a particular task.

To help you become familiar with all of the tools that are available in Windows 7’s Control Panel, I have created the Windows 7 Walkthrough series in which I’ll show you and provide a brief overview of each tool in the Control Panel categories. This one covers the tools in the Appearance and Personalization category.

Explore the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals

In the October 9th edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, The Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program ensures compatibility for Windows 7, I explained that in addition to improving performance of the new operating system, Microsoft put a great deal of effort into making sure that Windows 7 is extremely compatible with new and existing hardware and software.

To make these compatibility investigations more productive for IT professionals, this week Microsoft released the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals, an Excel-based spreadsheet that provides one-stop access to a complete list of software applications (more than 5,500 applications) which have undergone the Windows 7 Logo Program testing program for compatibility with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll examine the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals spreadsheet and provide you with an overview of what you can find in it.

Get quick access to troubleshooting info with the Netstat Gadget

The difficulty in troubleshooting TCP/IP connectivity problems on a Windows network stems from the sheer number of connections and services on a particular system. Identifying the status of the connections and determining which services are running can help you narrow down the search, but doing so takes time. However, an underused Windows command-line utility, Netstat, can shorten the time it takes to hunt down rogue connections by quickly providing information about client services and TCP/IP communications.

Unfortunately, because Netstat is a command-line tool, admins often avoid it. So to make the Netstat tool a bit easier to use, I created the Netstat Gadget, which automates the Netstat command.

Windows 7 Walkthrough: User Accounts and Family Safety Control Panel

Windows 7’s Control Panel is literally packed with tools (a.k.a. applets) that allow you to configure and control the way that the operating system works. Because the Control Panel has so many tools, Microsoft added a Search box to make it easy for you to find the tool that you need for a particular task.

To help you become familiar with all of the tools that are available in Windows 7’s Control Panel, I have created the Windows 7 Walkthrough series in which I’ll show you and provide a brief overview of each tool in the Control Panel categories. This one covers the User Accounts and Family Safety Control Panel category.

10 antivirus programs for Windows 7

Now that Windows 7 is out, chances are that evildoers the world over are busily scheming and dreaming up new and horrendous malware to target the new operating system in yet an another attempt to bring the computing world to its knees.

Of course, one could say that Windows 7 is probably one of the most secure operating systems ever to come out of Redmond; however, that doesn’t mean that Windows 7 doesn’t need the extra protection provided by an antivirus program. And due to the success of the Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program, a lot of programs are vying for the opportunity to protect Windows 7. Here are 10 antivirus programs that have earned the Compatible with Windows 7 logo.

Take the productivity benefits of Snap, Shake, and Peek seriously

While many will simply brush off the new Aero UI features, Snap, Shake and Peek, as being nothing more than eye candy in Microsoft Windows 7, these three items have actually been designed to address the lack of any real improvement in a very common task that has been around since Windows came into being — managing multiple open windows.

If you’ve been working with the Windows operating system for a while, then you know that the problem of managing multiple open windows is an old one and that over the years, Microsoft really hasn’t devised anything new for you to more efficiently work with multiple open windows. Sure, there have been many advances in task management, but when it comes down to actual window management, there hasn’t been much innovation. That’s what makes Snap, Shake, and Peek so exciting.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll examine the management of multiple open windows in the Windows operating system over the years. I’ll then focus on the windows management solutions offered by the new Aero UI features: Snap, Shake, and Peek.

Even more classic Microsoft commercials and videos you may have forgotten

The first and second installments of classic Microsoft commercials and videos Classic Microsoft commercials and videos you may have forgotten and More classic Microsoft commercials and videos you may have forgotten were so popular that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to post the last batch of the collection. So without further ado, here are even more classic Microsoft commercials and videos you may have forgotten.

Windows 7 Walkthrough: Programs Control Panel

Windows 7’s Control Panel is literally packed with tools (a.k.a. applets) that allow you to configure and control the way that the operating system works. Because the Control Panel has so many tools, Microsoft added a Search box to make it easy for you to find the tool that you need for a particular task.

To help you become familiar with all of the tools that are available in Windows 7’s Control Panel, I have created the Windows 7 Walkthrough series in which I’ll show you and provide a brief overview of each tool in the Control Panel categories. This one covers the tools in the Programs Control Panel category.

Capture unallocated disk space from an XP to Windows 7 dual-boot migration

In the first article in this series, Create a Windows XP and 7 dual-boot system staged for an easy migration, I showed you how to resize your existing Windows XP partition and then install Windows 7 in a dual-boot configuration on the same hard disk. In the second article in this series, Migrate to Windows 7 from an XP dual-boot configuration, I showed you how to safely undo the Windows XP and 7 dual-boot system, remove Windows XP, and just boot Windows 7 as your primary OS.

As you’ll remember, after completing the steps in the second article, your system boots up in Windows 7, just as if it was the only partition on the hard disk; however, the partition that used to hold Windows XP is still at the beginning of the disk and marked as unallocated.

Fortunately, I tracked down Partition Wizard Home Edition, which in addition to supporting Windows 2000/XP/Vista, provides support for Windows 7 — both 32 bit and 64 bit. Partition Wizard Home Edition is a Free partition manager from MT Solution that is easy to use and will allow you to redistribute that unallocated space at the beginning of the hard disk back to drive C, thus making Windows 7 the first and only partition on the hard disk.

In this edition of the Windows Vista and Windows 7 Report, I’ll show you how to use Partition Wizard Home Edition to safely accomplish this operation.