Windows 7 tips

Win 7 Tip: Device Stage Gadget Interface Is Gorgeous (When Supported!)

Device Stage is a set of baked-in icons and menus for printers, cameras, phones, etc. that wait for the moment when you plug something in. Recognition comes fast and smooth—provided the gadget is supported. UPDATE When you connect a supported gadget, like in this case the Epson Artisan 800, you instantly see the icon with…

Tech News Wilson Rothman Jan 23

Win 7 Tip: Libraries Replace the Antiquated Virtual Folders Feature

In Windows 7, Microsoft has scrapped the virtual/smart folders feature previously available in Vista to categorize documents and replaced it with Libraries. At first, I was really confused: what the hell is a library? Smart folders in Vista were essentially saved searches, and libraries do away with all of that. Unlike the “My Pictures” or…

Tech News Erica Ho Jan 22

Win 7 Tip: Now You Can Choose Which Folders to Back Up and Create System Images

One revised feature in Windows 7 is the Backup utility. Previously with Vista, you could only designate types of files to back up. Now, you pick which folders to duplicate, plus export whole system images. The new Backup and Restore looks pretty similar to the Vista version, where there’s a welcome screen to choose backup…

Tech News Adrian Covert Jan 22

Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again

Are you unable to install programs on your Windows 7 beta? You’re probably a victim of this MSI installer bug, which you can actually fix by yourself, right now, without waiting for a Microsoft patch. Here’s what you do. 1. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator 2. Type reg delete HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftSQMClientWindowsDisabledSessions /va /f and press…

Tech News Jason Chen Jan 22

Win 7 Tip: Windows Home Server Is Almost 100% Compatible Already

It’s not a huge surprise, but Windows Home Server’s Connector software works just fine with Windows 7. Everything from the client to the backup software acts appropriately. Two small inconsistencies that you should note. One, in the backup screen, WHS will display your machine as “Windows Vista Ultimate” instead of Windows 7. Not a big…

Tech News Jason Chen Jan 21

Win 7 Tip: Gadgets Are Integrated Directly onto the Desktop, But Are Slightly Buggy

Windows 7 has eliminated the Windows Sidebar and instead has placed gadgets (widgets) directly onto the desktop. They’ve also gotten rid of the Notes gadget and replaced it with a program called Sticky Notes. Getting rid of Windows Sidebar has actually made using the gadgets less cumbersome than it was to use in Vista. Previously…

Tech News Erica Ho Jan 21

Win 7 Tip: WordPad Opens Word 2007 Docs

Good news cheap people! Windows 7’s WordPad (Microsoft’s free bundled word processing doc) now supports Office 2007/2008’s XML-based Word docs. The upside is that if you’re just typing up really simple things, you don’t need to actually buy (or pirate) a copy of Office. The downside is that WordPad only has limited support for these…

Tech News Jason Chen Jan 19

Win 7 Tip: Sleep/Hibernate Mode Is Buggy, May Incapacitate Your Machine

When I came home last night, I thought my previously healthy Windows 7 machine was dead. It was making a horrendous squeal and refused to reboot multiple times. Turns out it was asleep. I’m not sure what kind of sleep it was in (I was only gone for 6 hours and I’ve left it alone…

Tech News Jason Chen Jan 16

Win 7 Tip: The Taskbar Is the Most Useful New UI Change

Once you get past the slightly differently-colored Aero theme in Windows 7, you’ll realize that it looks, UI-wise, almost the same as Vista. That is, until you look down at the Taskbar. Now that’s new. First, you’ll notice that the Quick Launch Bar (the little tray on the left in XP and Vista where you…

Tech News Jason Chen Jan 15

Win 7 Tip: Problem Steps Recorder is Amazing, Needs to Be In Every OS

We mentioned the Problem Steps Recorder blackbox error reporting app back in our Win 7 Giz Explains, but it wasn’t until I tried it for myself that I saw just how amazing it is. https://gizmodo.com/giz-explains-why-windows-7-will-smash-vista-5070219 The quick summary of PSR is that it’s a recording app you activate to record any inputs you make to…

Tech News Jason Chen Jan 14

Win 7 Tip: Device Stage Gadget Interface Is Gorgeous (When Supported!)

Win 7 Tip: Libraries Replace the Antiquated Virtual Folders Feature

Win 7 Tip: Now You Can Choose Which Folders to Back Up and Create System Images

Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again

Win 7 Tip: Windows Home Server Is Almost 100% Compatible Already

Win 7 Tip: Gadgets Are Integrated Directly onto the Desktop, But Are Slightly Buggy

Win 7 Tip: WordPad Opens Word 2007 Docs

Win 7 Tip: Sleep/Hibernate Mode Is Buggy, May Incapacitate Your Machine

Win 7 Tip: The Taskbar Is the Most Useful New UI Change

Win 7 Tip: Problem Steps Recorder is Amazing, Needs to Be In Every OS

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